"Neurons that fire together wire together" Is this good or bad?

Nervous system research has exciting and hopeful news for maintaining health longer and recovering more easily from accidents and illness.

Introduced by Donald Hebb in 1949, Hebb's Rule theorizes a basic mechanism for synaptic plasticity. An increase in synaptic efficacy arises from the presynaptic cell's repeated and persistent stimulation of the postsynaptic cell.

The theory is often summarized as "cells that fire together, wire together". As with most theories involving the nervous system, this explanation is oversimplified. The theory is commonly used to explain some types of associative learning in which simultaneous activation of cells leads to pronounced increases in synaptic strength. Such learning is known as Hebbian learning.

Hebb’s Rule relates to how neurons might connect themselves to become
engrams, or patterns of thought and movement.

A negative example of “engrams” might be a bad experience flying leading to a lifelong aversion to air travel. On a more complex level, this might be why a person who has finally left an abusive relationship “finds” themselves entangled in another just like the previous one.

A positive example of “engrams” is motor skills found to develop from simply thinking through a skilled behavior over and over. A famous experiment found that boys who mentally rehearsed shooting baskets improved more than the boys who actually practiced.

"The general idea is an old one - that any two cells or systems of cells that are repeatedly active at the same time will tend to become 'associated' so that activity in one facilitates activity in the other."

We are hoping that victims of strokes and injuries will be able to recover more fully by implementing use of neighboring neurons.

How does this relate to Wellness? We are finding that movement (especially of the spinal joints) stimulates sensory nerves to fire which in turn stimulate higher brain function nerves. People who move vigorously every day for an hour or more have been shown to avoid depression and dementia, have healthier immune systems, and generally live longer, healthier lives.