Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adapt, is essential for learning, memory, and recovery from mental illness. In many psychiatric conditions such as depression or schizophrenia, these adaptive brain mechanisms are disrupted. Measuring how well the brain can reorganize itself has been challenging, but recent advances in electroencephalography (EEG) are offering new ways to assess it noninvasively.
A recent study led by researchers from the University of Freiburg explored VEP-based biomarkers for neuroplasticity, using visually evoked potentials (VEPs) to track how the brain’s visual system responds and adapts to stimuli over time. Their findings could help clinicians and researchers better understand the brain’s “plasticity states” and how they change in response to treatments.
How VEPs Help Measure Brain Plasticity
VEPs are electrical signals recorded from the scalp when the brain processes visual information, such as when we see a flashing checkerboard pattern. By measuring changes in VEP strength before and after visual stimulation, scientists can infer how flexible or “plastic” the visual cortex is. This flexibility reflects a process known as long-term potentiation (LTP), which strengthens the connections between neurons.
The study compared four different stimulation methods:
- Low-frequency stimulation, which caused brief changes that faded quickly.
- Repeated low-frequency stimulation, which produced longer-lasting effects.
- High-frequency stimulation, which generated strong but short bursts of activity.
- Theta-pulse stimulation, which created moderate but sustained increases in plasticity for up to 28 minutes.
Each method triggered distinct patterns of neuroplasticity, suggesting that different protocols may be useful for different research or clinical goals.
Why This Matters for Psychiatry
Understanding how stimulation frequency affects brain plasticity could have major implications for mental health care. Many interventional psychiatric treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ketamine therapy, and neurofeedback, are thought to work by enhancing or restoring healthy patterns of neuroplasticity.
By using VEP-based biomarkers for neuroplasticity, clinicians could one day measure how well a patient’s brain responds to these interventions in real time. This would make it possible to personalize treatment plans, identify those most likely to benefit, and even detect early signs of relapse or treatment resistance.
Toward Precision Psychiatry
The researchers emphasize that optimized VEP paradigms could serve as reliable, noninvasive biomarkers for assessing neuroplasticity in both psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. These biomarkers could eventually help bridge the gap between laboratory neuroscience and clinical psychiatry, making brain-based diagnostics more accessible and data-driven.
Future work will likely combine VEP-based measures with other tools such as fMRI, TMS-EEG, or pharmacological challenges to develop a more complete map of how plasticity changes in health and disease.
References
- Galuba, V., Wolf, T., Ihle, A., et al. (2025). Development of VEP-based biomarkers to assess plasticity states. Translational Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03676-x
- Agnorelli, C., Spriggs, M. J., Godfrey, K., et al. (2024). Neuroplasticity and Psychedelics: a comprehensive examination of classic and non-classic compounds in preclinical and clinical models. This review discusses how drugs like ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA may boost neuroplasticity and why that matters for psychiatric treatment. https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.19840?utm_source=chatgpt.com