A DISCUSSION WITH EVE MARDER, MICHAEL MERZENICH AND CARLA SHATZ (2016 KAVLI PRIZE IN NEUROSCIENCE):
“Our view of the brain as something constantly shaped by thought and experience is only a few decades old, yet it has profoundly influenced how we teach and treat, raise our young and care for the old.
Eve Marder, Michael Merzenich and Carla Shatz are three researchers who, in very different ways, have revealed that the brain is highly changeable, or plastic. In the course of discovering how the structure and function of brain circuits are refined, they pioneered the field of neuroplasticity…
Their work has revealed that brain circuits are “sculpted” from long before birth through adulthood. They have also helped explain how the brain achieves such a fine balance – between the adaptability that allows us to learn and to heal and the stability that maintains our abilities and memories for a lifetime.
In a roundtable, the three laureates discussed how their work disrupted a central dogma of neuroscience and offers the promise of plasticity-based therapeutics.”
Read the conversation here.
To learn more:
- How learning changes your brain
- To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
- 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit: Reinventing Brain Health (December 6–8, 2016)
