The Cognitive Elements of Neural Plasticity

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Professor Reuven Feuerstein Professor Louis H. Falik Rabbi Refael S. Feuerstein

The Feuerstein Institute Jerusalem, Israel

evelopments in the brain sciences over the last decade have confirmed that human modifiability is both neurophysiological and cognitive, in an inter-locking and reciprocal relationship. Neural plasticity is now well recognized as a capacity of the human brain to be modified in its structure and function by external stimulation. Further, the newest dimensions of the research are beginning to point to this capacity as having the potential for changing the human gene structure and the very matter of the brain.

The plethora of research and almost explosive expansion of conceptual understanding regarding the function of the brain has identified a number of principles and elements that must be experienced to increase the potential for neuroplasticity that is present in all individuals. There is now a platform of sufficient research on both animals and human subjects to confirm the effectiveness of a variety of external stimulation and identify necessary elements that promote neural plasticity. These remarkable and fast moving developments strengthen the connection between cognitive modifiabilityas a theory regarding human potential and technology of interventionand neural plasticity as a quality of human biology that can be affected in the service of enhancing human potential. On the cognitive modifiability side there is a productive consonance between aspects of Feuersteins theory of structural cognitive modifiability (SCM)and the operational constructs derived from it: the Cognitive Map, Deficient Cognitive Functions, and parameters of MLE, and its applied systemsand the process and functional elements that have been summarized as neural plasticity. These constructs and the systems derived from them have been well described in numerous publications (c.f, Feuerstein, Feuerstein, Falik, and Rand, 2006; Feuerstein, Feuerstein, and Falik, 2010). To summarize briefly, the cognitive and the neurophysiological are now closely linked together.
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Prof. Reuven Feuerstein, Prof. Louis H. Falik, Rabbi Refael S. Feuerstein

Defining Structural Cognitive Modifiability

The theory of structural cognitive modifiability (SCM) postulates that human mental and behavioral structures can be modified as a consequence of exposure to conditions that precipitate change. They can occur both behaviorally and in changes in the neuroanatomy of the brain. The primary mechanism for producing change is the provision of mediated learning experience (MLE). MLE is a planned, intentional, and active process that focuses, interprets, elaborates, and generalizes the learners direct experience with the world. SCM posits that human beings can overcome obstacles that have traditionally been considered barriers to changeetiology, severity of condition, and critical developmental periods (that may have been missed). The application of SCM and MLE, through the applied systems derived from themthe LPAD as an assessment procedure, and Instrumental Enrichment to correct deficient cognitive functionsmobilizes action to affect change where it was (or is) not The Specificity Effect: Building upon the activity element, interventions need to be specific considered possible. to the particular cortical function that is the target of behavioral change. There is a relaCritical Elements in Promoting tionship between the nature and type of inNeural Plasticity tervention and the resulting plasticity and modifiability of functions. This requires asGiven the rapidity of developments and the sessment, calibration, and the provision of wide scope of focus of both research and clinivaried activities and patterns of intervention. cal activity, the degree of agreement regardThis has specific implications for the kinds of ing these elements is noteworthy. Kleim and programs developed, must be related both Jones (2008) have reviewed a large body of reto theory and observations, and adjusted acsearch and summarized them well. They have cordingly. The research gives us some guididentified ten critical elements pertaining to the ance in this regard. We are encouraged by our relationship between cognitive modifiability review of the research and the identification and neural plasticity. We have developed some of critical dimensions of activity to present descriptive and summarizing labels for these the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) elements and in this paper elaborates them to program as a paradigm to meet the specificserve as a focus for understanding the potential ity element (in addition to other dimensions for intervention programs to effect the necesas well), especially when we compared and sary structural changes in both behavior and the contrasted to other programs that are availneurophysiological substrates. We have added able to promote neural plasticity. two additional elements to those identified by Kleim and Jones that appear to be validated by The Repetition Effect: Repetition is required for our clinical experience, and well related to the the functional changes to be structurally iminitial ten. planted and manifested in behavior. The necNeuropsychotherapist.com

