Neuro Deep Dive: Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Neural Plasticity
- Katya Bownas RN, PMH-BC
- Feb 5
- 2 min read
Neural plasticity has been a hot button topic in neuroscience for many years now, and has recently been making its way into the zeitgeist for the general public as well. Neural plasticity and the factors that impact it are key to understanding how the brain functions, adapts, and becomes more resilient. To define neural plasticity, it is “the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions, or connections after injuries, such as a stroke or traumatic brain injury” (Puderbagh & Emerdy, 2023). Essentially, it is the flexibility and adaptability of your neurons and their ability to generate new cells as well as clean out old ones.
The brain’s plasticity is also thought to be a key factor in depression, with the neural plasticity hypothesis positing that the dysfunction of neural plasticity is an essential mechanism of depressive symptoms. Studies have shown that the pathology of depression is closely related to dysfunctional neural plasticity in certain areas of the brain. This hypothesis also ties into insufficient signaling by neurotrophic factors, which we know to be a latent factor for depression as well as for neural plasticity. Neurotrophic factors are biomolecules such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that support the growth, function, and survival of neurons in the brain.
BDNF is the foremost neurotrophin in depression pathology, and plays an important role in neuron development overall. It has also been shown to influence several other psychiatric disorders as well as the mechanism of action of psychotropic medications. Decreased levels of BDNF due to stress, genetics, or other factors causes a cascade of disruption in the brain which results in the cluster of symptoms we recognize as clinical depression (see fig below).
Image courtesy of Yang et al. 2020
Optimization and support of these pathways has amazing potential for depression relief, and there are treatment options that work towards this goal. Psychiatric medications have been shown to improve neural plasticity and increase BDNF, although many patients do not like the side effects. Brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) also improve neural plasticity. TMS has been clinically shown to improve neurotrophic signaling and increase BDNF in the brain, which is one of the reasons it is so effective in treating depression and other psychiatric illnesses.
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