neuroplasticity
n.n. the brain's ability to change and adapt throughout life by forming new connections. This happens when you learn new skills or recover from injuries.
n. the brain's ability to reorganize neural pathways in response to experience, learning, or injury. Uncountable; technical term.
Neuroplasticity allows the brain to recover after a stroke.
Doctors use neuroplasticity principles to help patients regain motor function through targeted exercises.
Research into neuroplasticity has shown that even in older adults, the brain can develop new neural networks through consistent practice and cognitive stimulation.
The term neuroplasticity is formed from the combining form neuro-, denoting the nervous system, the adjective plastic (malleable or adaptable), and the suffix -ity (forming abstract nouns). The construction was coined in the 20th century to describe the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
The components are not new; neuro- appears in neurology, plastic in materials science, and -ity in countless abstract nouns. The novelty lies in their concatenation, a modern coinage reflecting 20th-century neuroscience's focus on adaptability. The term has since become standard in medical and psychological discourse.