Contrary to popular belief, the brain does not have the capability to rewire itself to compensate for loss of sight, amputations, or stroke-related damage, according to scientists from the University of Cambridge and Johns Hopkins University.
In a recent paper published in eLife, Professors Tamar Makin (Cambridge) and John Krakauer (Johns Hopkins) argue that the notion that the brain, in response to injury or deficit, can reorganize itself and repurpose particular regions for new functions, is fundamentally flawed – despite being commonly cited in scientific textbooks. Instead, they argue that what is occurring is merely the brain being trained to utilize already existing, but latent, abilities.
Leave a reply