How the Brain Reorganizes Itself After Disruption
Author: University of Michigan Health System
Published: 2011/03/18 - Updated: 2026/02/19
Publication Type: Research, Study, Analysis
Category Topic: Human Brain - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, presents findings from the University of Michigan Medical School on how the brain compensates when its ability to generate new cells is disrupted. Working with mouse models, the research team led by Geoffrey Murphy, Ph.D., and Jack Parent, M.D., demonstrated that after scientists suppressed the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus, existing neurons became more active and lived longer to restore functions critical to learning and memory within six weeks. These findings represent a meaningful step toward understanding the mechanisms behind brain plasticity, which could eventually lead to treatments for cognitive impairments caused by disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and aging - making this study especially relevant to people living with neurological disabilities, brain injuries, and age-related cognitive decline - Disabled World (DW).
- Topic Definition: Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, is the brain's ability to reorganize its structure, functions, and neural connections in response to new experiences, learning, injury, or disease. Rather than being a fixed organ that declines irreversibly when damaged, the brain has a remarkable capacity to compensate for lost function by strengthening existing neural pathways or forming new ones - a process that occurs throughout a person's life, not just during childhood development. Neuroplasticity is central to recovery after stroke, traumatic brain injury, and neurosurgery, and it plays a key role in how people adapt to sensory loss, cognitive impairment, and neurological conditions. Understanding and promoting neuroplasticity has become a major focus in rehabilitation medicine, with researchers working to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive it so these processes can be supported or amplified through targeted therapies.
Introduction
Brain's Ability to Reorganize Itself
Researchers gain new insight into the brain's ability to reorganize itself - After disruption, mouse brains shift key functions associated with learning and memory, U-M study finds.
When Geoffrey Murphy, Ph.D., talks about plastic structures, he's not talking about the same thing as Mr. McGuire in The Graduate. To Murphy, an associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School, plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change as we learn.
Murphy's lab, in collaboration with U-M's Neurodevelopment and Regeneration Laboratory run by Jack Parent, M.D., recently showed how the plasticity of the brain allowed mice to restore critical functions related to learning and memory after the scientists suppressed the animals' ability to make certain new brain cells.
Main Content
The findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bring scientists one step closer to isolating the mechanisms by which the brain compensates for disruptions and reroutes neural functioning - which could ultimately lead to treatments for cognitive impairments in humans caused by disease and aging.
"It's amazing how the brain is capable of reorganizing itself in this manner," says Murphy, co-senior author of the study and researcher at U-M's Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute. "Right now, we're still figuring out exactly how the brain accomplishes all this at the molecular level, but it's sort of comforting to know that our brains are keeping track of all of this for us."
In previous research, the scientists had found that restricting cell division in the hippocampuses of mice using radiation or genetic manipulation resulted in reduced functioning in a cellular mechanism important to memory formation known as long-term potentiation.
But in this study, the researchers demonstrated that the disruption is only temporary and within six weeks, the mouse brains were able to compensate for the disruption and restore plasticity, says Parent, the study's other senior author, a researcher with the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of neurology at the U-M Medical School.
After halting the ongoing growth of key brain cells in adult mice, the researchers found the brain circuitry compensated for the disruption by enabling existing neurons to be more active. The existing neurons also had longer life spans than when new cells were continuously being made.
"The results suggest that the birth of brain cells in the adult, which was experimentally disrupted, must be really important - important enough for the whole system to reorganize in response to its loss," Parent says.
Additional Authors: Benjamin H. Singer, Ph.D., Amy E. Gamelli, Ph.D., Cynthia L. Fuller, Ph.D., Stephanie J. Temme, all of U-M
Funding: The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Temme is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and was also supported by a U-M Rackham Merit Fellowship.
Citation: "Compensatory network changes in the dentate gyrus restore long-term potentiation following ablation of neurogenesis in young-adult mice," PNAS Online Early Edition, March 14, 2011.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The most compelling aspect of this research is its demonstration that the brain does not simply accept damage or disruption passively - it actively works to restore what has been lost, rerouting functions and extending the capabilities of existing neurons when new ones cannot be produced. While the work was conducted in mice, the underlying principles of neural plasticity it reveals have direct implications for the future of treating cognitive impairments in humans, from those caused by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's to deficits stemming from stroke or traumatic brain injury. For the millions of people living with these conditions and the families and clinicians supporting them, studies like this one offer a scientifically grounded reason to remain hopeful that the brain's own adaptive machinery may one day be harnessed as part of effective therapies - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by University of Michigan Health System and published on 2011/03/18, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.