I first heard about neuroplasticity from Todd Sampson. As an ad creator and analyst I loved watching him on the Gruen Transfer, on the ABC. When I heard about his new show Body Hack, I was immediately intrigued. If the man who created Earth Hour was spruking something, generally I thought it was worth paying attention to.
Neuroplasticity, or neural plasticity or brain plasticity is the phenomenon of changing the neural pathways in the brain in order to rehabilitate behaviours, learn new things and form new habits. In terms of science this is still a relatively new concept. There are two main types of neuroplasticity:
Functional plasticity: after a trauma it is the brain's ability to move functions from a
damaged area of the brain to other area
Structural plasticity: The brain's ability to actually change its physical structure as a result of learning
Neuro refers to neurons, the nerve cells that are the building blocks of the brain and nervous system, and plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change or be moulded.
The old ideology that our brains are wired a certain fixed way has been proven to be wrong. Until recently students were categorised into what they are and are not good at. These connections where then reinforced by grades, comments and became self talk, self doubt and led to people saying things like- I'm not good at Art, Maths, etc.
Imagine the power an educator has these days by changing the language around failure.
These days in education the popular term is 'yet.' I'm not good at Maths...yet. The change in language means that student's today recognise that while certain skills may not come easily for them they have the capacity to develop it. If you haven't seen Carol S Dweck's TED talk
on The Power of Yet ,I highly recommend it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-swZaKN2Ic
Just remember there was a stage in your life when you couldn't tie a shoe lace, ride a bike or drive a car. We don't give up on our little ones learning these skills so why give up on ourselves?
Essentially instead of thinking of the brain as fixed we need to start thinking of it as a muscle. The more you exercise it- the stronger it is going to be. In fact, there is only one recreational activity which has been proven to reduce brain function and that is watching TV! (check out the study from Cerebral Cortex, Volume 25, Issue 5, May 2015, Pages 1188–1197, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bht315)
You are not the same person you were last year, last week and you won't be the same person tomorrow. This is in essence neuroplasticity at work. When you focus on a specific habit or skill the connections within the brain which are associated with it become stronger. Ditto for when you do not focus on a habit or skill. It'll become weaker- depending on what is being used.
You may notice the little people around you tend to learn things a bit more quickly- it is true that their brains are more 'plastic.' It does not mean though that an old dog can't learn new tricks.
When we are born every neuron in the cerebral cortex has an estimated 2,500 synapses; by the age of three, this number is around 15,000 synapses per neuron. Adults? They have half of this. Thanks to our experiences throughout life some connections are stronger and some are eliminated.
How can you improve your brain power?
Get plenty of sleep
Feed your brain the right type of nutrition
Try learning a new skill (instrument, language, painting)
Exploring somewhere new
Reading
Why should you try to improve your brain power?
The more 'plastic' your brain the more you have the capability to:
Evolve your current cognitive skills
Find some skills or talents you have forgotten about
If you learn a new skill you are also improving your (dependant on the skill)
attention
memory
emotional regulation
motor skills
stronger problem-solving and creative thinking skills
improved vocabulary
greater reading comprehension
increased ability to multitask
I also feel it is important to know this is still a new concept. The term was only coined in 1948 by Jerzy Konorski. While there are theories and studies going back to the 1700's and continuing now (some are too gruesome and upsetting to share) it is still a developing field. The impacts on education are already being seen. I can't wait to learn more and share with you.
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