Neuroplasticity

I'm reading the book The Brain the Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. It's an interesting examination of the concept of "neuroplasticity". Essentially, the author argues that the brain is not as "hard wired" as we used to think. He provides examples of recovering stroke victims and people labeled as "retarded" who are able to rewire their brains to do things they weren't supposes to be able to do. The author holds out the prospect that in the future we might be able to rewire our brains so that we can learn languages with the facility that children do. There are amazing prospects for advancements in learning, but there are also some ominous possibilities here as well.

The book talks about curing OCD, stroke damage, and a host of issues. It's definitely worth a read.