How and When Was Neuroplasticity Discovered?

​The Discovery -The Brain Is Not Fixed

One of the most significant researchers in the neuroplasticity discovery was Michael Merzenich when back in the early 1970s, he was conducting experiments to prove the exact opposite, i.e., that the brain was compartmentalized, specialized, and fixed.

The Stroke Recovery Puzzle

Scientists observed that in all cases when a human had brain damage in a certain part of the brain – from an accident or stroke – the function related to that region was consistent.  Therefore it made sense was like a computer, a fixed collection of parts all of which have a unique function.

Until the 1980s, scientists shared this concept that the human brain “solidified” and became fixed with each area of the brain having a specialized function.

But then there was the puzzle of stroke victims to explain. How is it possible that many slowly regain lost function?  If the hard drive in a computer is broken, it will stay broken until it’s replaced. Because it’s fixed.

How is it that stroke victims can regain function, even though the cells that die in a stroke are still dead?  if the brain is fixed, that’s a puzzle.

That leads us to how neuroplasticity was discovered.

The Blind Ferret Experiment That Rocked the Science World

Dr. Merzenich wanted to confirm the “brain is fixed” concept conclusively.

His concept was to create an experiment to prove that if there was damage to one part of the brain because it had a specialized, fixed function, that skill could not be relearned.

Inadvertently, this experience is when neuroplasticity was discovered because his experiment discovery proved the exact opposite of what he hoped to prove.

His famous experiment to prove brain specialization involved a ferret that had its eye and ear nerve endings switched, the expectation being it would be permanently deaf and blind.

But after a couple of months, the ferret started seeing and hearing!

The brain adapted. It learned new skills when faced with new sensory inputs. Not only did the brain change, but it also self-organized, looking for ways to improve.

This led to the inescapable conclusion that the brain is one big learning tissue AND that it self-organizes. The skills previously learned by damaged tissue can be relearned in other parts of the brain, but since the brain constantly self-improves, the repurposing of healthy tissue will happen.

This was neuroplasticity, proven beyond doubt.

It is now established science that the brain is a self-improving organ, not only capable of change throughout life but also desiring to change.

For struggling learners, this has massive implications.  Tapping into neuroplasticity offers a way forward, a possible path to improved learning and reading by coaxing improvements in cognitive and learning skills through targeted exercise.

This is a path open to all ages. And it’s why Gemm Learning got started: to make this opportunity possible for families at home.

MIT Study on Brain Changing Function if Needed

In a landmark 1996 study at MIT of people blinded early in life, neuroscientists showed that the visual cortex could participate in a nonvisual function — reading Braille.

This followed early 1990s studies in animals (ferrets) by Fast ForWord founder Dr. Michael Merzenich and others, which showed that sensory brain regions can process information from a different sense if input is surgically rewired to them. For example, connecting the eyes to the auditory cortex can provoke that brain region to process images instead of sounds.

Now, a study by MIT neuroscientists shows that in individuals born blind, parts of the visual cortex that aren’t used to process eye input are recruited to improve hearing. This means the visual cortex can dramatically change its function—from visual processing to language—and it also appears to overturn the idea that language processing can only occur in highly specialized brain regions genetically programmed for language tasks.

To find out if visual brain regions in blind people might be involved in more complex language tasks, the researchers scanned blind subjects as they read. They found that visual brain regions reacted the same way as the brain’s classic language regions.

Redistribution of Brain Capacity

“As these brain functions are getting parceled out, the visual cortex isn’t getting its typical function, which is to do vision. And so it enters this competitive game of who’s going to do what. The whole developmental dynamic has changed,” she says. This suggests that the brain is tissue that can be developed as needed.   Read more about the MIT study here

Implications For Learning

The brain actively self-adjusts and reorganizes throughout life, meaning that there is always potential to develop new capabilities with the right, directed “experience.” Struggling learners and readers should not lose hope.

If trained appropriately, new brain tissue and new pathways can be sparked into action to supplement inefficient or ineffective learning.

The Brain’s Cortical Map

Before you find out about them, it’s important to know about something called the homunculus (pronounced hoe – monk’- you-luss). This is something that students learn in basic neuroanatomy classes. The word “homunculus” means “little man,” which refers to a visual representation of the different parts of the body as seen by the brain. The brain sees your hands as very large because many, many nerves connect to your hands.

For example, when you catch a ball, you have nerves registering how big the ball is, how heavy it weighs, how each finger should hold it, and so on. But your back is another matter. If you close your eyes and ask someone to touch your back, you may not be able to guess the correct spot. Your body does not have as many nerves connected to the skin on your back. The back would look small in the homunculus picture.  Another term for the homunculus is “cortical map.”

Your brain has a cortical map for your feet, hands, and every other part of the body. Merzenich found that if one cortical map is deprived of its input, this situation wasn’t permanent. Later on, it could become active once again if other nearby cortical maps were stimulated. This process occurs thanks to “neuroplasticity,” or the brain’s ability to adapt to change.

How The Brain Rebuilds

Have you ever heard of what happens when someone loses a limb due to amputation? Soon after the amputation, the person suddenly starts feeling pain as if the arm or leg was still there. The cortical map has reorganized itself, for this to happen.

This concept of cortical maps and neuroplasticity comes at a perfect time in history to help children with reading, math, or memory problems. By stimulating nearby cortical maps in the brain, ones that are close to the area of dysfunction, a child’s brain gets the stimulation that is needed to fire up the neurons in the area that weren’t working.

That means the child will be solving math questions easily, reading, and showing signs of a good memory with the correct help–all thanks to Michael Merzenich, the creator of the Fast ForWord program. Learn more about Fast ForWord software and its science-based approach to helping children with reading problems and other learning difficulties.  Fast ForWord is built on neuroscience principles.

About Gemm Learning

Gemm Learning provides Fast ForWord learning and reading software at home with remote oversight in the US and Canada.