NEUROSCIENCE

Published: 12 November 2020

doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.522413

NEUROPLASTICITY: THE BRAIN CHANGES OVER

TIME!
Daniel Menezes Guimarães 1* , Bruna Valério-Gomes 1 and Roberto Lent 1,2
1
Laboratory of Neuroplasticity, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2
D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

You might not expect it, but the brain is always changing—it
YOUNG REVIEWERS:
adapts itself to good and bad life experiences. We call this
ASHLEY neuroplasticity. Although neuroplasticity usually helps us cope with
AGE: 12 problems, sometimes things go wrong, and the changes produced by
neuroplasticity are harmful to the person. In this article, we cover two
SAMANTHA
cases of neuroplasticity, one positive and one harmful. The positive
AGE: 15
one is about changes that happen when we are young and have
good social experiences. The harmful one is about phantom limb
syndrome, a strange phenomenon felt by amputees in their limbs and
organs … that no longer exist!

WHAT IS NEUROPLASTICITY?
We have all heard sentences, such as “The brain is a complex
structure!” or “The brain commands all body functions!” but what
fewer of us know is that the brain is not sitting there unchanging
inside our skulls. It is always adapting to all sorts of different things

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 Guimarães et al. Neuroplasticity Changes the Brain

and situations. After you finish reading this article, we guarantee that
NEUROPLASTICITY
your brain will be different!
Brain’s ability to change
its structure and
function in response to
The brain changes itself through a process called neuroplasticity. Let
life’s events. us decode this word. Neuroplasticity is a combination of two terms:
neuro and plasticity. When we are talking about something related to
the brain, we use the prefix neuro. The second term, plasticity, refers
MALADAPTIVE
to the fact that the brain is always transforming itself. When you meet
PLASTICITY
someone or learn a new fact, your brain changes its structure and
A harmful form of function. The environment can change our brains, even if we are not
plasticity, such as the
one that occurs in the
aware of it. Some events change the way brain cells communicate
phantom with one another, by strengthening or weakening this communication.
limb syndrome. Other events will shape how the brain interprets things. All these
changes end up modifying our behaviors!

SOCIAL COGNITION Before moving on to the examples, we must consider two issues.
SYSTEM First, neuroplasticity changes with age. As we grow older, the brain
Set of skills and brain continues to find different ways of dealing with new things and
regions that are situations [1, 2]. The ability to do this is related to the health of the
responsible for both
understanding social
brain. Why are older people who have always exercised and read a
rules and guiding our lot of engaging books less forgetful of things? Because an active,
social behavior. healthy brain can store mental resources that can be used, when it
gets older, to modify itself. The second issue we must consider is that
CRITICAL PERIOD some neuroplastic events may not be helpful to us and may even be
Time frame where the
extremely harmful! This is what we call maladaptive plasticity [3].
development of some
regions of the brain and
learning are enhanced. SOCIAL EXPERIENCES AND NEUROPLASTICITY
So, we know that we must always try to practice engaging activities
NEURON to enhance the brain’s abilities, and that this will be very important if
[NUR-AAN] we want to maintain healthy brains as we get older. But are there any
One of the many cell benefits of neuroplasticity for a younger brain? The answer is a definite
types making up the YES! Scientists have found that there are certain time frames in our lives
brain. Neurons connect
to one another forming
during which learning and brain development are strengthened. This is
circuits, similar to train true for various systems, such as the visual system, and even for more
tracks. This is how complex ones, such as the social cognition system, which is the group
information travels in of brain regions that helps us understand social information. We call
the brain.
these moments of heightened plasticity critical periods.
MYELINATION
[MAI-UH-LUH-NEI-SHN]
There are critical periods for neuroplasticity, too. As our first example,
A process in which we will see how the environment influences social learning in a critical
parts of the neuron are
covered by membranes
period during adolescence. First, let us dive for a moment into the
of a substance called brain’s microscopical structure.
myelin. Myelin
functions like the The brain is made up of many nerve cells, called neurons. In
rubber cover of electric
wires, and it increases
almost every region of the brain, the neurons undergo myelination,
the speed by which which involves the envelopment of neurons by a fatty (rich in lipids)
information goes from membrane called myelin. Myelination greatly increases the efficiency
one neuron to another. of the brain’s work. However, the critical period for myelination of

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 Guimarães et al. Neuroplasticity Changes the Brain

neurons differs among brain regions. The part of the brain that helps us
make sense of emotions, memory, and social information, called the
medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), is one of the last regions to myelinate.
Myelination of the mPFC takes place during adolescence.

