DailyPost 693
NEUROPLASTICITY
Neuroplasticity and breakthrough thinking are intricately intertwined. This is the genesis of great ideas / later proven as facts, which have been milestones in human history from science to music. In 2014, a 24 year old Chinese woman went to a hospital complaining of dizziness & nausea. It was found that her brain had no cerebellum, which is essential for language, movement & motor control. She could still walk, talk, use chop sticks & had mastered Chinese calligraphy. This speaks of the brain’s amazing capacity to change itself. “Other parts of her brain were transformed in order to do the work of the missing cerebellum.” This is neuroplasticity.
This is like the brain “rewiring itself.” It actually does. It is not a metaphor, “actual, physical structures inside our brain change.” It was thought that brain stopped changing or developing &some think even learning, after childhood. Neuroscience has already proven the contrary. Neural connections can actually change. The parts of the brain grow bigger or smaller depending on the kinds of activity you are engaged in. The reality is the brains remain “plastic”, changeable all throughout our life. “Your Brain is Constantly Restructuring Itself. Physically restructuring itself. Think about it.” This is the message of the authors of The Net and The Butterfly,” a book on breakthrough thinking.
Babies have a highly plastic brain, every encounter has a need to learn; eating, walking, language etc. It can termed as the Ironman triathlon workout for the brain. As we grow up, routine sets in. Novelty is given a go by. You resistance to new ideas / learning / practice is celebrated. The transformation is from being a “daily mental Ironman to being a neural couch potato.”
Creation of new ideas, new thoughts, new understanding requires construction of new connections inside our brain. Our success in today’s world depends on how fast, how easily and how profusely we can create new connections. This is your capability to impact the world. These are Breakthroughs.
IN THE KNOWLEDGE ERA, WHERE ARE THE GYMS FOR THE BRAIN.
Sanjay Sahay