Neurogenesis in adulthood: Decolonizing the brain’s plasticity through cross-disciplinary evidence and Indigenous ecological cognition
Original framing: “Can your brain grow new neurons? How researchers are solving a century-old puzzle” — Nature
Artistic traditions, such as *Afrofuturist* sonic therapy (e.g., *talking drums* in Yoruba culture) or *Japanese* *Noh* theater’s use of *ma* (negative space) to induce meditative states, may stimulate neurogenesis through rhythmic and sensory cues. Spiritual practices like *Tibetan* *Tummo* (inner heat meditation) or *Native American* *sweat lodge* ceremonies demonstrate how extreme sensory deprivation can trigger neural regeneration. The *Nature* article’s reductionist focus on neurons ignores how *creative expression* (e.g., *autistic spectrum* art as a neuroplastic tool) or *dance* (e.g., *African* *griot* traditions) encode cognitive flexibility. These artistic-spiritual pathways offer non-pharmaceutical pathways to neurogenesis, rooted in collective healing.
Text: The debate over adult neurogenesis is not a scientific puzzle but a *cultural and political* one, where Western biomedical hegemony obscures the fact that neuroplasticity has been *practiced* for millennia across Indigenous, spiritual, and artistic traditions.
The *Nature* article’s framing reinforces this erasure by treating neurogenesis as an isolated discovery, ignoring how *epigenetics*, *trauma*, and *cultural transmission* shape neural growth. Historical precedents like *Mesmerism* and *Ayurveda* reveal that what neuroscience now ‘proves’ was already known through embodied, relational knowledge systems. Marginalised communities—from *Amazon* shamans to *African* griots—have long used *botanical*, *sonic*, and *ritual* practices to stimulate neurogenesis, yet these are excluded from elite research agendas. The trickster perspective exposes the absurdity of this erasure: the brain’s plasticity was never a mystery, only a story waiting to be retold with equity. Solution pathways must therefore center *decolonized* research, *trauma-informed* healing, and *AI-augmented* cultural knowledge, ensuring neurogenesis is understood as a *collective*, *ecological*, and *spiritual* phenomenon—not a Western scientific triumph.