Neuroplasticity - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations

Lecturer: Good morning, everyone. Today we're going to look at a topic that you'll no doubt have read about on your favourite self-help or psychology blogs and websites, and that topic is neuroplasticity. It's an issue that's caught the attention of psychologists as it opens up the possibility of treating patients in ways that we might once have thought were impossible.

Neuroplasticity refers to the way the brain is able to adapt over the course of our lives as a result of our experiences and interactions with our environment. The opinion held years ago was that the brain was an organ that grew and developed until adulthood, at which point it stopped generating new cells, and the way it worked or operated became fixed. So, for example, if someone suffered a brain injury of some kind, scientists believed the damage was permanent and the most anyone could hope for was to limit the damage to the brain and prevent more damage from taking place.

However, more recently scientists have proved that our brains aren't hard-wired like a computer at adulthood, and that the neurons - the cells in our brain - can re-organise. For example, if we learn a new skill like playing the guitar, new connections are created between neurons. As we go through life, we're effectively re-wiring our brains.

People who can see receive information about the world from their eyes. This information is sent via the optic nerve to the part of the brain called the visual cortex. In blind people, the visual cortex doesn't get any information from the eyes, but one scientist, Paul Bach-y-Rita, thought the brains of blind people might be able to get this information from another part of their body, their skin. In a number of experiments, he used various techniques to stimulate the skin on their backs. Amazingly, the blind people began to say they experienced 'seeing'. Later, brain scans showed that the information the brain was getting from the skin was being processed in the visual cortex. It seems their brains had formed new connections between neurons in a way nobody would have believed possible in the past.

Another example that's often quoted is a study carried out on cabbies - the drivers of London's famous black taxis. To pass the tests to become a London cabbie, people must spend years learning all the roads and possible routes around the city. Scientists discovered that the area of the brain responsible for memorising all this actually became larger. Interestingly, it became larger than that of London bus drivers, who don't have to memorise the same information but simply follow the same route.

It seems that certain activities can promote neuroplasticity. When we travel, our brains are stimulated by new experiences, and new connections between neurons are triggered. Connectivity can also be enhanced through memory training activities, which can certainly help people as they get older. And whether you are left- or right-handed, doing exercises using the other hand can, over time, have a similar effect. Even the simple act of reading fiction is said to be beneficial.

It's not surprising to learn that the phenomenon of neuroplasticity is regarded as having the potential for miracle cures for people who are struggling with physical and mental problems. It's natural that our hopes are raised when we hear of people recovering from serious brain injuries or stories about how we can alter undesirable personality traits. The idea that negative thinkers can develop a more positive outlook, that we can change our personalities as a consequence of our 'plastic brain' and do or be whatever we want to is very appealing.

However, there are several reasons why we should be cautious and maintain a realistic view of what's possible. As psychologists, we need to question some of the claims being made about neuroplasticity. Such changes as have been observed don't come about without a great deal of effort. For example, people who have lost the use of an arm following a brain injury would need to do specific physical exercises thousands of times for the brain to make new neural connections, and even then, there's no guarantee of success. And research showing that activities like learning a second language have an effect on neural connections is very interesting. But I don't think this supports the idea that the phenomenon of neuroplasticity can be used in a wonder treatment for people with physical or mental ailments. I'd argue that just like the patient learning to regain the use of an arm, such achievements require a tremendous amount of effort. They aren't something that can be achieved overnight. Neither can we ignore the effect of age. What's possible for a younger person might not be achievable for an older one. And then there's the effect of our genes and how these might limit the degree of plasticity our brains are capable of. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating area of science for anyone interested in psychology and one that I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about during your studies and later on in your professional lives.