Man rejoicing on mountaintop, how ketamine rewires neuroplasticity

The Role of Neuroplasticity in Mental Health: How Ketamine Helps

The brain is a complex organ in the body, it is what helps you be you. The brain is what helps you be you. However, damage to your brain can cause changes in your mental state. Mental health disorders sprout because of the changes in your brain. Mental health is why understanding the brain is so important. In this blog post, we will explore the brain’s importance and how ketamine can help treat mental health problems. 

The Most Important Organ

The brain is the most vital organ in the human body. It processes external information and sends messages back to the body. It is the root of human intelligence and why we experience emotions. As described by InformedHealth, the brain is made up of about 100 billion nerve cells or neurons. Your brain reacts to information given by your senses. 

But what happens if your brain gets damaged?

Damage can come from many different things such as physical trauma or strokes. The effects can be catastrophic because of the brain’s importance. However, your brain has a way of alleviating the damage by itself. Your brain can reorganize itself and the millions of pathways created by the neurons inside of it.

Automatic Reorganization

This concept of reorganization and repurposing is known as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity or neural plasticity is the brain’s ability to “heal” itself in events of injury or trauma. Neuroplasticity is strongest in the earliest years of life, about the first five years. This time is when neural pathways are forming quickly, however this ability declines with age. Mental disorders such as depression can develop at any age, but it is most common in adulthood. 

We can’t depend on neural plastic abilities to treat mental disorders because they have declined when disorders begin. Despite this information, we can utilize the positive effects of neuroplasticity with ketamine. Ketamine can affect the neurotransmitters inside the brain. Among these neurotransmitters is glutamate. Ketamine can block glutamate activity which promotes proteins that enhance neuroplasticity. The enhanced neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt, ultimately improving the condition of mental health issues. 

In conclusion, the brain is capable of incredible adaptation to prior injuries. However, the brain cannot perform this ability later in life where mental health conditions occur more often. Ketamine can help promote this ability and improve mental health disorders. These effects make ketamine therapy a more than viable option to treat mental illness. If you are interested in ketamine therapy, contact us at Mindstream Medicine located in Philadelphia. 

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