Unraveling the mysteries of brain plasticity
Have you ever wondered what happens inside someone鈥檚 brain when they鈥檙e learning how to play a musical instrument or how to ride a bike?
One of the brain鈥檚 most fundamental and amazing functions is the ability to adapt to and learn from new experiences, environments and stimuli through a process called brain plasticity.
Brain plasticity occurs at the level of synapses, which are the points of communication between neurons鈥攁 specialized type of cell that is the basic building block of our nervous system. Changes in synapses lead to changes in how corresponding neural circuits function in the brain, and in turn, lead to changes in our behaviour. However, there is still much that researchers don鈥檛 understand about how the brain encodes these new circuits for these new behaviours to persist and become part of our brain鈥檚 normal operation.
HBHL-funded researcher Aparna Suvrathan鈥擜ssistant Professor in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery at 缅北强奸鈥攊s working with her team to bridge this gap in our understanding by investigating the underlying principles of neuronal plasticity during learning.