Monday, November 21, 2011

Brain Plasticity Explained

Brain plasticity is basically the ability of your brain to adapt to and learn new things. It allows us to train our minds to expand to great lengths and take on new mental challenges. Brain plasticity allows us to learn new languages, understand new concepts and hard wire them into our brain so that we can recall them easily for future reference. The brain is constantly changing and adapting to new things with time.

The ability of the brain to physically change is one that happens over a period of time. It is not something that can happen immediately, although with proper training brain plasticity can occur much faster.

As the brain learns to adapt to new situations and take on new, foreign challenges, it will physically transform the way it is shaped. This is where the term plasticity comes from because your brain fires on different neural pathways each time you learn something new. As you consistently feed this new information to your brain, it will eventually form a new neural path so that you can easily recall this information for future reference.

As an example, this is why students study for exams. They use the plasticity of their brains to get good grades on their tests.
In order to recall the things that they study, they have to constantly go over the subject material again and again until the brain forms a new neural pathway that they can use to recall when the time comes to take their test. These new neural pathways will not form and they will not be able to recall what they study unless they do it consistently enough for their brains to physically transform. This is brain plasticity.

Having the knowledge to know that your brain can take on new challenges and learn new things is something that you can definitely use to your advantage. This plasticity gives you the ability to actually train your brain to learn unlimited amounts of knowledge and even recall these pieces of information at lightning quick speed.

If you are not constantly learning new things and training your mind to work more efficiently, the exact opposite will happen. Becoming complacent and not challenging your mind will actually make you lose your memory and you will be more susceptible to brain disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Take the time to understand brain plasticity and start forming your brain to take on more information and to learn new things. This process will help you to better focus, think much clearer and live a better life.

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