Development delay & Neuroplasticity

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What is neuroplasticity in Autism?

There are 50-100 billion neurons in our brain. The relationships between them and their strength determine the task they perform. Neuroplasticity is the ability to change the neural connections and their strength, thereby transforming the function they provide. Neuroplasticity is an important feature of a healthy brain. For example, when you learn something new, say how to roller skate, your brain regions responsible for movement and balance change in order to stay on your feet more and more securely, and this is due to neuroplasticity.

So the brain is constantly changing. The less used abilities and the neural connections responsible for them decrease, while the ones used a lot get stronger. Neuroplasticity, therefore, does not heal in the traditional sense of the word, i.e. it does not repair damaged brain areas. Instead, the functioning of other, healthy parts of the brain changes, and they take over and relearn the lost abilities. The result, seen from the outside, is the same as if the injury had been healed since the lost functions are partially or completely restored.

In this section, you will find articles related to the possible use of neuroplasticity in autism.