Neuroplasticity – The Brain's Repairing Mechanism

 Injuries to the head can result in long term damage to areas of the brain, varying depending on where on the head the injury was sustained. While a variety of therapeutic services can be employed to regain a certain level of functionality the brain also has a unique response to regional damage – neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize itself through lifetime creation of new neuron pathways. From birth developmental plasticity begins, as neuron branches and synapses form to process new sensory information. At the age of two or three, a child's brain has around 15,000 synapses per neuron. This is around twice as many as in the adult brain as neurons strengthen, weaken, and are eliminated with age. While this process slows down, the brain retains the ability to grow new neurons throughout life in response to new stimuli. One such circumstance under which the brain may begin to regenerate in this way is when a certain area of it is damaged.

Known as functional plasticity, in response to an area of the brain loosing functionality, often the surrounding healthy areas will take over those processes, restoring former abilities. Neurons which remain undamaged will grow new nerve endings to create new connections where the original links were broken due to injury. As well as restoring connections, undamaged neuron axons can create entirely new pathways, developing nerve endings that connect with other undamaged neurons, to carry out necessary functions. Especially in children, when damage is sustained in one hemisphere of the brain, the corresponding area in the other half of the brain may take on functions traditionally performed in the initial hemisphere.

One example of when natural adult neurogenesis (formation of new neuron endings) can occur is following a stroke. Strokes are caused either when a blood clot prevents sufficient oxygen flow to the brain or when a blood vessel bursts leading to internal bleeding in the head. If left untreated, a stroke can cause certain areas of the brain to cease to function. Strokes can cause long-lasting physical and psychological problems, however, the brain may attempt to compensate for permanent localized damage by re-routing function pathways.

Head injuries can cause debilitating damage that leave the patient with reduced functionality. Therapeutic rehabilitation, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy can go some way to recovering a patient's abilities, however, the body's natural propensity to repair itself, many also contribute to patient recovery following a localized head injury.

Neurobics – Exercises to Keep the Brain Young

As we age our brain activity begins to slow down because the organ looses nerve connections and fails to form new ones. While this is a natural process there is a range of activities that can be done to somewhat reverse, or at least slow down, the mental ageing process.

Take Up a New Hobby

It has been noted that learning a new activity works to keep the brain young by keeping it active. Processing new information encourages the brain to form new connections between nerve cells and may even help to generate new cells. A new hobby can be anything from reading or taking a class to craft projects to physical exercise. New experiences trigger the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates motivation and perseverance in an activity and the hormone that encourages the production of new neurons.

Master the Crossword

While word and number games may just seem like a fun pass time they also have profound benefits on the neurological level. These brain exercises force various parts of the brain, such as the areas associated with language, numerical reasoning, and problem solving, to work. Over time this improves the performance of these areas and various studies have suggested that frequent work on crossword or sudoku puzzles may even delay the onset of illnesses such as dementia. This is because mental exercises force the brain to make connections and to recall information which, otherwise, can easily be forgotten as we age.

Keep Things Interesting

Just as important as taking up new activities is knowing when to stop doing an activity. If an exercise becomes habitual and routine your brain has normalized it and is no longer creating new neural connections. Much like if you do not do physical exercise the body will lose strength, without mental stimulation the brain becomes sluggish and slow. Shaking up your daily routine by adding in new elements keeps your brain sharp by constantly giving it new information to process. This can be as simple as taking a new route when you travel somewhere familiar. Instead of going into autopilot with well-established directional knowledge taking an unfamiliar route will actively engage the cortex and the hippocampus to process the new area.

It is inevitable that as the body ages the brain will lose some of the agility it had at peak age, in our mid -20s. However, keeping the brain exercised with novel activities can go a certain way to maintaining a healthy brain.

Bringing Science to the Community – Introducing Dr. David Putrino

This month we introduce to you Dr. David Putrino, Director of Rehabilitation Innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Putrino's medical career began in Australia, where he completed an undergraduate degree in physiotherapy before carrying out a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Western Australia. On completion of his PhD, Dr. Putrino held teaching positions, both at Curtin University of Technology and Edith Cowan University in Perth in Western Australia, teaching neuroanatomy and neuropathology.

After working as a clinician in Australia Dr. Putrino moved to New York to study computational neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, MIT, and NYU. During his time at NYU he worked as a assistant in the School of Medicine, teaching neuroanatomy and clinical neuroscience. Currently he holds a position, not only as the Director of Rehabilitation Innovation, but also as an Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His work includes developing innovative technology solutions for patients who are in need of better healthcare accessibility. He also lends his technological expertise to the Red Bull High Performance athletics division, consulting with them and using state-of-the-art technologies to monitor, and improve, the performance of athletes.

As well as using his medical training within rehabilitation medicine, and the athletics field, Dr. Putrino believes that it is the responsibility of scientists and medical professionals to add to the education of the community. He believes scientists need to engage the public in science, technological advances, and current research, and to explain why these are such important fields. With this in mind, Dr. Putrino dedicated a portion of his time to co-founding the not-for-profit organization StreetSmart Science. This venture connects scientific mentors with local high schools to get students excited about working in the science sector. The organization currently works with three inner-city high schools in the Bronx and Harlem areas. This passion for community enrichment has also led to Dr. Putrino holding the position of “Chief Mad Scientist” at Not Impossible Labs, an organization that crowd-sources accessible technological solutions for high-impact humanitarian issues.

This interest in community education has brought Dr. Putrino's work into the public eye. He has appeared as a scientific expert on the American Heroes Network as well as having his research featured in a whole range of media, from the ABC, to the LA Times, to the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed to name but a few. It is his strong passion for using science to help his community, alongside his extensive background in neuroscience and technology, that have led to Dr Putrino becoming an integral part of the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Innovation team.