It isn’t often that I get excited about a federal government proclamation. On Thursday, May 3 I was electrified. Federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the creation of the Brain Canada Foundation. 100 million federal dollars will be available for neuroscience. This is the study of the brain. Another 100 million from the private sector is expected. The news is relevant to me because I have an adult, brain damaged son. He suffers from cerebral palsy, caused by a lack of oxygen at birth.

I hope and pray that funding will be directed at the cutting edge science of Neuroplasticity. For hundreds of years, it’s been assumed that the brain is rigid and immutable. Conventional wisdom states that if a brain is injured, it’s injured forever. Neuroplasticity theorizes that the brain is malleable and adaptable, or “plastic.” It’s now believed that an injured brain can be rewired. The healthy portions of a damaged brain can be retrained to assume the functions of the dysfunctional tissue. It’s even possible to replace dead brain cells, all without surgery or medication.

Exercise is crucial to treatment with Neuroplasticity. Kinesiology uses movement to restore brain-body balance. By holding certain postures, or finding new ways to move limbs and joints, a damaged brain can be re-educated. Patients using this therapy report improvements in mobility, reading, and speech. Another practise, called Patterning, relies on simple repetitive movements. One patient suffered severe brain damage when he was run down by a drunk driver. This patient turned to Patterning. Using prescription exercises and deep breathing, he was able to minimize the worst of his symptoms. These were double vision, slurred speech, and unsteady gait.

Today, technology is propelling Neuroplasticity. Dr. Lara Boyd works at the Brain Research Centre in the UBC Hospital. She’s applying Neuroplasticity to the rehabilitation of stroke victims. She activates the damaged brain with Intracranial Magnetic Stimulation. This procedure is coupled with a strict regimen of exercise. One of Dr. Boyd’s patients suffered a major stroke which ravaged the right side of his brain. Even the vital brain stem was affected. After Neuroplastic treatment and exercise, this patient is back on the tennis court. Dr. David Suzuki has devoted two editions of The Nature of Things to Neuoplasticity. On one segment, a schizophrenic played simple, repetitive Neuoplastic games on a computer. His condition improved. Neuroplastic computer games can also benefit the aged.

europlasticity theorizes that the brain is malleable and adaptable, or “plastic.” It’s now believed that an injured brain can be rewired.

The use of technology in Neuorplasticity was the impetus behind the creation of two brain injury centres at Edmonton’s Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. One centre was generously funded by the Building Trades of Alberta. Isabel Henderson, Vice President of the Glenrose, tells me this centre is “the hub for advanced rehabilitation technology.” The second centre houses Western Canada’s first Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment. Ms. Henderson is justifiably enthusiastic about the treatment of brain damage “based on the theories of Neuroplasticity.”

Further information about Neuroplasticity is available. A Neuroplastic website at lumosity.com has games designed to enhance memory. There’s a best-selling book by Dr. Norman Doidge. It’s called The Brain that Changes Itself. It’s an exhilarating read, even though I found the chapter on sex addiction a bit graphic.

I’ve known about Neuroplasticity since the 1970s. My deepest maternal instincts tell me this will be an effective toll in the management of my son’s cerebral palsy. Forty years ago, the only Neuroplastic practitioners I could find were in a pioneering Patterning clinic in Philadeliphia. As a single working mother I didn’t have the wherewithal to get there with my son. For years, I’ve been waiting for the time when the miracle of Neuroplasticity would reach my son. Has that time arrived?