Future health care applications resulting from progress in the neurosciences: The significance of neural plasticity research

Neurological, communicative and behavioral disorders afflict a significant part of the population in industrialized countries, and these disorders can be expected to gain in importance in the coming decades. In a considerable number of these dis-orders impairments in plasticity, i.e. deficiencies in the adaptive and regenerative capacity of the nervous system, play a central role. This paper considers the possibilities and probabilities of future improvements in treatment and prevention for a number of nervous system disorders following from neural plasticity research. Subsequently, it discusses the overall health policy implications of progress in the area of neural plasticity research and development in particular, and the neurosciences in general.