neuroplasticity

Cochlear implants have transformed what is possible for people with profound hearing loss. But the next major advance may depend less on the device itself than on the brain's ability to learn how to use it.

An intensive seven-day meditation retreat triggered striking changes across the brain and body, including shifts tied to neuroplasticity, immunity, metabolism, and natural pain relief. Participants also showed brain connectivity patterns resembling those associated with psychedelic experiences, suggesting that powerful altered states may be achievable without drugs.

BackgroundAdult second language (L2) learning offers a valuable model for studying experience-dependent brain plasticity beyond early development. Neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional changes associated with L2 acquisition, but findings remain heterogeneous and influenced by differences in study design, learner age, training intensity, and imaging modality. In particular, …

Even a brief walk can trigger the brain's growth machinery, offering older adults a rare biological window where a single workout reshapes neural architecture.

When you learn a new skill, your brain undergoes physical changes. A new study using advanced MRI technology reveals that mastering a task triggers two distinct, unexpected cellular reactions that reshape our understanding of human neuroplasticity.

Echolocation is a fascinating way that animals like bats and whales find their way around the world. By emitting sounds and decoding the echoes that come back, these species are able to detect what’s around them in their local environment. It’s something we know that humans can do too – and it takes less training […]

When you learn a new skill, your brain undergoes physical changes. A new study using advanced MRI technology reveals that mastering a task triggers two distinct, unexpected cellular reactions that reshape our understanding of human neuroplasticity.

Echolocation is a fascinating way that animals like bats and whales find their way around...

Practice may do more than make perfect. Researchers found that extensive training physically reorganizes the brain, allowing learned tasks to bypass the prefrontal cortex and run through specialized circuits instead. By freeing the brain's "thinking" center, people became better at performing another task at the same time, challenging the long-held idea that humans only switch rapidly between tas…

Recent theoretical and empirical work on predictive processing and brain plasticity may help explain both the onset of and ending of Charles Bonnet hallucinations.

A new study finds that your brain’s neuroplasticity could get a boost later in life—thanks to your gut.

Extensive practice can rewire the brain so a learned skill runs more automatically, making some forms of true multitasking possible. Why does driving eventually feel effortless, while learning to drive demands total concentration? A new study from Georgetown University suggests the answer lies in the brain’s ability to rewire itself, shifting well-practiced skills into different [...]

In the laboratory neuroplasticity names a specific set of measurable, localized synaptic mechanisms; in the self-help section and in yoga studios across the country it means empowerment.

This book provides a foundational, epistemologically driven introduction to behavioral learning and neural plasticity, reframing psychological phenomena strictly within the framework and philosophy of natural science (pp. 5, 8, 10). Moving away from traditional, uncritical compilations of experimental literature, the text casts the mechanisms of learning as deep biological and philosophical quest…

Acupuncture shows promise for stroke recovery, promoting neuroplasticity and motor function improvements, according to findings from a randomized MRI trial.

New research by Georgetown scientists shows how the brain rewires itself to automate learned tasks. The findings challenge a long-held understanding of how humans master complex skills, suggesting that true multitasking is really possible.

Researchers have discovered a new way that brain plasticity is controlled in early life, offering insight into the little-understood phenomenon of critical-period closure.

Post-stroke motor dysfunction is one of the leading causes of acquired disability worldwide. The induction and maintenance of neuroplasticity constitute the core mechanisms underlying motor function recovery. Conventional open-loop brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) lack real-time closed-loop feedback and are therefore unable to reliably activate the “temporal contingency” principle required by Heb…

As global population aging accelerates, preventing and treating cognitive impairment has become a major public health priority. Music therapy is a safe, well-tolerated non-pharmacological intervention with substantial potential to improve cognitive function. This review synthesizes the neurologic music therapy (NMT) framework, encompassing techniques targeting attention, memory, and executive fun…