Brain Adapting Very Fast When Natural Body Injuries

Brain has tremendous flexibility in responding to changes in body function. When a portion of the body is injured, electrical signals can be routed by the brain to restore lost function.

When there is an amputation, brain cells that were originally intended to process sensory signals from the missing part can be moved to do something else. The loss of sensory perception such as sight or smell will trigger a strengthening of other senses to compensate.

These changes occur very quickly. A new study published in the journal Neurology found that such changes occur in about two weeks.

Experts neurophysiology from the University of Zurich recruited 10 patients who suffered an injury to his right arm. They will spend at least two weeks in difficult circumstances seeprti ordinary activity.

With his right hand wrapped in a cast, the subject will be forced to rely on his left hand to perform daily activities such as eating, dressing, using a computer mouse, or open the door.

Brain scans for two days with an average of 16 days after injury showed that the brain can reconstruct the structure itself. Sensorimotor cortex in the left brain is responsible for managing the movement and process information from the right arm are running low.

When the left hand more skilled in performing fine motor movements, gray matter in sensorimotor cortex of the right brain more thickened. This change is mostly seen in the group of nerve cells connected with the left and right arm, and fingers.

We are seeing an increase in motor skills in his left hand is not injured, which is directly related to the increase in thickness on the right side of the brain. Changes in brain structure is associated with the transfer of skills from the right hand to left hand.

White matter that serves to connect the electrical impulses from the brain to the arms, and back again to the brain, also showed a similar change in shape. Network density is decreased on the left side of the brain, reflecting a right arm that is rarely used. But the white matter in the right brain does not grow to become more dense during the study period.

One type of therapy for stroke victims is to strengthen the arm that is not affected, and helps the brain learn new neural pathways.

In addition to showing how quickly and extent of brain adaptation to changing state of the body, this study also highlighted that rehabilitation after injury and relaxation of the injured limb should be as short as possible.