HARNESSING BRAIN PLASTICITY FOR COGNITIVE HEALTH: STRATEGIES TO COMBAT AGING AND NEURODEGENERATION

Abstract

residual circuits are the result of inborn wiring and various developmental processes which may be further shaped by learning and experiences in later years. Neuroplasticity, as this process is called, forms the basis of how the brain can learn and adapt to new information or situations, and recover from injuries and illnesses. But over time, there is degeneration leading to old age, which results in decreased plasticity, dementia, and susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in the exploration of how the brain can be remodeled or rewired to achieve brain fitness and resist the implications of aging and neurodegenerative indispositions. The present work aims to present an overview of the different approaches and facilitators for boosting brain plasticity and maintaining/increasing cognition in normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases. They discuss such training as; cognitive training exercises; exercise training programs; diets; pharmacological therapies and various discovered technologies like TMS and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques. Further, social interaction, meditation, and practice of other forms of meditation and environmental stimulation is brought and explained as ways of facilitating brain plasticity and cortical reserve. In doing so, this paper offers significant implications on how to prevent and alleviate human brain plasticity since it offers clear strategies to raise brain plasticity, resulting in better psychological health and functioning, hence yielding a better brain, as explained in the making of a better brain paper. Therefore, enhanced knowledge of brain plasticity and the ability to modulate it constitutes the hope for reducing the effects of aging and neurodegenerative disease on cognition and, ultimately, on the quality of life of patients experiencing such conditions.