The Miracles of The Brain That Changes Itself
Our brains are designed to be neuroplastic
“The Brain That Changes Itself” is an incredibly insightful and revolutionary book written by neuroscientist Norman Doidge. In his book, Doidge challenges the traditional notion that the brain is a static organ. Furthermore, he points out the almost magical capacity of the brain to adapt and reorganize itself throughout life with many stories and research-backed proofs. This book is a wake up call for all who believe that physical change in the brain is not possible after reaching adulthood.
The book is full of stories of scientists who were challenged by the whole scientific community for just suggesting that the brain is plastic, of patients who were able to do ‘miracles’ such as the patient who recovered from a stroke that destroyed the left side of his brain, another who lost 98% of her brain balance organ and restored full function, and the woman who had learning disabilities her entire life fixing them all one by one. In this summary, we are going to examine two of these cases, but the rest is equally exciting and the only way to experience it is through the book.
“The brain is a far more open system than we ever imagined, and nature has gone very far to help us perceive and take in the world around us. It has given us a brain that survives in a changing world by changing itself.” Norman Doidge
Summary:
The central theme of the book revolves around the concept of neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Doidge presents a series of captivating case studies and real-life examples that illustrate the extraordinary plasticity of the brain.
The first story is of Cheryl Schiltz, who woke up one day and felt that the earth was shaking underneath her and she was perpetually falling into it. She describes the feeling as a trapdoor that opens and swallows her into an infinite abyss.
After a quick visit to the doctor, Cheryl finds out that her vestibular system has been damaged by 95 to 100%. Apparently, the doctor prescribed to her a medicine called gentamicin, which has a side effect of hearing loss, ringing in the ear, and devastation to the brain’s balance system if used for a prolonged time. That’s why it’s usually given for a brief amount of time. However, in Cheryl’s case, she was using it way beyond the limit and that caused her a permanent disability.
After getting dispatched from the hospital and getting a 1000$ monthly check for disability, Cheryl found herself disabled for life. Her case usually gets dismissed as hopeless, as there was a belief at the time that our brains have specific maps that have functions assigned to them at birth and that don’t change and are lost forever if damaged.
Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita came to challenge that notion. With his ahead-of-its-time machine, he connected Cheryl’s vestibular system to her tongue in an attempt to teach the brain to sense its balance from her tongue instead of her damaged tissue, which was sending wrong signals of balance at all times.
The machine is designed to replace the vestibular system of Cheryl with signals of balance that come from her tongue. After Cheryl wore the machine for a few moments, she was able to stand up straight. It was an emotional moment, being able to stand up after 5 years of suffering as a wobbler. Then she was able to stand up for 20 minutes.
After the machine was turned off, Cheryl could maintain her balance for 5 extra minutes. With more training, Cheryl seemed to be able to balance for 15 minutes without any machine. As the training went by, Cheryl was able to stand up for 4 hours at a time.
As the years went by, Cheryl eventually was able to completely be independent from the machine, proving the brain’s ability to re-wire itself after an almost devastating and life-altering injury.
Our brains are plastic, they respond and change according to stimuli and what you feed them with. Train your brain with the correct information for a prolonged period of time and it will change to accommodate whatever type of learning you’re enduring.
Addiction itself is not a disease, but rather an advanced form of pathological learning, where the brain learns where to get high amounts of dopamine from a source through repeated behavior. With the help of a protein called Delta-FosB, that repeated behavior becomes ingrained in the brain and almost stays there permanently. However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be overridden or changed, simply that the information will always stay there.
“Ironically, some of our most stubborn habits and disorders are products of our plasticity.” Norman Doidge
However, recovery is only possible because of the neuroplasticity of our brains, like a double edged sword. That’s why recovering addicts are a proof of the brain that changes itself.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for hope and are lost, remember that your brain is an adaptable machine that can come out of any situation you’re put in. It changes itself to accommodate you and the life you’re living. So how are you going to guide this change? Embrace it? Or let it drift with the almost infinite stimuli in our environments?
