In writing this http://thoughtfulveg.blogspot.com/2011/04/making-neuropathway.html I was looking for an answer to why some people recover faster after a brain injury than other people. I believe the answer is neural pathways available.
Rewiring (quickly) seems to mostly happen in the first year (it's not over there. so don't worry). Existing neural pathways are recruited. This accounts for those people who seem to recover quick.
Then there is long-term rewiring, This can feel like forever to a person. The neural pathway doesn't exist. So the brain makes one.
This process is similar to learning, if not the same. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning
I'm not recovering fast. I'm learning fast.
Wondering if the term is brain reserve you have built up prior to the brain insult.
ReplyDeleteYes, except (this is where I disagree with what has been said about me) there wasn't any of the brain lobes, just brainstem. According to this, I wouldn't have brain reserve. But...
Delete"The nerve fibers from the cells were severed, but the cells themselves remained intact." Nerve cells that have not died can form new connections. http://braininjuryknow.blogspot.com/2013/04/getting-there.html According to this I would have reserve.