Neuroplasticity – the Key to Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury Vision Rehabilitation
Neuroplasticity is the term used to describe the brain’s ability to change in response to an injury or other environmental stimulus, such as learning or experiencing something new. This self-repair mechanism is the basis of Vision Restoration Therapy. Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT) is a daily method of stroke and traumatic brain injury vision rehabilitation. The therapy, performed on an FDA-cleared medical device, is customized for each patient’s vision deficit and is updated on a monthly basis for optimal results.
- What Is Neuroplasticity?
- New Insight into Neuroplasticity
- Neuroplasticity-based Therapy for Vision Loss
What Is Neuroplasticity?
Also referred to as brain plasticity or cortical plasticity, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to physically change over the course of a person’s life. These changes can have positive or negative effects. Most commonly, neuroplasticity occurs in the following contexts:
- During normal brain development in childhood and throughout adolescence.
- In the course of learning or experiencing something new.
- After a brain injury, as an adaptive mechanism to maximize remaining brain functions or to compensate for lost functions. (For example, stroke or traumatic brain injury rehabilitation occurs as a result of neuroplasticity.)
Though neuroplasticity is conventionally associated with childhood and adolescence – a time when the brain is actively growing and the child is constantly learning new things – research has shown that the adult brain is also plastic, and will grow under the right circumstances.
Physical Changes
Neuroplasticity is a complex activity that can involve multiple levels of brain organization. It is also a physical process. For example, gray matter can shrink or enlarge in response to learning, neglect, or injury, and connections between neurons can be forged, refined, weakened, or severed.
In particular, the act of learning something knew stimulates the creation of new neural pathways. These physical changes in the brain translate to changes in our abilities – the ability to perform a new dance step, to recall the name of a new acquaintance, and so on.
Rewiring the Brain
People suffering from a variety of conditions – from visual field defects to early-stage Alzheimer’s disease – may be able to stimulate their brains and restore proper function by undergoing neuroplasticity-based therapies. The challenge lies in identifying what brain mechanisms to target and how to train them effectively. NovaVision VRT™ Vision Restoration Therapy™ uses customized therapy modules to provide the survivors of stroke and traumatic brain injury with effective vision rehabilitation.
New Insight into Neuroplasticity
Recently, scientists have made key discoveries about the plasticity of the adult brain and the ways neuroplasticity can be stimulated. Below is information about the potential benefits of this often transformative process.
Ongoing Neurogenesis
According to conventional wisdom, adults are set in their ways and have brains that have finished growing and changing. However, scientists have discovered that this traditional view is flawed. According to recent findings, the adult brain is not hard-wired and has neural circuits that show remarkable plasticity. In addition, scientists now have solid evidence that neurogenesis – the formation of new nerve cells – occurs in adults, even those who have reached old age.
When a person experiences vision loss after a stroke or traumatic brain injury, some vision rehabilitation will naturally occur. However, the adult brain has to be stimulated in certain ways to fully tap into neuroplasticity and bring about more substantial improvements in vision.
The Links among Vision, Memory, and Cognition
New research has also revealed that our senses (vision, hearing, touch, etc.) are intimately connected with memory and cognition. As scientists discover more about this close relationship, they are learning how to better design methods of working with the brain and strengthening brain function after injury or disease has caused a decline in its abilities.
Such research lies at the heart of Vision Restoration Therapy, which has been called “physical therapy for the brain.” This technique can bring about a range of quality-of-life improvements, among them considerable enhancements to visual function.
Neuroplasticity-based Therapy for Vision Loss
Vision Restoration Therapy is based on new research in neuroplasticity. The therapy targets specific machinery in the brain to treat vision loss after stroke or brain injury.
The first step in Vision Restoration Therapy is the diagnosis and evaluation of the patient’s visual field deficits. Next, customized therapy modules are created to stimulate partially damaged nerve cells, thereby encouraging neuroplasticity and making visual information easier to process. These modules are completed at home in two 30-minute sessions per day for approximately six to seven months. The vision therapy program is analyzed and updated periodically as the patient improves.
The Pillars of Vision Restoration Therapy
Research has shown that three factors must be present for neuroplasticity-based therapies to be effective: environmental stimuli, frequent and consistent stimulation for the proper amount of time, and motivation on the part of patients. VRT was designed with these fundamentals in mind. In developing the therapy, NovaVision™ focused on ease of use and the effective, ongoing stimulation of the brain’s self-repair mechanisms ( neuroplasticity).
Learn More about Neuroplasticity and Vision Restoration Therapy
To learn more about neuroplasticity and neuroplasticity-based therapies for vision loss, please explore our pages on vision rehabilitation after stroke or brain injury, how vision rehabilitation works, or VRT success stories. If you are interested in stroke or traumatic brain injury vision rehabilitation, please contact NovaVision by email, call Patient Services at 1.866.414.0009, or locate a VRT Center near you.