Can we really ‘rewire’ our brain?

Can the brain really rebuild what has been lost after a brain injury?

This idea derives from neuroplasticity – the nervous system’s capacity to change and adapt, reorganising its connections and overall structure as a result of an experience. In other words, the brain strengthens, weakens, and forms new neural connections over time. In psychology, neuroplasticity is crucial for understanding learning, as repeated behaviours and thoughts can strengthen neural pathways, resulting in increased automatic responses.

Neuroplasticity plays a large role in recovery following a brain injury. Joy & Carmichael (2020) found that after a stroke, the brain becomes temporarily plastic, during which new axons and synapses may form, functions can be reassigned to undamaged brain regions, and the brain becomes flexible to training, allowing for recovery. A key takeaway is that after a stroke, the brain not only repairs itself but also enters a temporary state of reorganisation and recovery. Repeated practice during rehabilitation supports the formation of new pathways, helping lost skills to be regained. This is a core psychological principle: learning requires repetition, and without it, new neural pathways will not be produced or maintained.

This reorganisation is driven by cellular processes that modify neural connections. Specialised immune cells, known as microglia, reshape connections between neurons and assist in incorporating new cells into preexisting networks, as demonstrated by Sandvig et al. (2018). This emphasises that recovery is not solely biological but also behavioural, as the way one interacts with their environment influences the way the brain reorganises itself. For example, when an individual performs a behaviour, such as moving their leg in rehab, neural pathways for that certain behaviour are activated frequently. Here, microglia respond to this activity by strengthening frequently used connections and removing unused ones, a process known as “use it or lose it”, in relation to neural pathways.

So, can we really ‘rewire’ our brains? Yes, but to an extent! Neuroplasticity illustrates that the brain is capable of change, through reinforced behaviour and experience, though it should be noted that this process rarely results in complete normalcy. From a psychological perspective, neuroplasticity highlights that recovery is about how behaviour, experience, and learning intertwine to allow the brain’s ability to adapt.

Written by Shreya Dhaliwal

Related articles: Brain injury / Synaptic plasticity

REFERENCES

Cleveland Clinic. (2023, December 13). Brainwork: The Power of Neuroplasticity. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/neuroplasticity. 

Joy, M. T., & Carmichael, S. T. (2020). Encouraging an excitable brain state: mechanisms of brain repair in stroke. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 22(1), 38–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-00396-7.

Kreber, L. (2025). Neuroplasticity. Centre for Neuro Skills. https://www.neuroskills.com/neuroplasticity/.

Mateos-Aparicio, P., & Rodríguez-Moreno, A. (2019). The impact of studying brain plasticity. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2019.00066. 

Sandvig, I., Augestad, I. L., Håberg, A. K., & Sandvig, A. (2018). Neuroplasticity in stroke recovery. The role of microglia in engaging and modifying synapses and networks. European Journal of Neuroscience, 47(12), 1414–1428. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13959