Letter to the Editor: Return to the Teenage Brain
An interesting yet hopeful idea Richard A. Friedman goes over in “Return to the Teenage Brain”, is how we might be able to learn just as easily as we had in adolescence. The difference between adult and adolescent brains is the the ability to form new neural connections is better earlier in life. Friedman uses past studies of valproic acid and placebos to explain the effects that mood stabilizers have on neuroplasticity. The subjects that received valproic acid had formed stronger memories than the subjects who had received the placebo. Though this shows the positive effect of valproic acid has on the brain plasticity, I feel reluctant on believing it’s for the best.
The articles then goes over the mood stabilizer valproic acid recapturing its earlier plasticity ,but never explains how it does so. Friedman states that when wondering about people who take the mood stabilizer we have no clue if they’ll have a constant state of enhanced neuroplasticity. Realizing how little we know about the subject, it becomes worrying to think about a dark side just as Takao Hensch does. Hensch has written that plasticity takes a lot of energy and restricting the neuroplasticity may protect the brain.
I feel like I must disagree with the broader use of mood stabilizers to restart the ability of learning. While being able to develop new memories just as our younger selves sounds like a good idea, who’s to say that the process won’t become addicting to students cramming for tests, or won’t deteriorate the brain from frequent use?
Grayson Marceau
