The Power Of Neuroplasticity

Do you realize that you actually have control over the structure and function of your brain?  Long existing theories in the cognitive sciences have documented that our brain changes every time we learn something new.  Well, neuroplasticity further dictates that since we have choice over what we study and how we focus, we also have influence over how are brain is wired.  Basically, since we have the wherewithal to choose what we want to learn and what habits we want to adopt, we can thereby change the structure of our brains!  There’s nothing cooler than this!!!

Do you realize the power you have here?  With every new habit you choose and practice, you have the potential of changing the shape and function of your brain. 

Let’s take an easy example.  If you are a smoker and wish not to be, you might engage in some kind of therapy.  This therapy may involve gum chewing (for behavioral substitution and to help with cravings) and talk therapy (to understand what smoking brings to you outside of the physical addiction).  If you commit to your therapeutic plan, complete your homework, and follow through with your therapeutic strategies, you will essentially be unleashing different neurotransmitters (chemical messengers manufactured by brain cells) and hormones and neuropeptides.  In other words, you will encourage different chemicals to have a different conversations with neighboring neurons, muscles, and organs.

So (for simplicity's sake), instead of using those old smoker neurotransmitters and old smoker hormones that have been ruling your body for many years, a new non-smoker chemical program will be unleashed.  The brain will evaluate these new changes and if you keep it up for long enough, the structure of your brain will change to accommodate the new set of chemicals that are now communicating in your body,  This will thereby facilitate and perpetuate non-smoking habits and exercises.  

The awesome thing is, you can do this with absolutely anything.  I mean, think about it.  It’s not hard to believe that someone who plays the piano has a space for piano playing in his/her brain.  They obtained that cortical space (or brain space) from practicing the piano day-in/day-out for many months and years.  Neuroplasticity says that we can basically do this with ANYTHING!  So why not change all of those bad psychological habits that are no longer serving you?  Why not!?  You actually have the power to do this!

How exactly do you go about changing your bad habits so they actually create positive structural brain changes?

In changing your thoughts and behaviors, you gradually change the chemicals in your body.  Essentially, you MUST PRACTICE a new habit, religiously.  To illustrate this point, you know that if you want abs and go to the gym only once, those abs ain't comin'.  You must go to the gym for approximately 3 months to see any difference, right?  The same goes for changes in your brain.  You must practice new habits for a few months before feeling that your original urges are actually subsiding and changing into what you’ve been practicing.  I’ll be sure to touch base with you about the kinds of activities you can do to start training your brain.  For now, I hope this theory motivates you to at least start believing that things can, in fact, change. 

Dispenza, J. (2012). Breaking the habit of being yourself: how to lose your mind and create a new one. Carlsbad: Hay House.