Talk:Neuroplasticity

Arguments for strong neuroplasticity
As none of those ref-tags are actual references, yet this makes some strong claims ("there is evidence for..." "studies show...") I've cut this here. d hominem 14:07, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Recoveries
The evidence for extreme recoveries after brain damage is explained in the article "Brain" on topic page "Psychology" on http://purescience.wikia.com although research on the ecological paradox have now made the human exceptionalism part obsolete Martin J Sallberg
 * Go spam your insights somewhere else, please.--ZooGuard (talk) 14:32, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Footnote 7 does not work
Do you all have a replacement or something? Scamharris (talk) 18:22, 22 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I found one, but it's now paywalled. Sorry.  ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 18:40, 22 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Ah, I found one that's not paywalled. :) 142.124.55.236 (talk) 18:41, 22 August 42015 AQD (UTC)

The most unscientific article on RationalWiki
This article is far too theoretical and even pseudoscientific in nature for RationalWiki. The overstated power of neuroplasticity reads like someone has read Norman Doidge book and concluded the brain is malleable and made of plastic. Identical twins who were separated at birth have huge overlap in brain patterns, indicating that neuroplasticity is significantly limited in it's scope, and brains are in many ways hard wired. Neuroplasticity can have effect on a few tasks such as taxi driving as is mentioned in the article, but "brain training" games don't make you smarter, and claims about porn/sex addictions with relation to neuroplasticity have largely been refuted in follow up studies.

Steven Pinker writes: Critics of new media sometimes use science itself to press their case, citing research that shows how “experience can change the brain.” But cognitive neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience. Experience does not revamp the basic information-processing capacities of the brain. Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen after he read “War and Peace” in one sitting: “It was about Russia.” Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the familiar sight of an S.U.V. undulating between lanes as the driver cuts deals on his cellphone.

If you didn't know, Norman Doidge who popularised the concept through his books makes huge claims about neuroplasticity meaning we can cure cancer, autism, rare diseases and all sorts of ailments. He has sold millions of books, and been called a pseudoscientist by many neuroscientists. Psychiatry is largely considered the least scientific of all medical fields. To overstate the effects of neuroplasticity is unscientific --Debunky (talk) 03:07, 4 May 2020 (UTC)