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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 1–3Cite as

Brain Plasticity

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Definition

Plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change its structure in response to development, the environment, or injury.

Current Knowledge

Brain plasticity, or neuroplasticity, refers to the brain’s ability to change in response to development, to the environment (including learning), and in response to injury or aging. While it was once conceptualized that once the brain ceases development, that it would then be resistant to change, or in effect be static. Research over the last several decades has demonstrated that the brain continues to be capable of change, or restructuring, throughout the life span. While much research with respect to brain plasticity focuses on outcomes following injury, brain plasticity also refers to developmental changes that occur in the brain throughout the life span, including synaptic changes that occur in response to the acquisition of new learning and memories. As such, plasticity is seen as an intrinsic property of the central nervous system...

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References and Reading

  • Galaburda, A., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2003). Mechanisms of plasticity and behavior. In T. E. Feinberg & M. J. Farah (Eds.), Behavioral neurology & neuropsychology (2nd ed., pp. 57–70). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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  • Kolb, B. (1995). Brain plasticity and behavior. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

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  • Kolb, B., Gibb, R., & Robinson, T. E. (2003). Brain plasticity and behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(1), 1–5.

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  • Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. Q. (1998). Brain plasticity and behavior. Annual Review of Psychiatry, 49, 43–64.

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  • Nelson, C. A., & Luciana, M. (2001). Handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience. Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Blandford Physician Center, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Jennifer Sue Kleiner

Authors
  1. Jennifer Sue Kleiner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Sue Kleiner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Kleiner, J.S. (2018). Brain Plasticity. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_714-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_714-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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