“The beauty of neuroplasticity is that when you make changes to what you remember and how you remember it, what you do and how you do it, your brain overrides the old neural networks with new ones.” ― Jennifer Fraser

Science used to believe that the brain was fixed and stable.  We now know that neuroplasticity, the ability to rewire the brain, is possible through creating new neural pathways that shift your default cultural programming from the old to the new.  This process is at its best a retraining of the brain.  How do we begin to retrain the brain? 

We have learned that through interventions like computerised brain training or exercise therapy we can induce changes in different regions of the brain.  Learning new and novel tasks like juggling or yoga can expand our neural pathways and create a new skill as well as a new set of neural connections. 

This type of learning might be especially important when experiencing stress, anxiety or depression.  Maladaptive thoughts are reconfigured into a new and more effective structure.  This brain retraining could also be beneficial following a stroke, a traumatic experience, or to provide a pre-emptive approach to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Opening up new neural pathways displaces the old non-preferred connections with new preferred pathways.  As always, effort and practice are the key, along with perseverance.  Practice makes permanent when it relates to creating neuroplasticity.

University of Sydney Study

In a study of 100 non-depressed older individuals (average age 70 years) who were at high risk of future dementia, four training groups completed two types of supervised centre-based training per session (physical and cognitive), twice per week, for a total of 6 months.  Three groups were given placebo training while one group was given resistance exercise and computerised cognitive training.  “The researchers found that resistance exercise led to structural brain plasticity, specifically, a thickening of grey matter in the ‘posterior cingulate’ cortex, a key integrating part of the brain that is affected early in Alzheimer's disease. By contrast, the control group underwent a small shrinkage in posterior cingulate grey matter.” ⁽¹⁾  This plastic change was linked to global cognitive benefits as measured by the Alzheimer’s disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive scale.

“Cognitive neuroscience is entering an exciting era in which new technologies and ideas are making it possible to study the neural basis of cognition, perception, memory and emotion at the level of networks of interacting neurons, the level at which we believe many of the important operations of the brain take place.” – John O’Keefe

Cognitive Fitness

The keys to maintaining our cognitive fitness are straight forward.  We need to subscribe to a brain-healthy diet, which would include:

• Spinach, kale, collards are rich in Vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta-carotene, which slow cognitive decline. 

• Blueberries, strawberries, and others offer antioxidants and flavonoids to protect the brain. 

• Salmon, cod, and tuna provide omega-3s, linked to lower levels of brain-damaging proteins. 

• Walnuts, almonds, and seeds offer healthy fats and antioxidants. 

• Oats, quinoa, and brown rice provide steady energy and nutrients. 

• Excellent plant-based protein and fiber. 

• Extra virgin olive oil is a cornerstone for healthy fats. 

•  A lean protein source, consumed in moderation. 

We also need to engage in regular physical activity.  We have already seen the value of resistance training on neuroplasticity.  The need for quality sleep is also important to maintain cognitive alertness.

Continue to challenge your brain.  New cognitive challenges like learning a new language or doing crossword puzzles can maintain our cognitive fitness and promote neuroplasticity.

Nurture your social connections, these are experiences that stimulate new neural pathways and help manage stress, which can be contraindicated for cognitive fitness. 

“In nature nothing is hardwired, everything is live-wired, everything is evolvable.” - Abhijit Naskar

Neuroplasticity

Creating new neuro-connections in the brain reshapes the brain into a new structure.  The old structure is modified through new experiences that form new neuro-pathways. 

In stroke victims this might aid in the revamped memory to walk, talk or move an arm.  The rewiring allows the brain to reconnect to patterns of movement that were lost through the advent of a stroke. 

Ironically, forming new neuro-pathways could be useful for managing intrusive thoughts.  Through forming new patterns of thinking, perhaps avoiding ruminating your negative past history, one may be able to replace non-productive negative thoughts with more positive thoughts. 

This strategy of forming new patterns of behaviour through rewiring our brain provides another mechanism for the treatment of maladaptive behaviours.  Impulsive behaviours that lead to poor decision making might be repatterned through developing skills that lead to increased neuroplasticity.

To achieve these positive results will require exposure to new and novel experiences.  Effort and perseverance along with a healthy lifestyle are the keys to improved neuroplasticity. 

There is so much that is still unknown about neuroplasticity. This area of research is in its infancy and what we know is finite, the unknown is infinite.      

^Reference

^{1-Valenzuela, M. (2016).  Physical and mental exercises protect memory by rewiring the brain.  The University of Sydney, 23 March 2016.}