Brain Changing Science Breakthroughs - Neoplasticity Is Amazing !
I just finished listening to the audiobook Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How A New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential To Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley, and it really made me want to share some of the ideas with you guys.
This book does a really good job of showing how, historically, psychologists and neurologists had assumed that the brain was a static entity in adulthood. In fact, it was widely believed that the brains of children as young as two years old did not change significantly in terms of the function of their specific brain areas. What that means is that the parts of your brain devoted to motor skills, sensory perception, language, etc were defined in your brain and set in stone for life. This was due to the knowledge that neurons DO NOT REPLICATE THEMSELVES. It was known for at least a century that brain cells do not grow during adulthood.
However, this book reveals recent studies that show how the brain manages to produce new, functioning neurons in people as old as 40 years old and older. It's done through a special technique that uses a spare form of DNA that is stored in the brain that forms with a special kind of hydrogen (if I remember correctly). They were able to show this by studying cancer patients who are normally injected with a specific radioactive chemical used to track the formation of new cells in the body (so that oncologists can see if the malignant tumors are growing and where). Neurologists studied these patient's and got their hands on one deceased patient's brain that empirically showed that new brain cells were still being formed in this brain of over 40 years old.
The main concept of Begley's book discusses what is known as neoplasticity. Neoplasticity is a fairly recent concept that psychologists have been exploring in which the brain is found to be malleable. The brain is, contrary to long-standing belief, a highly dynamic entity that can be shaped through thought. Let me rephrase that: OUR MINDS CAN LITERALLY SHAPE OUR BRAINS!
I don't just mean that our brains create new synapses through normal learning. What has been empirically shown over the past couple of decades is that through conscious, deliberate thought our brains literally rework themselves to accommodate our thoughts. We can change the circuits that our brains use, and entire sections of our brains will rewire themselves and begin to focus only on whatever our minds desire them to. Research was done on Buddhist monks and Tibetan High Llamas (religious meditative practitioners; not the animal, lol) with fMRI and PET scans to show that they could produce astounding results through the use of meditation. For example, they did a study where they had a yogi focus on a single picture (of the Buddha I think, it doesn't matter though), for over an hour and try to catch the picture when it flickered. They would flicker the picture at random intervals. They compared this with a normal person concentrating on the same picture for the same time. Naturally, the normal person died of boredom and his response time of then flicker began to decrease over time. The yogi, however, was able to retain the same response time for OVER AN HOUR! Imagine being able to focus on ONE single thing for over an hour... This guy practiced meditation for 10's of thousands of hours during his life. The brains of these meditation masters were shown to be completely off the charts in terms of their capability to show empathetic emotions, conscious mind control, and happiness (which, believe it or not, can be monitored through an fMRI).
I'm not sure if I'm delivering the astounding information clearly enough, but this book is jam packed with amazing, accurate information that I would highly recommend you digging into. Even if you're already aware of this kind of information, or these studies, it's worth finding out exactly how this knowledge was found. Begley does a great job of showing exactly how the study of psychology is showing the world, and even layman like me, how deliberate consciousness of the mind can reshape our brains, that is, MATTER. It's amazing: We can empirically show that mind can control matter. IT CONTROLS MATTER ! Psychologists and neurologists are just beginning to understand the implications for things that these Buddhists have known for millenia. Regardless, I believe we will be able to put entirely more practical use for the findings that will come in the future. It's a very exciting time, and I just couldn't help but share my feelings with you all. I hope I haven't bored anyone (even though I can't imagine how this is boring, lol).
This book does a really good job of showing how, historically, psychologists and neurologists had assumed that the brain was a static entity in adulthood. In fact, it was widely believed that the brains of children as young as two years old did not change significantly in terms of the function of their specific brain areas. What that means is that the parts of your brain devoted to motor skills, sensory perception, language, etc were defined in your brain and set in stone for life. This was due to the knowledge that neurons DO NOT REPLICATE THEMSELVES. It was known for at least a century that brain cells do not grow during adulthood.
However, this book reveals recent studies that show how the brain manages to produce new, functioning neurons in people as old as 40 years old and older. It's done through a special technique that uses a spare form of DNA that is stored in the brain that forms with a special kind of hydrogen (if I remember correctly). They were able to show this by studying cancer patients who are normally injected with a specific radioactive chemical used to track the formation of new cells in the body (so that oncologists can see if the malignant tumors are growing and where). Neurologists studied these patient's and got their hands on one deceased patient's brain that empirically showed that new brain cells were still being formed in this brain of over 40 years old.
The main concept of Begley's book discusses what is known as neoplasticity. Neoplasticity is a fairly recent concept that psychologists have been exploring in which the brain is found to be malleable. The brain is, contrary to long-standing belief, a highly dynamic entity that can be shaped through thought. Let me rephrase that: OUR MINDS CAN LITERALLY SHAPE OUR BRAINS!
I don't just mean that our brains create new synapses through normal learning. What has been empirically shown over the past couple of decades is that through conscious, deliberate thought our brains literally rework themselves to accommodate our thoughts. We can change the circuits that our brains use, and entire sections of our brains will rewire themselves and begin to focus only on whatever our minds desire them to. Research was done on Buddhist monks and Tibetan High Llamas (religious meditative practitioners; not the animal, lol) with fMRI and PET scans to show that they could produce astounding results through the use of meditation. For example, they did a study where they had a yogi focus on a single picture (of the Buddha I think, it doesn't matter though), for over an hour and try to catch the picture when it flickered. They would flicker the picture at random intervals. They compared this with a normal person concentrating on the same picture for the same time. Naturally, the normal person died of boredom and his response time of then flicker began to decrease over time. The yogi, however, was able to retain the same response time for OVER AN HOUR! Imagine being able to focus on ONE single thing for over an hour... This guy practiced meditation for 10's of thousands of hours during his life. The brains of these meditation masters were shown to be completely off the charts in terms of their capability to show empathetic emotions, conscious mind control, and happiness (which, believe it or not, can be monitored through an fMRI).
I'm not sure if I'm delivering the astounding information clearly enough, but this book is jam packed with amazing, accurate information that I would highly recommend you digging into. Even if you're already aware of this kind of information, or these studies, it's worth finding out exactly how this knowledge was found. Begley does a great job of showing exactly how the study of psychology is showing the world, and even layman like me, how deliberate consciousness of the mind can reshape our brains, that is, MATTER. It's amazing: We can empirically show that mind can control matter. IT CONTROLS MATTER ! Psychologists and neurologists are just beginning to understand the implications for things that these Buddhists have known for millenia. Regardless, I believe we will be able to put entirely more practical use for the findings that will come in the future. It's a very exciting time, and I just couldn't help but share my feelings with you all. I hope I haven't bored anyone (even though I can't imagine how this is boring, lol).
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