Frontiers in neuroscienceSep 16, 2026

What Brain Flexibility Means in Mental Health and How Psychedelic Therapy May Relate to It

Psychedelic Science Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Sep 17, 2026

Abstract

The proposed construct, mediational and recalibrative plasticity (MR-P), may better describe and predict mental health phenomena.

Plasticity proper refers to the capacity to be shaped or molded, while neuroplasticity indicates changes in brain function or structure.
Popular biomarkers of neuroplasticity often reflect an evoked process associated with learning, which can lead to biased phenotypic canalization.
The conflation of neuroplasticity indicators with plasticity proper risks oversimplifying complex brain changes.
Extrapolating from neuroplasticity biomarkers to improved mental health outcomes is questioned due to their context-dependent nature.
MR-P is proposed as a new construct that aligns more closely with plasticity proper and may provide insights into mental health-related phenotypic plasticity.

Simplified

First-line dictionary definitions of "plasticity" describe it as the ability (of a thing) to be shaped or molded; we call this "plasticity proper" (PP). In neuroscience, however, "neural plasticity" or "neuroplasticity" is defined as an induced change in brain function or structure. These two plasticities are not the same. Several popular biomarkers of neuroplasticity index part of an evoked process, often linked to learning. Paradoxically, these processes often bias phenotypic canalization, the opposite of phenotypic plasticity. Recognizing this paradox puts into question the custom of using "plasticity" as a shorthand for all neuroplastic phenomena. This custom risks an overgeneralization fallacy and the conflation of assays of evoked brain changes with plasticity proper. We also question extrapolating from any biomarker of neuroplasticity to improved mental health, whether it be aligned with plasticity proper or not. The relationship between the two is, logically, context dependent. As a resolution, we propose a new construct, "mediational and recalibrative plasticity" (MR-P) and show how markers of it can describe and predict examples of phenotypic plasticity, where those phenotypes are states and traits relevant to mental health. In contrast to many markers of neuroplasticity, MR-P is aligned with plasticity proper.

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What Brain Flexibility Means in Mental Health and How Psychedelic Therapy May Relate to It

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