Neura 1: The Flexible Brain — Rewiring Itself to Adapt
Welcome to Neura, a series that delves into the intriguing world of the brain and neuroscience.
One of my favourite books about the brain and its plasticity is “LIVEWIRED” of David Eagleman, American neuroscientist, bestselling author, and presenter of the BBC series The Brain. The book treated the capacity of the brain to reframe itself according to the data that he receives.
The brain plasticity
One biggest misstep in understanding the brain’s function in the past half-century or more was the idea that the brain functions like a computer, so it records the information as data. Indeed, the brain does not write down memories the way we think. Otherwise, we would have to remember every time how to ride a bike before going out. In this optic, David Eagleman, used the terms “LIVERWIRD”.
In fact, the brain is a living organ that is consistently reshaping and reconfiguring itself by interacting with the world, in every second that we receive an information, or we experience a new event, and this process according to the American neuroscientist is consistent. He mentioned,
Even by the time you get to the end of this paragraph, you’ll be a slightly different person than you were at the beginning.
To illustrate the brain’s ability to rewire itself and create new neural pathways in order to address challenges and adapt to the world, we can consider the case of individuals who live with only half a brain. While rare, there are a few dozen people who live without large portions of their brain, including half or even less. Moreover, these people weren’t born that way. Most commonly they had a disease in childhood, such as Rasmussen’s encephalitis, where epileptic seizures are very common.
Furthermore, human brain consists of billions of neurons densely connected to one another. The total number of connections between these neurons in your head is in the hundreds of trillions. To put it in other words, there are twenty times more connections in a cubic millimetre of cortical issue than there is human being on the entire planet. However, it is not the number that matters, but the way those neurons interact.
How does the brain work?
In 1951, the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield carried out an experience on a man undergoing a surgery, he sank a fine electrode into his brain, along the brain tissue. Penfield discovered something surprising. If he gave a small shock of electricity at a particular spot, the patient feels as though his hand were being touched. Penfield kept changing the spot, and in every time the patient felt some part of his body is touched. Penfield came out to a deep realization: neighbouring parts of the body are represented by neighbouring spot on the brain. As a result, Penfield could draw a kind of brain’s maps. He called it the homunculus “The little man”.
Experiences on this field continued. On January 14, 1990, research carried out on unarmed monkeys the same way Penfield did with the patient. The surprise was that the spot of cortex that used to represent the monkey’s arm was now excited by a touch on the face. In other words, the homunculus still looks like a monkey, but unarmed monkey.
As a result, the brain’s map is flexibly defined by active inputs from the body. When the body changes, the homunculus changes. To make it simple, the brain is flexibly defined according to the data that he receives.
There are many examples of our daily lives that illustrate the brain’s flexibility “or plasticity as neuroscientists call it” to reshape itself according to the data that he receives. Try to blindfold your eyes for 2 or 3 hours and you will realize that you start to be more sensitive to voices and touch. Your brain starts quickly to replace the area “cortex” responsible for sights by any other area that is near to it. Another example is people with auditory difficulties. When they implement the device and turn it on for the first few days, all they hear is ‘pzzzzzzzz.’ However, with time, their brains learn to interpret this data into real voices and words.
Another example, individuals who have lost their sight and use Braille to read can initially find it challenging to interpret the raised dots on the page. However, their brains have the incredible capacity to adapt and, with practice, learn to translate these tactile sensations into meaningful words and sentences, allowing them to read and comprehend text through touch.
David Eagleman in his book illustrated so many examples of the people with different kind of disabilities, and their brains survived by reshaping, readapting itself with what he has as Data.
Dealing with data
The explanation for this capacity is that the brain is not hardwired, as mentioned above, and different areas of the brain are not responsible for only one specific mission. Therefore, there isn’t a dedicated ‘eyes area’ in the brain, but rather a cortex responsible for receiving various types of data and interpreting them accordingly. If this data is no longer available, the cortex can adapt and be replaced by another area.
To put it in other words, the brain doesn’t care if he receives an image or vibrations, for the brain there is only data, and the data must be interpreted to be consciously recognized.
In light of this concept, we can assert that the brain processes daily life data, including our thoughts, in a similar fashion. The brain interacts with our thoughts, adapting itself based on the input it receives from us, and thereby shaping our reality. This applies to both positive and negative thoughts.
Dealing with negative thoughts
David Eagleman suggests that negative reactions in the brain can actually be a positive thing, in that they can serve as a signal for the brain to adapt and change in response to new experiences.
As we have seen, the brain is a highly adaptable organ that is constantly rewiring itself in response to new information and experiences. When we encounter something that is novel or challenging, our brain often responds with a negative reaction, such as fear or anxiety. This negative reaction is actually a natural response that has evolved over time to help us survive and adapt to new environments.
For example, if you encounter a dangerous situation, such as a large predator, your brain will immediately go into a fight or flight response, releasing adrenaline and other stress hormones to help you either confront the threat or escape from it. While this negative reaction can be uncomfortable and even distressing, it is also an important signal to your brain that you need to adapt and change in order to survive.
Similarly, if you encounter a new idea or perspective that challenges your existing beliefs or biases, your brain may initially respond with a negative reaction, such as resistance or defensiveness. However, this negative reaction can also serve as a signal that you need to adapt and change your thinking in order to grow and learn.
In closing, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the brain’s mysteries in our Neura series. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Stay tuned for our next exploration into the intriguing world of neuroscience.
In the next article, we will explore how the brain makes decisions and adapts to different scenarios, providing further insights into the remarkable capabilities of this intricate organ.
