Neuroplasticity
Some medical professionals believe behaviours of certain unique people, like Albert Einstein can be analysed far beyond just their physical brain and psychological thinking. They believe Neuroplasticity is the primary cause of the being of who they are in all ways. For this, he would have had a much more prominent development of neuroplasticity to change the person he was. Neuroplasticity describes how experiences reorganise neural pathways in the brain. Long lasting functional changes in the brain occur when humans learn new material or memorise new information. Therefore, it is these changes in neural connections which we call neuroplasticity. For example, when someone is exposed to new information, like an image of an object, in order for the image to be retained, the brain must react to the object and record the image. So similarly, in order for new knowledge to be retained in memory, physical changed in the brain representing the new knowledge must occur. It can also be said that neural circuitry in the brain must reorganise in response to experience of sensory stimulation. To relate this to Albert Einstein’s brain, if this was the case, neuroplasticity would have altered his brain in many ways. Therefore, there must have been certain happenings or events which have influenced the development of neuroplasticity in his brain. But how and when neuroplasticity occurs depends on a number of conditions:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html
1. Neuroplasticity does not consist of a single type of morphological change but rather involves several distinct processes that occur throughout a particular individual’s lifetime. Also, countless types of brain cells are involved in neuroplasticity, including neurons, neuroglia and vascular cells. As mentioned before, the fact that Albert Einstein had more neuroglia cells relative to neurons suggests that the likelihood of constant neuroplasticity occurring is greater than that of an average human brain.
2. Neuroplasticity occurs under two primary conditions:
- During normal brain development when the immature brain first begins to accumulate and process sensory information through adulthood. (developmental plasticity and plasticity of learning and memory.)
- As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function or to maximise remaining functions in the event of brain injury.
3. The environment plays a key role in influencing neuroplasticity.
- In addition to genetic physical factors, the human brain is shaped by the characteristics of a person’s environment and by their actions.
These three points of neuroplasticity (if it is one of the underlying causes of Albert Einstein’s brain) suggest that personal experiences heavily alter the neural connections within the physical brain overtime. Therefore Einstein’s brain had the ability to rewire itself to a greater scale than the average human.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html
1. Neuroplasticity does not consist of a single type of morphological change but rather involves several distinct processes that occur throughout a particular individual’s lifetime. Also, countless types of brain cells are involved in neuroplasticity, including neurons, neuroglia and vascular cells. As mentioned before, the fact that Albert Einstein had more neuroglia cells relative to neurons suggests that the likelihood of constant neuroplasticity occurring is greater than that of an average human brain.
2. Neuroplasticity occurs under two primary conditions:
- During normal brain development when the immature brain first begins to accumulate and process sensory information through adulthood. (developmental plasticity and plasticity of learning and memory.)
- As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function or to maximise remaining functions in the event of brain injury.
3. The environment plays a key role in influencing neuroplasticity.
- In addition to genetic physical factors, the human brain is shaped by the characteristics of a person’s environment and by their actions.
These three points of neuroplasticity (if it is one of the underlying causes of Albert Einstein’s brain) suggest that personal experiences heavily alter the neural connections within the physical brain overtime. Therefore Einstein’s brain had the ability to rewire itself to a greater scale than the average human.