How can you grow your brain? Neuroplasticity simply explained.

First of all, what does brain plasticity actually mean?

It refers to the brain cells changing their activity or connections after being exposed to certain internal or external stimuli. It is basically the scientific term for brain growth.

You definitely need to grow your brain in order to easily acquire more skills, to be better at the skills you have now, or to excel at school or college.

I have discussed some ways to grow your brain in the last article, but let’s dive deep into how brain growth actually works.

-Practice makes perfect.

Let’s say you are struggling to learn how to swim. You already hired a trainer, and you went to practice daily for around a month, but still, you miserably failed.

You want to quit. You feel like there is no way you can adequately perform the skill.

Well, this is not how it works.

Your brain is formed of endless neuronal connections that end with a connection to a brain center.

Those nerve cells communicate with one another through chemicals released at a synapse. A synapse is the gap between two neurons where chemicals are released.

When it comes to motor activity, there is a motor center controlling virtually all your motor activities.

Think of it as a chain of command, where a brain center is the leader and nerve cells are the soldiers obeying his orders.

When you try a new skill, a new neuronal connection is formed that didn’t exist before. And since this connection was recently brought to life, it will function at a subpar level.

When you practice the skill repeatedly, these neuronal connections start to mature.

Maturity here reflects the fact that these neuronal connections become stronger. The chemicals will be released at a faster rate at synapses, and those chemicals, as already mentioned, are the language between neurons.

Even new neuronal connections will be formed to coordinate the skill you are practicing.

You will reap the benefits of the maturation of neuronal connections by having better performance in a particular skill.

Repetition also provides you with a pivotal advantage.

Due to the brain changes that occur with repetition, the simple aspects of a skill will be done spontaneously, leaving you more room for improvement.

Taking swimming as an example, when you practice the skill frequently, you will do the simple stuff without much thought, such as your hand movements.

This will leave you with more room to try to develop the finer and more complicated aspects of swimming, such as the distance you are covering and how to control your breathing pattern.

-Physical exercise is fundamental.

Aside from the well-known physical benefits of exercise, the changes exercise induces in brain neuroplasticity are hugely underappreciated.

A study revealed that there is a positive correlation between exercise and cognitive outcomes in school-age children.

Aerobic exercise such as walking or jogging has been found to significantly improve neurocognitive performance, attention, and memory function.

Compared with people who have a sedentary lifestyle, people who tend to exercise regularly have increased brain volume in certain areas, such as the prefrontal and temporal cortex.

A functional MRI study suggested that aerobic exercise at least enhanced activity in the brain areas that are involved in attentional control tasks.

What is more bizarre is that in animal models, scientists deliberately occluded certain brain vessels for scientific purposes, causing injury to certain brain regions as they were no longer receiving any blood.

Post-injury, they found that exercise induced positive structural changes in neurons, helping in the recovery from the insult inflicted.

-Engaging in useful activities.

This advice is not science-backed but rather my own opinion.

I personally presume that there is no secret hack you can randomly do that will make your brain flourish or allow you to think smarter.

It is more like certain habits or routines you can practice on a daily basis that can challenge your brain.

I suppose we only grow as humans through obstacles, and so does the brain.

Simple activities like reading a book that discusses counterintuitive ideas about stuff you are not aware of, such as politics or economics, can help your brain grow.

Having a meaningful conversation with a friend about a topic you are not familiar with can also help your brain grow.

I will end this by using the same example I used in the last article. Your brain is not much different than your body’s muscles.

If you train your body’s muscles by going to the gym on a regular basis, they will grow. But if you have a sedentary lifestyle, your muscles will get weaker.

So is the brain. You have to constantly train it and expose it to unusual challenges if you want it to grow and flourish.