Cerebral plasticity is the ability of the brain to change and adapt in response to experience or learning. Its hallmarks are developmental flexibility, complex interactions between genetic and environmental influences, and structural-functional changes comprising neurogenesis, axonal sprouting, and synaptic remodeling. Studies on brain plasticity have important practical implications. The molecular characteristics of changes in brain plasticity may reveal disease course and the rehabilitative potential of the patient. Neurological disorders are linked with numerous cerebral non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), in particular, microRNAs; the discovery of their essential role in gene regulation was recently recognized and awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2024. Herein, we review the association of brain plasticity and its homeostasis with ncRNAs, which make them putative targets for RNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics. New insight into the concept of brain plasticity may provide additional perspectives on functional recovery following brain damage. Knowledge of this phenomenon will enable physicians to exploit the potential of cerebral plasticity and regulate eloquent networks with timely interventions. Future studies may reveal pathophysiological mechanisms of brain plasticity at macro- and microscopic levels to advance rehabilitation strategies and improve quality of life in patients with neurological diseases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13020460 | DOI Listing |
Eur J Neurosci
March 2025
Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic, Bangalore, India.
The release of synaptic vesicles (SVs) at the synaptic junction is a complex process involving various specialized proteins that work in unison. Among these, Bassoon has emerged as a significant protein, particularly noted for its association with various neurological and aging-related diseases. Due to its structural and functional roles, Bassoon has become a focus of recent research, especially in understanding its implications in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHandb Clin Neurol
March 2025
Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, Grenoble, France. Electronic address:
The advancements in understanding hemispheric specialization of language (HSL) have been following two primary avenues: the development of neuroimaging techniques and the study of its reorganizations in patients with various neuropathologic conditions. Hence, the objectives of this chapter are twofold. First, to provide an overview of the key neuroimaging techniques employed to investigate HSL, along with the notable findings derived from them in the healthy population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHandb Clin Neurol
March 2025
Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
The capacity for language constitutes a cornerstone of human cognition and distinguishes our species from other animals. Research in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that this capacity is not bound to speech but can also be externalized in the form of sign language. Sign languages are the naturally occurring languages of the deaf and rely on movements and configurations of hands, arms, face, and torso in space.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHandb Clin Neurol
March 2025
Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address:
The lateralization of language to the left hemisphere of the human brain constitutes one of the classic examples of asymmetry in biology. At the same time, it is also commonly understood that damage to the left hemisphere does not lead to a complete loss of all linguistic abilities. These seemingly contradictory findings indicate that neither our cognitive capacity for language nor its neural substrates are monolithic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci
March 2025
Laboratory for Sleeping-Brain Dynamics, Research Center for Idling Brain Science, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.
Over the past decades, the understanding of sleep has evolved to be a fundamental physiological mechanism integral to the processing of different types of memory rather than just being a passive brain state. The cyclic sleep substates, namely, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep, exhibit distinct yet complementary oscillatory patterns that form inter-regional networks between different brain regions crucial to learning, memory consolidation, and memory retrieval. Technical advancements in imaging and manipulation approaches have provided deeper understanding of memory formation processes on multi-scales including brain-wide, synaptic, and molecular levels.
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