Neuroplasticity: A Window Into Brain Health
The brain’s ability to adapt and rewire itself is often invisible—but it’s central to mental health. Learn how neuroplasticity shapes recovery, guides treatment, and opens the door to more personalized care.
At NeuroKaire, we are creating a platform that offers an unprecedented window into the brain—reshaping how we explore, understand, and ultimately treat mental health conditions. This series highlights the science driving innovation in psychiatry and neurology, as well as the promise of more personalized, effective care. To begin, our CSO and Co-Founder, Dr. Daphna Laifenfeld, shares her academic journey and the central role of neuroplasticity—the brain’s remarkable capacity to adapt and reorganize.
A Journey Into the Living Brain
My academic path began in psychology, driven by a fascination with how people think, feel, and behave. Yet the deeper I went, the more I was drawn to the biological machinery behind cognition and emotion. Neuroscience promised answers, but the reality was sobering. From imaging studies to animal models and post-mortem analyses, we were often piecing together indirect evidence, leaving major gaps in our understanding of the living human brain.
The emergence of stem cell technology—specifically induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—was a turning point. For the first time, we could reprogram a person’s own cells into neurons and study them directly in the lab. This was more than a new method; it was a new lens for psychiatry and brain science. Instead of making educated guesses, we could observe patient-derived neurons in action, transforming how we define, study, and treat psychiatric disorders.
What Is Neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt, reorganize, and form new connections in response to learning, experiences, and environmental change. It underpins memory, skill acquisition, and behavioral adaptation—and it enables recovery after injury. The brain strengthens useful pathways and prunes weaker ones, constantly fine-tuning its circuits.
Disrupted neuroplasticity is increasingly recognized as a driver of psychiatric and neurological conditions, from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia, PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Understanding and measuring this adaptive capacity may be key to unlocking precision psychiatry and more targeted treatments.
Molecular Underpinnings: The Role of BDNF
At the cellular level, neuroplasticity involves synaptogenesis (new synapses), neurogenesis (new neurons, especially in the hippocampus), dendritic branching, and synaptic pruning. These processes depend on finely tuned molecular events: changes in gene expression, protein synthesis, and intracellular signalling. For example, one significant regulator of neuroplasticity at the molecular level, is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein supports neuron survival, dendritic growth, and synaptic strength. BDNF is especially important in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex—regions critical for mood regulation and executive function. Low BDNF levels have been linked to impaired learning, memory problems, and heightened vulnerability to mental illness.
By studying such cellular and molecular effects, the field of neuroscience has been able to reach a significant and holistic understanding of the importance of neuroplasticity for brain health.
Neuroplasticity and Major Depressive Disorder
In major depressive disorder (MDD), disrupted neuroplasticity appears to be a core mechanism, not just a by-product. Chronic stress suppresses BDNF expression in mood-regulating regions, triggering loss of dendritic spines, reduced synaptic density, and impaired connectivity between cortical and limbic structures. Clinically, this translates into low mood, anhedonia, and cognitive slowing.
When looking at treatments that alleviate mood and stress, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, i.e. antidepressants, exercise, cognitive training, TMS, or even psychedelic-assisted therapy—restored BDNF signalling is observed, in addition to a reversal of the disrupted neuroplasticity. Indeed, enhanced neuroplasticity has been linked to measurable recovery in both brain structure and function, and virtually all classes of antidepressants—from SSRIs and SNRIs to novel therapies such as esketamine and psychedelic drugs —ultimately converge on the same outcome: promoting neuroplasticity. Neuroimaging studies show that successful treatment often increases hippocampal volume and strengthens functional connectivity, supporting the idea that plasticity enhancement is the common pathway of antidepressant efficacy.
Leveraging biological insights to clinical outcomes
Understanding the mechanisms, both cellular and molecular, that underlie mental illness, is the basis for better disease management. The medical field is striving to move toward integrative biomarker strategies that combine molecular data, imaging, and clinical assessments. This convergence offers a framework for more precise diagnosis and personalized treatment. This has been the case for oncology for the past two decades, and is now surfacing as a potential reality in psychiatry.
Emerging therapies—from psychedelics to advanced neuromodulation techniques—are increasingly evaluated through the lens of plasticity enhancement. As we learn more about how these interventions reshape neural circuits, we edge closer to a future where measuring and optimizing neuroplasticity becomes central to treatment selection and response prediction.
Harnessing neuroplasticity is more than an academic pursuit. It represents a shift in how we understand and care for the brain. By redefining psychiatric treatment through the lens of plasticity, we open the door to therapies that are more effective, personalized, and enduring.
For a deeper exploration, see:
Appelbaum, L.G., Shenasa, M.A., Stolz, L., et al. (2023). Synaptic plasticity and mental health: methods, challenges and opportunities. Neuropsychopharmacology, 48, 113–120.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01370-w