Brain Plasticity
Brain Plasticity simply refers to the capacity of the Central Nervous System to adapt or change after stimulation.
Conventional medical wisdom has long held the belief that the brain could not change, that in fact the brain is hardwired like some computerized super machine. Like any computer or machine which cannot change or grow it was long believed that the brain 'machine' was unchangeable. However for decades neuroscientists have proven this to be untrue. Even as early as the 1960's and 70's neuroscientists began to make discoveries that exhibited the ability for actual brain structure to change and it's 'circuits' to have increased function when a person performed different activities. This ability to change or re-mold itself became known in the scientific community as 'neuroplasticity'.
Behavioral Plasticity and Recovery of Function
For developing brains there exist critical periods in which the effects of brain trauma will often cause delayed or impaired development. Recovery from these situations is possible if the child or adult undergoes a neurodevelopment training program. The principle takes into account the brain's ability to recover due to the plastic nature of the brain and focuses on developing cognitive functional abilities.
For adults the same response to trauma applies, but recovery is different due to maturation of the brain. Recovery for adults should be viewed as return of previously developed function. The mechanism for recovery has been discussed in the medical literature for over 200 years. We feel that the Costello Neuro-Development System™ model is most accurate, given the current state of knowledge, and based upon the concepts of developmental brain plasticity and denervation supersensitivity.
Developmental Plasticity
Studies of neural connections indicate that afferent cells after damage can produce new connections based upon a process called synaptic reorganization. This discovery forms the bases for brain plasticity (Brauth,et al 1991; Gazzaniga,et al, 1979).
Denervation Supersensitivity
States that after damage the remaining fibers may become overly sensitive to neurotransmitters and activate pathways that will result in the return of function.
Both concepts require the brain and supporting nervous system to be externally stimulated in order for recovery to occur. The brain plasticity concept requires five important factors to be present at all times and found within the Costello Neuro-Development System™:
- Environmental Stimuli
- Frequent Stimulation
- Duration of Stimulation
- Motivation or intensity
- Consistency