Throughout her life, the author has been confronted with ideas — broadcasted by teachers and parents, among others — about the inability to restore nervous tissue. Thus, the adults tried to show how harmful to be nervous so such opinions can be perceived as protection, but as it turned out, they are completely unfounded. In her lecture, Thuret (2015) said that neurons are actually regenerating, and by the age of fifty, the human brain has completely different nerve cells than it had at birth. This is tremendous news that has shocked the author and changed the way she thinks about brain tissue. Thuret also showed how factors of environment, nutrition, and activity affect the process of creating new neurons, neurogenesis. Given this knowledge, it seems obvious that the inner desire to engage only in constructive activities that contribute to neurogenesis. This includes adding more Omega-3 to the diet, switching to short-term fasting, and abandoning ethanol. Physical activity that increases blood flow is also likely to catalyze neurogenesis: running, swimming, or gym will be a good strategy for all people who want to develop gray matter. Ultimately, it gives a person an improved memory, the ability to think critically even in old age, and a positive mood.
In fact, it turns out that even after physical or biological brain damage, neurogenesis is involved. In particular, as a result of trauma, neurons naturally break down, which leads to a violation of the person’s cognitive abilities: memory, recognition, and thinking. There are many examples of such damages: concussion, stroke, or even coma. Due to the phenomenon of cognitive reserve, until a certain threshold is reached, the human brain will continue to function normally, so tissue destruction symptoms may be invisible (Ridding, 2017). Probably, neurogenesis plays a big role in this phenomenon, producing new neurons in response to the destruction of old ones. Therefore, it can be argued that in brain damage, neurogenesis plays an adaptive role in preserving the body’s functionality.
This statement does not seem to be entirely true for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As is known, as a result of AD, the human brain undergoes irreversible pathomorphological changes in the hippocampus (Choi & Tanzi, 2019). The same area is responsible for neurogenesis, so the relationship between the two factors seems transparent (Thuret, 2015). Thus, it is possible to postulate that the older the patient becomes, the worse their neurogenesis is. However, it seems that in the early stages of AD, neurogenesis may still prevail over tissue destruction.
References
Choi, S.H. & Tanzi, R.E. (2019). Is Alzheimer’s Disease a neurogenesis disorder [PDF document].
Ridding, M. (2017). What is ‘cognitive reserve’? How we can protect our brains from memory loss and dementia. The Conversation. Web.
Thuret, S. (2015). You can grow new brain cells. Here’s how [Video]. TED.