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Madeline Reitman

Dr. Holt

AP Literature and Composition 12

22 April 2022

The Effects of Mental Illness on Neuroplasticity

When an individual looks at something with writing on it (in a language that they can

read), the individual cannot help but read what is written. Humans do this subconsciously just as

they speak, blink, breathe, and think; all thanks to the brain. Why is it more difficult to learn how

to play the piano at the age of 40 as opposed to the age of seven? Why, in the very beginning

stages of life, are humans taught fundamental skills like reading and writing? At younger ages,

the brain is incredibly elastic, and as a person matures in age, their brain loses the maximum

“stretch” of this elasticity; their neuroplasticity is increasingly hardened. However, an

individual’s decreasing neuroplasticity does not mean that the individual’s brain is incapable of

learning a new language or how to play the piano, but it will take longer for those skills to feel

habitual. Although scientific studies have shown that an individual's neuroplasticity naturally

declines with age, mental illness can play a significant role in an individual's neuroplasticity

regardless of that individual’s age.

The vast majority of organs in the human body are replaceable: an arm, kidney, liver, and

even heart. However, a brain transplant is improbable, if not impossible. When people have heart

attacks or lung collapses those issues are often repairable, but when a person is declared brain

dead, there is no remedy as they are no longer able to keep themselves breathing without the help

of machines. A person's entire experience of living occurs and is processed through their brain;

personality, intelligence, thoughts, feelings, inner monologue, etc., thus making the brain an
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irreplaceable organ. Replacing someone’s brain and keeping that person in the same body is

essentially making somebody into somebody else. Humans seldom think about the work their

brains do daily, aside from when they are actively applying it to focus on taking a test or writing

a paper. For example, typing on a computer requires precision and accuracy in momentarily

hitting each key at the right time to string ideas together, but most adults can type

subconsciously. Although neuroplasticity decreases with age, the brain never reaches a point

where it is completely inelastic and can no longer absorb information. Synapses are structures in

the brain that essentially allow communication between neurons, and neuroplasticity is achieved

through homeostasis, or balance, in the synapses (Spivey 6). It is thought that the disruption of

this balance can contribute to mental illnesses or personality disorders depending on which area

of the brain the disruption occurs. However, the reverse is applicable as well in that mental

illness can cause changes in an individual’s neuroplasticity as well (Kolassa 1). Studies have

shown that intense or chronic stress can cause structural disfigurement within the brain, as shown

in studies with people who have PTSD (Kolassa 3). Exposure to traumatic events affects the

release of stress hormones, which in turn affects someone’s ability to respond to certain

situations (Kolassa 2). The off-balance hormones can promote cell death within the

hippocampus, thus, the hippocampus shrinks in volume (Kolassa 3). The reduction in hormone

control and the shrunken hippocampus leads to the brain not being as elastic, thus people with

PTSD are not as readily able to recall memories or absorb more information, and their brain’s

ability to “bounce back” further declines. Among the hippocampus’s many responsibilities, it

plays a major role in an individual's memory and ability to learn. Behavioral changes often occur

when the hippocampus is damaged to this level of severity as individuals may not be able to

readily recall memories and their learning can be permanently stunted. Each part of the brain is
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connected to the whole, so when there is a major problem with one part, there is potential for

damage to other parts of the brain as well.

Although some people are under the impression that once the brain reaches a certain level

of maturity (i.e., scientifically speaking, fully developed due to an individual’s age) it stops being

able to truly absorb information, that notion is not entirely correct. However, there is a time slot

in the first few years of life coined the “critical period” in which the brain is uniquely elastic

(Luby 4). It is during the “critical period” in which individuals typically learn how to read and

write as the information is easier to absorb. It is why, when humans are young, they are taught

essential skills like reading, writing, and speaking, so that they can pick those skills up relatively

quickly and those skills are able to stick. However, there is some debate among scientists in this

area as to the extent of the brain’s impressionability during “critical periods.” In a study

conducted with preschoolers, scientists found that some were exhibiting symptoms of depression

similar to that of fully grown adults with depression (some symptoms included feeling excessive

guilt, lack of joyfulness, change in eating/sleeping patterns, decreased activity levels, and more)

(Luby 3). Admittedly, a preschooler with depression does sound improbable, however, after

doctors were able to turn the children’s accounts of their own feelings into more technical

medical vernacular, the issue was more widely recognized and the children were diagnosed

(Luby 2). However, the question scientists are still struggling to answer is if mental illness is

caught early enough or in the critical period, can it be better “treated” or possibly “cured” as

plasticity can still decrease even if clinical depression is developed during the critical period. It is

certain that the critical period is the best time for the brain to absorb information due to its

distinctive plasticity, but if the plasticity during this period is decreasing due to mental illness, is

it still equally as effective? It appears as though these individuals could have almost…
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predisposed learning difficulties as their brains begin at a disadvantage from developing a mental

illness such as depression from such a young age. Due to this phenomenon being relatively

recent in society (as preschoolers are just now being diagnosed and not disregarded), it is not yet

possible to know if antidepressants made for adults would even work on young children, and

how those could possibly compromise the structural integrity of a child’s brain as well.

Not only can mental illness affect the brain structurally, but brain waves can differ

depending on whether or not an individual has a mental illness, and the severity of that illness

can affect the brain waves as well (Summerhays 4). The affected brain waves are not only

prevalent when an individual is trying to consciously utilize their brain (for instance, take a test,

speak publicly, write a paper, and things of this nature), but they are also present when a person

is subconsciously using their brain by simply existing (Summerhays 5). Someone’s

characteristics are not simply set in stone when their brain is considered to be fully developed.

Often, people are under the notion that at a certain point they are incapable of change as their

brains are fully developed and their habits are their habits, however, this is simply a mindset.

There are stories of people who have been diagnosed with life-threatening conditions and doctors

will tell families that the patient has but a few months to live. In these specific cases I am

referencing, the families choose not to share this information with the patient, and patient is able

to outlive their “few months” mark without a clue that their deadline was approaching in the first

place. Telling oneself something over and over is what cements it in your brain: it is

psychological, not structural. How people perceive others, as well as themselves, occurs within

the brain, so if something is not quite right with the brain in a structural or wave sense, it can

affect how people see themselves and others (Chiao 8). A large part of the human experience is

the desire to grow and acquire knowledge with the hopes of becoming a better person, which, of
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course, has infinite subjective definitions. However, claiming that the brain stops absorbing

information and that a person’s ways are set in stone simply because science says the brain stops

developing at a certain age is simply an example of mindset over structure, or, in other words,

plain stubbornness. While it is true that absorbing information can be harder as an individual

progresses in age, it by no means signifies that people are incapable of change, and the mindset

that the opposite is true directly opposes the idea ingrained in human nature of wanting to be

“better.”

In conclusion, although age and neuroplasticity correlate, they do not have an

indisputable relationship. Mental illnesses such as PTSD and depression can affect brain

structure and function, thus decreasing a person’s neuroplasticity regardless of their age.

Structural changes have the ability to affect an individual's behavior, however, the mindset that at

one point humans are irrefutably stuck in their ways can affect a person’s behavior as well. It can

become an issue of mind over matter when preconceived notions that the brain stops growing

(thus stops absorbing information as readily) are at odds with the human condition of striving to

better oneself.

Word count: 1524

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