The Activation Effect: Activity is important, but not just any kind of unrelated activity! Specific brain functions must be activated and stimulated to develop and sustain behavioral functions. In its most general sense it is the manifestation of the phrase use it or lose it. Others have described this element in a slightly different way: neurons that fire together, wire together. Researchers have described the loss of neural functioning through disuse, a phenomenon that has been called pruning. Activity has been identified as a critical dimension of neural plasticity, with attention being paid to the describing of its nature and the essential aspects that contribute to the potential for structural modifiability. There are indications in the research that some kinds of activity are helpful and others not. In the range of programs of intervention, there is considerable controversy regarding suitable and necessary activity.

The Cognitive Elements of Neural Plasticity

essary amount and duration of the repeated exposures is unpredictable, influenced by the The Salience Effect: The intervention must be nature of functioning, the type of interferimportant and meaningful to the individual. ence, the readiness and skill levels of the parInterventions that do not convey this eleticipant, the nature of skills being acquired, ment will not be responded to as successfully and the like. However repetition alone is insufas those that are meaningful. This has been ficient. There must be variation in task strucdescribed as the salience of the intervention. ture to promote plasticitysimple redoing of In the application of mediated learning expeactivities without systematic variation is not rience (MLE) this is the mediation of meanenough. It appears that repetition cannot be ingfulness of that to which the individual is simply re-doing, but must have other characexposed. Meaningfulness is directly related teristics such as novelty, challenge, and multo creating awareness, which can be considti-modality stimulation. ered a sub-goal of the mediation of meaning, in that the learner becomes aware of his/her The Intensity Effect: Neural plasticity also refunctioning, of its value, of the changes that quires a degree of intensity of intervention. are experienced, and the importance (value, These variables relate to the amount of time salience, etc.) of these changes. Research has spent in practice and contact with the intershown that this is an important element in vention modalities. As with other elements, neuroplastic activation. Here too, the importhe specific amount of exposure is hard to tance of assessment and observation must be predictsome learners need more and othemphasized to determine what is salient for ers less. We believe that the production of the learner, and how the learner has internalstructural cognitive modifiability requires duized what has been learned. This knowledge rations of time and intensity of exposure that guides the mediation regarding intensity, dutypically goes well beyond traditional and acration, modifiability of stimulationall of the cepted patterns of frequency and time duraaspects included in the provision of MLE, and tion of sessions. In our applications (of the structured into the activities of the FIE proFIE program and other MLE related intervengrams. tions), we expose learners to upwards of 20 hours per week to achieve intended effects. The Optimal Timing Potential Effect: While we This contrasts to the typical one or two hours (the authors) do not believe in critical periods of therapeutic or instructional contact. In this as a barrier to change, it has been recognized way the modifiability created becomes estabthat some kinds and propensities for change lished in the neural structures. are age related. For example, although it may be easier to induce plasticity in younger The Persistence Effect: Different forms of neubrains, the neurophysiological structures of ral plasticity take place at different times, adult brains and the elderly are also amenarequiring the provision of both intensity and ble to change, but may require adjustments repetition, which must be reflected in a dein aspects of structure and exposure. The isgree of persistence in treatment planning and sue is the level of persistence, effort, and the implementation over time. That is, when imtypes of intervention required to promote mediate gains are not evident, one must not plasticity at various ages and stages of develgive up, but push forward knowing that there opment. In spite of the identification of this is a pace of acquisition that occurs, often laelement, the research cautions us not to take tently but eventually materializing. One is ofthe dimension of optimal timing as a reason ten surprised at the gains that emerge after to withhold or not initiate interventions. seemingly endless unproductive encounters. When they do emerge, they become cata- The Novelty Effect: Learning experiences must lysts for rapid and significant changes. be new and challenging for them to stimu-

