Your Plastic Brain 3—More Applications

“Curmudge, you once said that one sure-fire way to avoid aging is to die young.  That sounds pretty extreme.  It’s certainly better for one to age gracefully during those ‘golden years’ after retirement.”

“That sounds great, Julie, but for many people those years aren’t ‘golden.’  One of the most common reasons is poor health, and one of the most frequent health issues is age-related cognitive decline.  It seems that most of my senior-citizen friends experience some memory loss—even if it’s only an occasional ‘senior moment.’  And of course we all worry that those ‘senior moments’ might signal the onset of something really tragic, like Alzheimer’s disease.”

“If you haven’t forgotten, Old Guy, that’s what we planned to talk about today.”

“I recall that it was Merzenich, whom we discussed in our last posting, that extended his application of neuroplasticity to senior citizens.  He and coworkers founded a new company, Posit Science, ‘devoted to helping people preserve the plasticity of their brains as they age and extend their mental lifespans.’ (Unless otherwise indicated, quoted material is from Doidge’s book.) (1)”

“As you know so well, Curmudge, a ‘senior moment’ is when you have trouble remembering, finding, and using the right word.”

“That’s right, Julie.  Merzenich believes that seniors are apt to get a ‘noisy brain’ similar to that of a language-impaired child. ‘As we progress in life we are operating as users of mastered skills and abilities.’  ‘The nucleus basalis…that helps the brain “tune in” and form sharp memories, has been totally neglected.’  A way to reverse the brain’s atrophy is to put it back to work.  Anything that requires highly focused attention, like learning a new language, solving challenging puzzles, or mastering a new skill…”

“…or writing a blog.  Doidge says that ‘Posit Science has exercises for memory of words and language using Fast ForWord-like listening exercises and computer games for auditory memory designed for adults.’  Like the programs for children, these exercises have sufficient rewards or punishments to keep the user interested.  Their programs include the CD-based Brain Fitness Program and the newer Web-based BrainHQ.  So, Forgetful Fellow, have you tried either of these?”

“You know, Young Person, that I never forget anything; I write everything down.  But maybe some day…”

“I’ve really been impressed, Curmudge, by the way that neuroplasticity research has led to new treatments for movement disabilities resulting from accidents and strokes.”

“I agree, Julie.  This apparently started when the father of researcher Paul Bach-y-Rita cured himself of paralysis of one side of his body by persistent exercise of the affected limbs.  The typical four-week rehabilitation didn’t help him much, but Paul’s brother, George, encouraged their father, Pedro, to crawl with his weak shoulder and arm supported by a wall.  After a year of this and other therapy, Pedro was able to return to teaching.  Upon the subsequent death of Pedro from a heart attack, examination of his brain revealed that the lesion from his stroke had not healed.  Pedro’s brain had apparently reorganized itself to recover the functions destroyed by his stroke.”

“What a story!  As we discussed back on 12/11/13, Edward Taub used research with monkeys to expand on Bach-y-Rita’s finding.  He then applied his so-called constraint-induced movement therapy to victims of strokes and cerebral palsy.  ‘The same treatment shows promise for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and even arthritis.’  ‘The Taub clinic uses the behavioral technique of “shaping,” taking an incremental approach to all tasks…to retrieve the motor programs that Taub believes are still in the nervous system.’  The patients drill six hours a day for ten to fifteen days straight.”

“You’ve got it, Julie, as usual.  And I believe that constraint-induced movement therapy is now used widely—even locally—for stroke victims.  Taub’s principles of constraint and shaping have been applied by other clinicians, such as Dr. Friedemann Pulvermüller, to treat the speech affliction, aphasia.  Ramachandran learned how to retrain the brain to overcome ‘phantom pain.’ “

“You know, Old Guy, that there’s a lot of thinking about the brain going on these days.  There’s the Institute for Neuro-Innovation at Stanford, the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Emory University, a center for traumatic brain injury, and even an article in the February 2014 National Geographic.”

“Somewhere in Doidge’s book it says that there is a great need to maintain the health of the brain to keep up with the increasing longevity of the rest of the body.  I’m all for that.”

Kaizen Curmudgeon

1.    Doidge, Norman, MD The Brain That Changes Itself (2007).

  

Link to posting from blog archives: Mistakes 3—necessary fallibility—7/22/10

http://kaizencurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2010/07/mistakes-3.html

See also the 2/19/09 posting.

    

Your Plastic Brain 2—Applications

“It was back on December 11 when we last talked about the brain, Curmudge.  That was a pretty long holiday break; you must have had a lot of visions of sugarplums dancing in your head.”

“Those were cold viruses dancing in my head, Impertinent Person.  Nevertheless, we posted some interesting stuff in December and January.  But I agree that it’s time to get back to neuroplasticity.  As we said in December, Merzenich, Taub, and their coworkers, who did basic studies with animals, followed it up with applications to human patients.”

“So where do we start?”

“At the beginning, Julie, with babies and children.  Our principal resource will continue to be Doidge’s book, The Brain That Changes Itself. (1)  (Unless otherwise indicated, quoted material is from Doidge’s book.)  We have all observed the bright eyes of a newborn ‘looking at the world with wide-eyed amazement.’ (2)  But until recently, I didn’t realize that her brain was acquiring knowledge faster than that of a college student cramming for an exam.  In fact, she even learned the sound of her mother’s voice in utero.”

“That, Curmudge, is why babies and small children need so much tender loving care.  They are absorbing what’s going on around them but can’t differentiate good from bad.”

“During this so-called critical period the chemical BDNF ‘turns on the nucleus basalis, the part of our brain that allows us to focus our attention—and keeps it on during the entire critical period.  It also allows us to remember what we are experiencing.’  In addition, ‘it allows brain map differentiation and change to take place effortlessly.’  Ultimately, BDNF turns off the nucleus basalis and ends the period of effortless learning.”

 

“As I understand it, Old Guy, the critical period in which learning occurs rapidly and easily runs from birth until around the age of seven.  After that, learning requires close attention.  But if for some reason the critical period ends prematurely, big problems occur in the child’s development.”

“That’s for sure, Julie.  When that happens, all neuron connections are sealed before all of the important ones are reinforced.  ‘The child is left with scores of undifferentiated brain maps and hence pervasive developmental disorders.  Their brains are hyperexcitable and hypersensitive.  If they hear one frequency, the whole auditory cortex starts firing.’ “

“Wow, Professor, that sounds pretty ominous.  Fortunately, Doidge tells us how Merzenich came riding to the rescue.”

     

“Merzenich and coworkers extended their studies of animals, discussed earlier, to humans.  Their work was based on the principle that ‘more efficient use of neurons occurs whenever we become proficient at a skill, and that as neurons are trained to become more efficient, they can process faster.’  They learned that children with language disabilities often have auditory processing problems.  ‘Merzenich believed that these children’s auditory cortex neurons were firing too slowly, so they couldn’t distinguish between two very similar sounds.’  ‘Improper hearing led to weaknesses in all the language tasks.’  So he and coworkers developed Fast ForWord, a training program to improve children’s ability to distinguish short sounds from long.  Children worked on the program for over an hour per day, five days per week, for several weeks.  Their language skills, mental processing, and proficiency in other subjects improved; and their brain scans had begun to normalize.”

“Doidge relates a heart-warming story of an autistic girl who happened to be in a special-ed class that used Fast ForWord.  Along with communication, her other autism symptoms improved as well.  Curmudge, that serendipitous finding must have inspired the researchers.  The girl’s mother termed it ‘a big blessing.’ “

“The result: At the time Doidge was writing his book, Merzenich was developing a modification of Fast ForWord for autism.  Currently there are foundations and commercial enterprises that provide treatments for autism spectrum disorders based on neuroplasticity.  Examples are the Ohio Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders and Low Incidence Disabilities and Autism Speaks.  In addition, there are web sites like Bumblebee Kids that offer aids for early child development as well as autism, and others like Brainology, Lumosity, and LearningRx   that facilitate learning from grade school to adulthood.  Also there are on-site facilities such as the Arrowsmith School in Toronto for students with learning disabilities and the Arrowsmith Program that offers the Arrowsmith cognitive exercise program to public and private schools internationally.”

“So what’s scheduled for our next outing, Professor?”

“We’re going to graduate from babies and young people to senior citizens experiencing ‘senior moments’ and disabling strokes.  You won’t want to miss that.”

“Senior moments?  I’ll learn from the voice of experience.”

Kaizen Curmudgeon

(1)  Doidge, Norman, MD The Brain That Changes Itself (2007).

(2)  Gopnik, Alison http://www.alisongopnik.com/Alison_Gopnik_WSJcolumns.htm#04Oct13

Link to posting from blog archives: Mistakes 2—standard work, checklists, “Isabel”—4/08/10  http://kaizencurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2010/04/mistakes-2.html