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Brain Plasticity Redefines The Adult Brain
- Neuroplasticity means the brain changes structure and function in response to activity and experience.
- This overturns the old machine metaphor that adult brains are fixed and only degenerate with age.
Plasticity Operates At Multiple Brain Levels
- Plasticity works at multiple levels from synapses to large brain compartments and includes glia and gene expression changes.
- Rigidity can reflect strengthened plastic circuits, not absence of plasticity.
Practice Creates Neural Ruts
- Repeated use carves neural 'ruts' that make behaviors habitual and harder to change.
- Plasticity is competitive: strong networks dominate and resist alternative patterns.