Does Brain Plasticity Continue to Develop as We Age?

[Blue Scallop]

Until what age does brain plasticity still manifest?

If it's real.. how come those of us who are poor in math are still poor in math and our brain math circuit ain't developing?

 

[Grinkle]

how come those of us who are poor in math are still poor in math and our brain math circuit ain't developing?

I have tried for years to run a marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston, and I have not achieved that mark. This is despite the fact that training makes one faster - I am very good at training, and I am faster for it. Nevertheless I am not fast enough; my point being that genetics play a large role in any individuals ultimate potential. I am still training, still trying ... ;-)

 

[jim mcnamara]

Neural plasticity in your cerebrum declines over time. It does not go away except in the case of trauma or disease. And has only a small influence on Math ability.
AFAIK. I used to give examples about this with learning to play new musical instruments. No longer. Can you learn a new cellphone quickly? How about going from iPhone to Android? The finger-eye coordination change is due to neural plasticity in the cerebellum primarily. This is in part why older people keep phones for a long time - "it's too much trouble to learn a new one" - translates to "it is not worth the effort and frustration." Due to lesser neural plasticity.

I chose this example because there is pre-existing ability as opposed to learning from scratch.

 

[Blue Scallop]

Neural plasticity in your cerebrum declines over time. It does not go away except in the case of trauma or disease. And has only a small influence on Math ability.
AFAIK. I used to give examples about this with learning to play new musical instruments. No longer. Can you learn a new cellphone quickly? How about going from iPhone to Android? The finger-eye coordination change is due to neural plasticity in the cerebellum primarily. This is in part why older people keep phones for a long time - "it's too much trouble to learn a new one" - translates to "it is not worth the effort and frustration." Due to lesser neural plasticity.

I chose this example because there is pre-existing ability as opposed to learning from scratch.

For children like 14 year olds who hit their heads and suffer brain damage which makes them lose math ability or degraded the linguistic abilities. How does brain plasticity work as they grow up? do the damaged brain circuits regrow making them normal again when they reach 50 year olds?

 

[Choppy]

If it's real.. how come those of us who are poor in math are still poor in math and our brain math circuit ain't developing?

Neurons that fire together wire together.

Conceptually, I think you're missing the "fire together" part. The fact that you have some degree of neural plasticity doesn't mean that you're naturally going to get better at math as you age. If you're poor in math and want to get better, you have to practice doing math.

For children like 14 year olds who hit their heads and suffer brain damage which makes them lose math ability or degraded the linguistic abilities. How does brain plasticity work as they grow up? do the damaged brain circuits regrow making them normal again when they reach 50 year olds?

I'm certainly speaking outside of my field here, but brain injury tends to require intensive therapy for individuals to recover specific cognitive functions. In some cases the recovery will not be complete, depending on the extent of the injury, access to intensive therapy, the person's support network and desire and ability to work towards specific goals. From what I understand, it's relatively new in the field that recovery of function is possible at all.