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Prof. Reuven Feuerstein, Prof. Louis H. Falik, Rabbi Refael S. Feuerstein

late neural plasticity. If all one does is repeat the learning experience. This takes the form familiar tasks learning will not be facilitated. of what I have learned, why I am learning it, Stimulation must challenge the learner, and how will it contribute to further learning, how novelty becomes an important aspect of exI have changed, what are my new interests, perience. There is some research showing and many other similar insights. Even though that simple game activities will not be effecthe individual is not necessarily aware of mirtive if the interventions do not incorporate the ror neuron activity, the changes that occur elements of novelty, presenting some degree from such stimulation can certainly be exof challenge and complexity in the tasks. We perienced, understood, and related to larger have recognized this in the design of the FIE structures of learning. program and in the MLE that supports novelty and challenge as learners interact with it. The Multi-sensory Effect: Tasks should require perceiving and responding to stimuli The Spread of Effect: Changes in functions refrom a number of modalitiesseeing, hearsulting from a particular intervention can afing, touching, and doing. There is considerfect changes in other functions not directly able evidence that sensory modalities protargeted by the original intervention. This vide differential and reinforcing stimulation, has been described as a transference effect, and are reacted to by different neurophysiaided by the mirror neuron systems that have ological processes, heightening the salience, been discovered and tracked in neural anatspecificity, and selection efforts, which in turn omy. Specifically, it has been shown in monstrengthen responding and create new struckeys and humans that activation in one part tures. The brain responds to different sensory of the brain will generate activities in other experiences, and the mirror neurons activate parts, through imitation that excites processdifferential processes in the neural structures, es that activate the mirroring mechanisms, in areas not initially stimulated, but related to often without the individuals awareness or the activation. conscious intention. In the application of MLE, this is described as the parameter of the Activating Modifiability: mediation of transference and must also be Behaviorially and Neurophysiologically embedded in the structure and provision of the intervention. The mechanisms for activation appear to be the direct exposure to stimulation, the imitation The Selection Effect: There can be interference, of meaningful experience established by the exwhereby plasticity stimulated or experienced posure, and a kind of residual effect in the neural in one area may interfere with changes in othsystem that is the consequence of learningthat er areas. This must be accounted for in the inis, the structural meaning of prior experience terventions selected, based on an analysis of that can be genuinely considered cognitive. In the needed behavior changes and the tasks this sense, these elementsto both understand selected for the intervention. and activate themrequire assessment, and the selection of interventions reflective of both the The Consciousness/Awareness Effect: We beknown elements contributing to neural plasticlieve that the learners awareness of the ity and the levels of functioning of the individual changes that occur in the process of respondto which the interventions are directed. ing to stimulation is an important aspect of cognitive modifiability. Exposure should therefore explicitly mediate awareness, and be structured to present opportunities for the learner to reinforce the learning occurring in real time and relate it to other aspects of
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The Cognitive Elements of Neural Plasticity

References
Feuerstein, R., Feuerstein, R.S., Falik, L. H., and Rand, Y. (2006) Creating and Enhancing Cognitive Modifiability: The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Program. Jerusalem, Israel: ICELP Press. Feuerstein, R., Feuerstein, R.S., Falik, L. H. (2010) Beyond Smarter: Mediated Learning and the Brains Capacity to Change. New York: Teachers College Press. Kleim, J. A. & Jones, T.A. (2008) Principles of experience-dependent neural plasticity: implications for rehabilitation after brain damage. Supplement: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 52255231.