Adolescence is a difficult period in the development of our social

abilities because it is the time when we start interacting more closely
with friends and adults. Our brains must deal with a huge amount of
social information during this period, as we ask questions like, “Who
is my crush?” or “How should I talk to him/her and ask him/her out?”
To navigate these situations, the brain’s neurons must talk amongst
themselves in complex neural circuits, to help a person navigate the
social world. Everything needs to be working if we expect to manage
these situations appropriately.

The problem is that we are not born ready for such interactions.
Although the brain cells and the circuits are all there, we first need
to improve these circuits and optimize their functioning.

Not so long ago, scientists discovered that, during adolescence,

something triggers the myelination of neurons in the mPFC, and this
helps us to better deal with social situations. Interesting fact: the event
that triggers this process of myelination is social interaction! To make
this clear: if you want to be good at social interaction, you must first
interact! This is one of those cases where “practice makes perfection.”
Recent evidence shows that, between the ages of 15–20, the brain is at
its peak potential to transform itself [4]. Remember the critical period?
We know that if we do not engage in social experiences during our
adolescence, the circuits in the mPFC will not myelinate, and this will
affect our entire lives, post-adolescence.

Researchers have shown that if a juvenile mouse is deprived of social

contact, it will avoid interacting with other mice [5]. Social experience
during this critical period is so important that, even if the isolated
animal is later housed with other mice, it will not regain its normal
behavior. So, once the window closes, if there was a lack of appropriate
PHANTOM LIMB
social experiences, social behavior is forever changed.
SYNDROME
Condition where an
amputee still feels
sensations from the A TALE OF PHANTOMS AND MALADAPTIVE PLASTICITY
missing limb or organ.
Although not always, it Wars and diseases can cause many terrible consequences, including
can be a the amputation of a limb. Amputation is a sad condition, but it
painful sensation.
can be also spooky. Some people who have had limbs amputated
have the physical sensation that the amputated part still exists.
This ghostly experience is part of a condition called phantom limb
syndrome, which consists of feeling pain, movement, and other
sensations coming from an amputated limb [6]. Imagine how dreadful
it must be!

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Guimarães et al. Neuroplasticity Changes the Brain

Although phantom limb syndrome has been known since the sixteenth
century, it was not until the 1990s that its symptoms were attributed
to neuroplasticity—a maladaptive (a harmful) form of it.

There is one portion of the brain, called the somatosensory cortex

(SSC), that is responsible for interpreting the world through the
sense of touch. “Is the surface smooth?” and “Is the floor cold?” are
questions that are answered by the SSC. The SSC is also responsible
for something called proprioception. Before we explain what this word
means, do the following experiment: close your eyes and try to touch
the tip of your nose with the tip of your index finger. Did you do it? If so,
you should be amazed by your superpower: you could do it without
seeing the movement! This is proprioception—we know the position
of our bodies and their parts, even with our eyes closed.

So, what happens when one loses a limb by amputation? Does the
region inside the SSC responsible for that limb stop working? Usually,
the brain area only slows down its function, but sometimes things go
wrong, and the brain area responsible for the missing limb becomes
hyperactive. How can it be hyperactive if the limb is missing?

In cases of leg amputation, neuroplasticity allows the neighboring

areas in the SSC, such as the one in charge of the thigh, to take control
of the missing leg area. One possible explanation is that active neurons
in the thigh area “discover” that a neighboring leg region is inactive
and extend some of their fibers to connect to the inactive neurons.
Figure 1 is an example of research conducted in our laboratory with
amputees. We found that not only the representation areas of the
intact and missing limbs were altered, but also that the myelination
of some parts of the brain was reduced.

Okay, so neurons from the thigh move toward and connect to neurons
in the missing-leg area—how can this neuroplasticity translate into
a phantom sensation? Imagine that you can feel each fold of your
clothes that touches your limbs, but even when you wear a bathing
suit, you can still feel that your limbs are there, just by moving
them. This means that the limb area in your brain is constantly being
activated. But in the case of amputation, when the neurons from
the thigh and the lower leg become connected, both are activated
when there is something stimulating the thigh skin. Thus, a touch
to the thigh triggers a sensation of touch in the missing leg. The
proprioceptive sensation in the thigh caused by moving may also
trigger a proprioceptive sensation in the missing leg.

In other words, the brain (or at least the SSC) misunderstands the
sensory experience, believing that the missing limb is still there.

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 Guimarães et al. Neuroplasticity Changes the Brain

Figure 1
Neuroplasticity in a
left leg amputee. The
girl who lost her left leg
was gently stimulated
with a brush in three
places: (1) the stump;
(2) the same region of
the intact leg; and (3)
the remaining foot. The
colored spots on the
brain images indicate
which regions were
most active when the
brush touched her skin.
In (1), you can see that
the stimulation of the
stump produces a
larger area of activation
than when the brush
touches the thigh of
the intact leg (2). In
addition, stimulation of
the stump seems to
activate similar regions
as when the foot is
Figure 1
stimulated (3), but the
areas are smaller.
Notice that the left
parts of the body are
represented in the right CONCLUSION
side of the brain, and
vice-versa. S1, We have discussed two cases of neuroplasticity: one good and one
Somatosensory Area; harmful. We learned that, early in our lives, there are time windows
M1, Motor Area; and during which neuroplasticity and development of some brain regions
M2, Supplementary
Motor Area. Illustration are very important. Such is the case for myelination of the mPFC,
by Julio Xerfan. which is greatly dependent on our social experiences. As an example of
harmful neuroplasticity, we learned that, in the event of an amputation,
the brain might not realize that the limb is gone. This means that the
parts of the brain that were responsible for interpreting signals coming
from that limb (for example, the sensation of touch) will remain active,
leading to phantom limb syndrome. Overall, from these two examples,
you can see that the brain is not static, it is constantly responding to
challenges. Every piece of information we learn or every person we
meet can lead to lasting effects in our brain and our lives.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank for the real human brain images of the figure, provided by
our colleague Theo Marins.

REFERENCES
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scaffolding theory of aging and cognition. Restor. Neurol. Neurosci.
27:391–403. doi: 10.3233/RNN-2009-0493

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2. Gutchess, A. 2014. Plasticity of the aging brain: new directions in cognitive

neuroscience. Science 346:579–82. doi: 10.1126/science.1254604
3. Brown, A., and Weaver, L. C. 2012. The dark side of neuroplasticity. Exp. Neurol.
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4. Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., and Blakemore, S. J. 2015. Adolescence as a sensitive
period of brain development. Trends Cogn. Sci. 19:558–66. doi: 10.1016/
j.tics.2015.07.008
5. Makinodan, M., Rosen, K. M., Ito, S., and Corfas, G. 2012. A critical period for
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6. Simões, E. L., Bramati, I., Rodrigues, E., Franzoi, A., Moll, J., Lent, R., et al. 2012.
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SUBMITTED: 22 December 2019; ACCEPTED: 06 October 2020;

PUBLISHED ONLINE: 12 November 2020.

EDITED BY: Lauren Jantzie, Johns Hopkins University, United States

CITATION: Guimarães DM, Valério-Gomes B and Lent R (2020) Neuroplasticity:

The Brain Changes Over Time! Front. Young Minds 8:522413. doi: 10.3389/frym.
2020.522413

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors declare that the research was conducted in
the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed
as a potential conflict of interest.

COPYRIGHT © 2020 Guimarães, Valério-Gomes and Lent. This is an open-access

article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC
BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided
the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice.
No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these
terms.

YOUNG REVIEWERS
ASHLEY, AGE: 12
Hi I am Ashley!! I like to dance flamenco everyday because it is fun and is a great
physical activity. Flamenco and acting class are my favorite classes this year. I go to
a school that focuses not just on normal classes, but on performing arts as well. In
my spare time I like making jokes and playing card games with my family.

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Guimarães et al. Neuroplasticity Changes the Brain

SAMANTHA, AGE: 15
Hi my name is Samantha! I like to read and write, and I am working on writing
a long story right now. My favorite classes are Chemistry and English. In my free
time I enjoy contemplating the mysteries of the universe, staring off into space, and
writing stories.

AUTHORS
DANIEL MENEZES GUIMARÃES
I am a Brazilian Post-doctoral Associate, now working in Canada. I have been
working in the field of neuroscience for more than 5 years. Since my teenage years, I
have been fascinated with the brain and its workings. When I enrolled in grad school,
I dedicated myself to understanding how the brain interprets the social world. My
research is focused on the social behavior of animals in social isolation (one of the
examples in this article). Aside from science, I am a musician (electric guitar) and I
also write poetry. *[email protected]

BRUNA VALÉRIO-GOMES
I am a Post-doctoral Associate in Brazil. My primary interest is understanding the
neural basis of diseases, and how human behavior is affected by them. I have focused
on studying a brain cell called the oligodendrocyte, its functions and how it interacts
with other cells in disease conditions. I want to enhance my understanding of
psychiatric diseases by studying not only their neural basis but also their social and
psychological aspects. Also, I am interested in aesthetics, fashion, and games.

ROBERTO LENT
I am a Professor of Neuroscience at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and
head the lab where Daniel and Bruna did their graduate work. I supervised their work,
but I loved when they did not entirely follow my suggestions, because their options
usually turned out to be better than my suggestions.

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