The Key to Rewiring Your Mind — Neuroplasticity

Our brain is adaptable, like plastic. We can mold and shape it to fit our desires thanks to the concept of neuroplasticity.

Think of the brain as a connected group of trails. Some trails are well traveled: these are our habits and established ways of doing things. Every time we practice a task, feel an emotion, or think a certain way, we clear the trail and make it easy for our brain to use this pathway.

When we start thinking about things in a new way or begin a new task, we head down another path. This trail is the road less traveled, full of sticks, plants, and trees. We need to clear the trail and carve out a new path. The more we use this path the easier it becomes to travel and our new way of thinking becomes second nature. When we stop using the old trail, it becomes overgrown and the pathways weaken.

This process of, forming new connections and weakening old ones, is how we rewire our brains. Anytime we build a new habit or change how we think about something we rewire our brains and experience neuroplasticity in action.

There is a saying that goes, neurons that fire together, wire together. The key to learning and forming new connections in our brain occurs through a mechanism known as long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP strengthens the connections of our neurons, which makes it easier to transmit information.

Think about our name, phone number, or home address. We have had to recall this information so many times that our brains become efficient at recalling this information.

Through repeated activity our neurons form stronger connections and become capable of sending signals more quickly. This is thanks to a process called myelination.

Myelin is a fatty layer of insulation that surrounds all of our neurons. “With the repetition, you’re creating thicker myelin around nerve fibers, which improves the quality and the speed of the signals, and in turn, the circuit’s efficiency,” explained John Ratey, MD, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard.

One area we see this play out is Esports.

Professional gamers often display amazing feats of speed. Players in Fortnite can build huge structures in the blink of an eye and League of Legends pros can pull off a string of amazing skill combos without making a mistake. It seems like their brains are wired differently.

While pro gamers’ brains likely are wired differently, they didn’t start out this way. As players gain experience, their brains become more efficient at processing information and sending signals to react. “Information is transferred subconsciously when you play. Getting into familiar situations triggers your muscle memory and decision making ability,” explained EAthlete Labs.

Think about trying something new for the first time. It could be playing an instrument, trying a sport, or starting a new video game. When you first get started it takes a long time to process basic information and reactions are slow. However, as you practice and become better at processing information, your reaction times improve as well.

This is the same process pro gamers go through and it comes back to the process of myelination.
A myelinated neuron sends signals 100 times faster than uninsulated neurons. Myelination also reduces the time it takes neurons to send additional signals by a factor of 30. This combination boosts information processing and reaction speed by a factor of 3000.

Through repetition and hundreds of hours of practice, pro gamers rewire their brains to be able to process information at rapid speeds. They establish strong mental connections that translate into automatic decision making, just as we don’t have to think when asked what our name is.

We can rewire our brains to change the way we think and make it automatic just like pro gamers. It simply requires focusing our attention toward a desired change and strengthening that connection over time through repetition.

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The process of rewiring your brain is the foundation for everything that follows in this book. Each chapter builds on this concept and adds new skills and ideas to hard wire into your mind. The importance of neuroplasticity cannot be understated. You have the power to rewire your mind.

In this blog series, I share excerpts and stories from my book, Hard Wired. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you enjoyed it and want to connect you can reach me here via email brandonlgustafson@gmail.com or connect with me on social: LinkedIn or Instagram. Also, you can also find my book on Amazon — here is the link to buy it: Amazon Link.