“The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science” is the title of a book by Norman Doidge about the current revolution in neuroscience reviewed in today’s The New York Times by Abigail Zuger, M.D. “The credo of this revolution is neuroplasticity — the discovery that the human brain is as malleable as a lump of wet clay not only in infancy, as scientists have long known, but well into hoary old age.
Take note of third from last paragraph:
For neuroplasticity may prove a curse as well. The brain can think itself into ruts, with electrical habits as difficult to eradicate as if it were, in fact, the immutable machine of yore. Sometimes “roadblocks” can be created to help steer its activity back in the desired direction (like bandaging the stroke patient’s good arm). Sometimes rewiring the circuits requires hard cerebral work instead; Dr. Doidge cites the successful Freudian analysis of one of his patients.