How to Apply the Principles of Neuroplasticity – with David Seck PT, DPT

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Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s remarkable ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. These new neural connections are what allows us to form new memories, learn a new language, or improve our ability to play an instrument. Certain areas of our brain are designed to control specific functions we use every day such as speech, coordinating movement, recalling a recipe, or driving the same route to work everyday. However, certain things can cause disruptions in skills we have acquired. Neuroplasticity allows the brain to compensate for injury, adapt to new situations, and respond to changes in the environment. The brain can strengthen existing neural connections or “pathways”, grow new neural connections, and “reorganize” existing networks to the new skill. These processes are influenced by experiences, learning, and environmental stimuli, allowing the brain to continually update and refine its functions.

In the context of therapy after a stroke, neuroplasticity plays a crucial role in recovery. A stroke often damages specific areas of the brain, leading to loss of function in related body parts, memories, speech, sensation, and more. However, through targeted therapeutic interventions, neuroplasticity can be harnessed to help the brain “re-map” functions from the damaged areas to healthier regions. For example, repetitive physical exercises can stimulate the brain to strengthen existing neural pathways or develop new ones, helping to restore movement, coordination, and strength in affected limbs. The concept of “use it or lose it” is fundamental here—consistent, purposeful activity encourages the brain to adapt and rewire, potentially leading to significant recovery.

The challenge in rehabilitation after a neurologic injury, such as a stroke, is to harness the drivers of neuroplasticity. As an example, when our nervous system is developing as toddlers, we get thousands of repetitions of meaningful movements when we learn to walk, reach, and produce more complex fine motor skills such as catching a ball or play an instrument. That repetition or “dosing” can be difficult to replicate after a stroke. Rehabilitation disciplines like physical therapy often incorporate strategies to maximize neuroplasticity, such as task-specific training, where patients repeatedly perform movements they struggle with, or constraint-induced movement therapy, which forces the use of an affected limb. These methods, grounded in the principles of neuroplasticity, aim to create new neural circuits that can bypass damaged areas. Neuroplasticity is the scientific foundation that underpins the effectiveness of stroke rehab in helping stroke survivors regain lost functions and improve their quality of life.

The 10 Principles of Applying Neuroplasticity: 

Use It or Lose It: Neural circuits that are not actively engaged in task performance can degrade over time, while those that are engaged tend to strengthen.
Use It and Improve It: Practicing specific tasks can enhance the corresponding neural networks, leading to improved function.
Specificity: Neuroplasticity is task-specific; the nature of the training dictates the nature of the plasticity.
Repetition Matters: Repetition of a task or activity is essential to establish and reinforce new neural connections.
Intensity Matters: High-intensity training leads to greater neural plasticity than low-intensity training.
Time Matters: The timing of intervention is crucial, with early intervention generally leading to better outcomes.
Salience Matters: The relevance or importance of the task to the individual influences how well the brain adapts.
Age Matters: While neuroplasticity occurs throughout life, it is typically more robust in younger brains.
Transference: Training in one area can enhance the performance of similar skills or behaviors, promoting broader neural changes.
Interference: Sometimes, learning a new skill or behavior can interfere with the recovery of old skills or behaviors, especially if they are competing for similar neural resources.
By: Deck Seck – PT, DPT

 

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Story Preview | A DRIVING FORCE – Alesha Goodman

by Jake Sheaffer

“I once threw a canister of my supplement powder at the wall and dented it. That’s something I can’t imagine ever doing before my stroke, but it’s just another part
of my recovery to work on.”

______________________________

On an early October weekend in 2019, Alesha Goodman and her longtime boyfriend Drew hiked over 50 miles of rugged desert landscape in the Ochoco National Forest in Central Oregon. They were on a nine-day hunting trip they’d been planning for months. While Drew streaked up the steep slopes of sagebrush and loose rock, Alesha tarried behind breathing heavily, fighting the searing pain radiating from the base of her skull. An active thirty-four-year-old who frequented local gyms, walked her dog daily, and hiked on weekends, Alesha never suspected the severe neck pain and nausea she’d had for the past week and a half were signs of an impending stroke. And not just one stroke, but two. Two potentially fatal strokes that would occur within an hour of each other the day after she returned from the Ochocos.

An only child, Alesha was close to her parents and her grandmother who lived on her parents’ property later in life. As a kid, she delivered newspapers in her Bend, OR neighborhood, and in her spare time, she wrote children’s books for fun and read voraciously, prompting close friends to refer to her as a “living encyclopedia of odd information.”

On the Monday morning after she got home, Alesha sat in traffic at a parkway off -ramp, still in discomfort from the neck pain and the nausea. She had new symptoms, too, dizziness and feeling faint. Regardless of the pain, she readied herself for work, but she had an uneasy feeling about her job.

Over the weekend, Alesha had received multiple text messages from her employer, a jewelry company in Central Oregon, about an issue with her company email and password, but with no cell reception, she couldn’t respond to her manager’s concerns. After searching through Alesha’s desk for her email password and not finding it, but instead finding an important legal document she’d already dealt with but had not yet disclosed to her boss, the company hired a specialist to get around the digital safeguards. That day, Alesha was let go from her position.

Purchase the Book to Learn More About Alesha’s Journey!