It was believed that the brain was pretty much hardwired when a person reached adulthood, thus making it extremely difficult or impossible to change personality in the view of some theorists. Now, with neuroscience and technology, they have discovered neuroplasticity and that, in fact, the adult brain can change. So can personality change afterall because of this neuroplasticity?

You then get into a difficult argument of what constitutes a personality change. We all change a bit as we mature and our genetic predispositions and environmental factors come into play. As in the case of Phineas Gadge, who's frontal lobe was destroyed by a railroad spike, personality can certainly change when the brain is physically altered. But then, the brain is physically altered each day as our neurons make connections to other parts of the brain as we learn and experience things. So when neurons make new connections, or suddenly can't make the connections they used to have (think lobotomy) that part of the brain changes. It can be argued that the personality changes then too. What is personality besides our emotions and mental processes in varying situations? All of these are controlled by the neuroconnections in our brains.

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