Function Words

I've been fairly busy with work and planning for my China trip so I haven't had much time to put any thought into my blog.
Actually, I haven't done much about planning China, more about figuring out how I will cope with the aftermath. I get back on Monday at 5 and then I have to teach two classes on Tuesday.
So what else? I've been reading an interesting book called "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain" which is a report about ongoing collaboration between some prominent neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama.
The reason this book interests me is that I have been talking about brain plasticity in my language development class. The results of a variety of experiments seem to indicate that the brain is far more malleable than was previously believed. The real estate of the brain that seemed to be permanently occupied has been shown to change function or expand due to increased training.
I have worried about stroke as my most serious health risk. When I read about brain plasticity it gives me a little bit of hope that it might be possible to recover some function if it should happen to me.