DOES NEUROPLASTICITY CHANGE WITH AGE?

YES

NEUROPLASTICITY IN KIDS
Children’s brains are constantly growing, developing,
and changing. Each new experience prompts a
change in brain structure, function, or both.
At birth, each neuron in an infant’s brain has about
7,500 connections with other neurons; by the age of
2, the brain’s neurons have more than double the
number of connections in an average adult brain
(Mundkur, 2005). These connections are slowly
pruned away as the child grows up and starts
forming their own unique patterns and connections.
There are four main types of neuroplasticity
observed in children:
Adaptive: changes that occur when children practice
a special skill and allow the brain to adapt to
functional or structural changes in the brain (like
injuries);
Impaired: changes occur due to genetic or acquired
disorders;
Excessive: the reorganization of new, maladaptive
pathways that can cause disability or disorders;
Plasticity that makes the brain vulnerable to
injury: harmful neuronal pathways are formed that
make injury more likely or more impactful
(Mundkur, 2005).
These processes are stronger and more
pronounced in young children, allowing them
to recover from injury far more effectively
than most adults. In children, profound cases
of neuroplastic growth, recovery, and
adaptation can be seen.
 Neuroplasticity in Adults
This ability is not absent in adults, but it is
generally observed less than in children and
at lower strengths; however, the adult brain
is still capable of extraordinary change.
It can restore old, lost connections and
functions that have not been used in some
time, enhance memory, and even enhance
overall cognitive skills.
The potential is generally not as great in older adults as it is
in children and young adults, but with sustained effort and a
healthy lifestyle, adults are just as able to promote positive
change and growth in their brains as the younger
generations.

RESEARCH AND STUDIES ON NEUROPLASTICITY

Here are some of the newest and most exciting developments

in the field:
Enriched environments (saturated with novelty, focused
attention, and challenge) are critical for promoting
neuroplasticity, and can provoke growth and positive
adaptation long after the “critical learning period” of early
childhood and young adulthood is over (Kempermann et al.,
2002; Vemuri et al., 2014);
“Newborn” neurons at 8 weeks old and older neurons are
generally at the same level of maturation (Deshpande et al.,
2013);
As few as ten ~1-hour sessions of cognitive training
over 5 or 6 weeks have the potential to reverse the
same amount of age-related decline that has been
observed in the same time period (Ball et al.,
2002);
Physical activity and good physical fitness can
prevent or slow the normal age-related neuronal
death and damage to the hippocampus, and even
increase the volume of the hippocampus (Niemann
et al., 2014);
Intermittent fasting can promote adaptive responses
in synapses (Vasconcelos et al., 2014);
Chronic insomnia is associated with atrophy
(neuronal death and damage) in the hippocampus,
while adequate sleep may enhance neurogenesis
(Joo et al., 2014).
The term laterality refers to the preference most humans
 show for one side of their body over the other.
Examples include left-handedness/right-handedness
 and left/right-footedness; it may also refer to the
primary use of the left or right hemisphere in the brain.
It may also apply to animals or plants. The majority of
tests have been conducted on humans, specifically to
determine the effects on language.
Each human's brain develops differently, leading to
unique lateralization in individuals. This is different
from specialization, as lateralization refers only to the
function of one structure divided between two
hemispheres. Specialization is much easier to observe
as a trend, since it has a stronger anthropological
history
The best example of an established lateralization is that
of Broca's and Wernicke's areas, where both are often found
exclusively on the left hemisphere. Function lateralization, such
as semantics, intonation, accentuation, and prosody, has since been
called into question and largely been found to have a neuronal basis in
both hemispheres. Another example is that each hemisphere in the
brain tends to represent one side of the body. In the cerebellum, this is
the same body side, but in the forebrain this is predominantly
the contralateral side.
Language
Language functions such as grammar, vocabulary
and literal meaning are typically lateralized to
the left hemisphere, especially in right-handed
individuals. While language production is left-
lateralized in up to 90% of right-handers, it is
more bilateral, or even right-lateralized, in
approximately 50% of left-handers.
Broca's area and Wernicke's area, associated with
the production of speech and comprehension of
speech, respectively, are located in the
left cerebral hemisphere for about 95% of right-
handers but about 70% of left-
handers.:69 Individuals who speak multiple
languages demonstrate separate speech areas
for each language.
Sensory processing
The processing of basic sensory information is
lateralized by being divided into left and right
sides of the body or the space around the body.
In vision, about half the neurons of the optic
nerve from each eye cross to project to the
opposite hemisphere, and about half do not
cross to project to the hemisphere on the same
side.This means that the left side of the visual
field is processed largely by the visual cortex of
the right hemisphere and vice versa for the right
side of the visual field.
In hearing, about 90% of the neurons of
the auditory nerve from one ear cross to project
to the auditory cortex of the opposite
hemisphere.