Long Term Potentiation

[NeverAmI]

In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously.[2] It is one of several phenomena underlying synaptic plasticity, the ability of chemical synapses to change their strength. As memories are thought to be encoded by modification of synaptic strength,[3] LTP is widely considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory.[2][3]

Cells that fire together, wire together. Has anyone done much research on plasticity/neuroscience? I find the concept fascinating.

 

[DoveAlexa]

NEUROPLASTICITY IS AAAAAWWWWWWEEEESOOOOOOOOOMMEEEE!
Yes I have researched it a bit :3.

It was shown that even if you are very old, and have had a stroke, as long as you work at it you can fully recover; something that has been thought impossible in the past as we were all told that the brain can't grow or regenerate at all past the age of 2.

 

[NeverAmI]

The synaptic connections between the dendrites and the axon of adjacent neurons supposedly cause memory and the ability to adjust those connections correlates to the ability to learn.

Mirror Neurons - Social adaptation, learning, empathy

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.[1][2] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primates, humans and other species including birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.

Spindle Neurons - Snap Judgement

Spindle neurons are relatively enormous cells that may allow rapid communication across the relatively large brains of great apes, Elephantidaes, and Cetacea. Spindle neurons have been implicated by scientists as having an important role in many cognitive abilities and disabilities generally unique to humans, ranging from savant perceptiveness and perfect pitch to dyslexia and autism. While rare in comparison to other neurons, spindle neurons are most abundant, and largest, in humans. They have only been found thus far in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), frontoinsular cortex (FI), and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. They have also been found in the brains of the great apes, humpback whales, fin whales, killer whales, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphin, Risso

 

[~jet]

NEUROPLASTICITY IS AAAAAWWWWWWEEEESOOOOOOOOOMMEEEE!
Yes I have researched it a bit :3.

It was shown that even if you are very old, and have had a stroke, as long as you work at it you can fully recover; something that has been thought impossible in the past as we were all told that the brain can't grow or regenerate at all past the age of 2.

Huh, I'd heard that the brain stops growing around 11-14, and after that a person is better at expounding upon what they learned to 'learn' (i.e., becomes a natural at) while their brain WAS still growing. Neural regeneration cases do seem to have cropped up, albeit ~very~ rarely and largely following serious physical trauma.

Don't quite me verbatim, but that comes from years of sorta-kinda-following the subject here and there. One conservative at the office always tries to argue with me about it.

 

[NeverAmI]

Huh, I'd heard that the brain stops growing around 11-14, and after that a person is better at expounding upon what they learned to 'learn' (i.e., becomes a natural at) while their brain WAS still growing. Neural regeneration cases do seem to have cropped up, albeit ~very~ rarely and largely following serious physical trauma.

Don't quite me verbatim, but that comes from years of sorta-kinda-following the subject here and there. One conservative at the office always tries to argue with me about it.

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v4/n11/abs/nm1198_1313.html

The genesis of new cells, including neurons, in the adult human brain has not yet been demonstrated. This study was undertaken to investigate whether neurogenesis occurs in the adult human brain, in regions previously identified as neurogenic in adult rodents and monkeys. Human brain tissue was obtained postmortem from patients who had been treated with the thymidine analog, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), that labels DNA during the S phase. Using immunofluorescent labeling for BrdU and for one of the neuronal markers, NeuN, calbindin or neuron specific enolase (NSE), we demonstrate that new neurons, as defined by these markers, are generated from dividing progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus of adult humans. Our results further indicate that the human hippocampus retains its ability to generate neurons throughout life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080831114717.htm

Up to now, neural networks in adults have been thought to be fixed and immutable, without the potential to regenerate: This assumption was prominently pronounced by the famous Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who postulated that

 

[NeverAmI]

So Long Term Potentiation (LTP) can explain many ritualistic or habitual activities that are formed with humans. The neuronal connections create associations between things, such as memory and action. So every time you recall a certain memory, it might naturally lead to a procedural memory of action which has become the natural response due to LTP.

OCD has been overcome by redirecting thoughts/memories/feelings to actions different from that linked through LTP. This sort of redirection is referred to as Long Term Depression (not in the psychological sense) by ignoring and consciously choosing other action, over time the habitual urges lessen. OCD is more than that though, I can't remember the exact cause, but some part of the prefrontal cortex (I think) has an overactive pathway that causes high anxiety which would make that natural procedural association seem so urgent.