Why Aren’t We Learning to Rethink Drugs?
When I saw an article in the MIT Technology Review called “Making an Old Brain Young: Scientists are developing new ways to manipulate the brain’s normal plasticity” I thought to myself “oh, good, more evidence of useful, natural therapies that can leverage plasticity.”
But the second sentence of the article begins “Drugs that target these mechanisms might eventually help treat neurological disorders …”
Not that the medical world shouldn’t be evaluating drugs that leverage plasticity. What concerned me about the article was the complete absence of reference to therapies that might not require drugs. Meanwhile, the Australian Alzheimer’s Association has endorsed brain training exercises as a non-pharmacalogical mechanism for delaying or preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms. The most effective therapies for stroke victims leverage plasticity through non-drug therapies. Progressive learning specialists are working with brain exercises to mitigate or correct learning dysfunctions. And other research has shown that the generation of new nerve cells in the dentate gyrus helps combat depression — something that can be assisted with exercise and brain exercise…
If our newfound knowledge of plasticity can teach us anything surely it should be teaching us that there are many remarkable alternatives to drugs.
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