Health and Healthcare

Brain plasticity explained: yes, you really can change your brain

Test person Niklas Thiel poses with an electroencephalography (EEG) cap which measures brain activity, at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) in Garching near Munich September 9, 2014. The researchers from TUM and the Technische Universitaet Berlin (team Phypa) try to find ways to control an airplane with computer translated brain impulses without the pilot touching the plane's controls. The solution, if achieved, would contribute to greater flight safety and reduce pilots' workload. Picture taken September 9, 2014.

The brain is malleable - and misunderstood Image: REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

Alex Gray
Senior Writer, Formative Content
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Health and Healthcare is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Health and Healthcare

 Michael Merzenich is shown at UCSF in 1979, when he was developing a cochlear implant that could restore hearing based on his research in neural plasticity
Michael Merzenich at work in 1979 Image: David Powers
Image: Matthew Glasser and Eric Young Washington University in St Louis
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Health and HealthcareNeuroscience
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

What are the 5 most important things that the UN is doing to improve global health?

United Nations

September 22, 2023

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum