Right up until the 1970s, neurologists were of the opinion that the brain you have as an adult is the one you are stuck with.
So, where did the notion that brains can change come from? Back in the eighteenth century a lecturer, John Brown, at the Glasgow School of Medicine believed all illnesses could be cured by two simple treatments, opium and alcohol.
Around the same time, Vincenzo Malacarne, a professor of medicine in Turin, Italy, made important discoveries in anatomy.
Malacarne was the first to describe the human cerebellum—the back part of the brain which regulates muscular activity in all vertebrates.
The professor spent several years training one of each pair of animals to perform new tricks. Upon dissecting and comparing the brains of each animal, the skilled creatures had larger cerebellums than the untrained ones. But his work was largely ignored for almost a hundred years.
A Polish neurophysiologist, Jerzy Konorski, continuing the work of Ivan Pavlov on “classical conditioning”, was the first to use the term neural plasticity.
Today, one of the pioneers in this field of research is neuroscientist Michael Merzenich. He said, “The brain’s powerful ability to change itself and adapt — and ways we might make use of that plasticity to heal injured brains and enhance the skills in healthy ones.”
What does this mean for the average Joe and is it of any use in improving his or her life?
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