Reuven Feuerstein, Ph.D. A clinical-developmental psychologist by training, Reuven Feuerstein is Emeritus Professor of Education at Bar-Ilan University and Vanderbilt University, Tennessee. He is the 1992 Israel Prize Laureate for Social Sciences, and was submitted for consideration as a nominee for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Feuerstein has created a detailed psycho-educational theory which has been researched on a rare scale (several thousand articles and over a hundred books have been written on the theory). The theory is based on the fundamental belief in the individuals capacity to change, even if labelled developmentally delayed or learning disabled. Anyone can be taught, or in his words mediated how to learn and how to think. Louis H. Falik, Ph.D. Louis Falik is Professor Emeritus of Counseling, Department of Counseling, School of Education, San Francisco State University. His primary instructional focus is: Marriage and Family Counseling Concentration; teaching courses in mental health counseling, consultation, clinical skills practica, legal and professional practice. Acting Chair of Department, 2000-2001 academic year. Retired, 2006. He is also Training and Development Associate, at the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential, Jerusalem, Israel. He is responsible for training, coordinating development of programs and research activities in cognitive modifiability (Instrumental Enrichment and Learning Potential Assessment Device). Rabbi Rafael Feuerstein Rabbi Refael (Rafi) Feuerstein was born in Jerusalem in 1959 to his father Prof. Reuven Feuerstein, founder of the well-known Feuerstein methodology for the advancement of thinking and learning skills, and to his mother the late Berta Guggenheim Feuerstein, artist and doer of good deeds. He is married to Tal, a cognitive therapist who works with brain-damaged individuals at the Feuerstein Institute. Rabbi Feuerstein lectures very frequently in Israel and all over the world on education and therapy as well as on Judaism. He is heavily involved in public affairs related to his three major fields of occupation advancing the skills of people with special needs, promoting educational policies according to the Feuerstein theories and advancing a shared Jewish identity in the State of Israel and throughout the Jewish world. Cite as: Feuerstein, R., Falik, L. H., & Feuerstein, R. S. (2013). The cognitive elements of neural plasticity. Retrieved month day, year, from http://www.neuropsychotherapist.com/cognitive-elements-neural-plasticity doi: 10.12744/tnpt.19.03.2013.01.

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Prof. Reuven Feuerstein, Prof. Louis H. Falik, Rabbi Refael S. Feuerstein

The Jerusalem International Conference on

Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Modifiability

The role of Cognitive Intervention in the shaping of wo/man

Jerusalem, 2-5 June 2013 www.brainconference.com

Gene expression, brain and behavior Neural Plasticity Mechanisms The role of mirror neurons Functional connectivity Clinical applications of the modifiability model Traumatic brain injury Mental health (depression, anorexia, schizophrenia) Developmental disorders of childhood and adolsecents Neural plasticity and language development Cognitive modifiability and educational intervention programs Cognitive modifiability in occupational therapy Cognitive modifiability and speech therapy The Materialistic versus Spiritual Perspectives on Cognitive Modifiability and Neural Plasticity

his conference brings together revolutionary developments in two disciplines: cognitive modifiability and the neurosciences. Neuroscience brings evidence that modifiability is possible, while cognitive modifiability shows how to make it happen. This meeting offers the opportunity for a worldwide gathering of scientists, practitioners, therapists, and educators who come from different professional perspectives, but share common interests to explore and become familiar with the developments in these related fields. The common theme is modifiability. Revolutionary developments in brain sciences support the theory and belief that basic human behaviors and functions can be modified. The Potential to Respond to Critical Needs From the perspective of both disciplines, it is now clear that systematic application of dynamic methods of assessment and intervention has the potential to produce cognitive and structural change. The advances of cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and the growing awareness they have generated, indicates that the three conventionally accepted resistances to change can be overcome: etiology, critical periods, and severity of the condition However, we are at the frontier of this knowledge. There is much to be learned in order to understand the implications of the convergence of cognitive modifiability and the revolution in the brain sciences and bring them into wide acceptance and practice. The conference aims at providing researchers, psychologists, occupational and speech therapists, as well as special and regular education specialists with new conceptual tools for dealing with the question of modifiability in the laboratory, clinic, and the classroom. Outcomes and Opportunities The multicultural interaction between presenters and participants from different fields and professions is going to develop better understanding of the challenges and enrich us with the new available methods and ideas. Personal professional experience, research results, theories and practice will be discussed and new techniques will be presented in order to open new horizons for each one of the conference participants. This is a critical period in the development of this dialogue and an opportunity for sharing knowledge and hope. Jerusalem, as a modern centre for technological and academic activity and research also symbolizes the historical core of human faith and soul. Is there a more appropriate place to host such a conference?

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