I’m trying to wade through reading what google shows me when I search “new neural pathways”, but a lot of the hits I get are blogs or sites trying to sell me something. The article about neuroplasicity in Wiki certainly seems more grounded in science, but I am having a hard time grasping what all the article says and relating it to my situation. I have ordered a book that another Doper recommended but it hasn’t arrived yet.
What I’m asking is for any Dopers who have the Straight on this to tell me what you (and, if you can tell me in relatively simple words, I would be even more grateful!) know about this, especially how it might relate to brain damage.
I guess describing my situation might help others to better answer the question.
I have a progressive form of MS, and there are some things I can’t do anymore. It feels like I forgot how, and, when I try to remember, I just can’t. “How does that walking thing go again?”, for example. “Let’s see…I pick this foot up and then put it in front of me…wait a second, the heel needs to go down first…uh-oh, watch the balance thing!..Ok, what was I trying to do?”
If I can’t do them because of a bit of brain or nerve damage, can I relearn how to do it by using a different part of my brain? And is that what’s meant by forming “new neural pathways”?
People who lose some function because part of their brain is damaged do sometimes recover that function (or a lot of it) over time, because another part of the brain is able to take over responsibility. (And yes, that can be called “forming new neural pathways”). This does not always happen, though, and whether it does or not will depend on a lot of factors, including just how much damage there was, which particular bit got damaged (some parts of the brain are more specialized and irreplaceable than others), and the effort the person is able to put into re-learning to do whatever it was that they lost the ability to do. In some cases, no matter how hard you try things won’t get any better; in other cases things will improve eventually even without putting any special effort into it; and in other cases, the effort counts.
The trouble with progressive MS, though, is that you will keep on losing more and more bits of your brain. It is possible that you might sometimes be able to recover certain functions you have lost, but by the time you have done so, unless the MS itself goes into remission, you will probably have lost something else. It’s a nasty disease.
Yes, your brain can “relearn” certain tasks by using different neural pathways. I think the brain does this on its own as much as it can, but in some situations you can help it along with certain therapies. For example, if you are having mild/moderate walking problems because of weakness (due to demyelination) in one leg, certain exercises taught by a physical therapist may help train that leg to “learn” by repetition what it needs to do.
Clearly this differs from person to person and can only help up to a point–especially after enough axons (not just myelin) is compromised. Even though there is no cure and the progressive form responds poorly to disease modification therapy (e.g. interferons) there are a wiiiiide variety of symptomatic treatments available to improve the quality of life persons with MS.
Have you ever gone on to some of the MS forums like BrainTalk and MSWorld? There is a lot of good info there though of course most of it is anecdotal. The National MS Society is always a good place to look for information about this stuff too.
And don’t be angry at the rain, the rain is your friend! If you have MS you should be angry at the heat, shouldn’t you? :):):):)
Seems like the practical parts of your question have been answered, but if interested this is a little on “new neural pathways” (simplified):
Your brain has billions of neurons
Each one connects to many others (can be 10,000)
When you learn something, either new connections between different neurons are physically made, or existing connections become stronger. If there is damage and the brain is able to re-learn something, the “new neural pathways” means that instead of using neuron number 28 connected to neuron number 592, now neuron number 28 connects to neuron number 235 to pass the signal along.
Thanks, y’all, for the answers. I’m glad to hear them, as I didn’t want to build up false hope. Sounds like my hope is not falsified!
I do visit the MS websites, and have found the forums at MSWorld. org especially helpful. I use it to periodically check things out, although I don’t hang out there like I do here.
Yeah, da heat is not my friend! I’ve read that MS used to be diagnosed with the “hot bath test”. Put the patient in a hot bath, and if the symptoms get worse, that confirmed MS.
My username and sig go together to make a little riddle. Combined, they tell you a little about my philosophy and also how I sound when I talk!;)
