Does the secret to transforming the everyday into the extraordinary lies in our own brain? It is not difficult to feel inspired by other people’s most amazing actions. What most people usually do not realize instead is that those that are able to perform prodigies and win Nobel prizes have the exact same brain, identical in its potential to yours and mine. Even they are just using a fraction of their true full mental ability – it’s just maybe a fraction more than you and me.
We shall investigate the most effective instrument known to humankind: the brain. We deserve to comprehend this kind of fascinating equipment that’s fastened behind our face, and it’s formed by more than 100 billion neurons and trillions of supporting glial cells used to pave our journey to expertise and understanding.
One of the saddest truths about our modern society, is the lack of attention and day-to-day focus we give to our mind. There are a lot of misguided assumptions that imply that altering our experiences will not absolutely improve our abilities, as all our intelligence is just inherited through genetics. However, not just our personal experiences, but a considerable amount of scientific evidence of the last few centuries are showing the opposite.
Brain Plasticity
Our ideas do not appear to be visible to us. We just understand they’re there when they occur, but we’re blissfully ignorant about their sources.
Thomas Elbert, a Professor of Psychology in the University of Konstanz in Germany was able to demonstrated how the adult brain is nearly as malleable and “plastic” as a kid’s one. This means our ability to learn and relearn should always be trained all over the course of our lives, and that we need to redefine what we consider as a “fixed potential” for grownups.
The thoughts factory
Our brain is composed of billions of nerve cells called neurons. Neurons join through their branch-like tentacles (signal receivers) and axon terminals. This is the reason our body reflexes are lightning fast and our ideas are so nicely organized.
This organized bunch of neurons look like an elaborate net when they come together to form idea patterns. The ends of every tentacle of axon terminal and single dendrites, however don’t actually touch themselves. There is a small space between them which is known as a “synapse space”, and this really is the place where the thunderstorms of electric signals occur.
It’s clear that the potential for evolving the brain’s biochemical patterns is enormous.
We are well aware about the existence of billions of neurons with this particular level of organization connectivity, so we can conclude that the brain has an unlimited capacity for keeping info, connecting notions and activating directions to the body, as it’s more than able to always create new, never-ending neuron pathways.
Our ideas are experienced through a varied array of biochemical responses in the body, linked with a supplementary sensory consciousness of the surroundings, as well as a complicated emotions, pain and pleasure senses. The discharge coming from these nerve impulse signs produce a unique knowledge, and the process of understanding varies from person to person. Science is starting to call this whole process as ‘consciousness’.
The possible re-organization of new neuron pathways that stand behind every thought, are as endless as they’re unique and distinctive to each person, just like our fingerprints and our imagination.
So each neuron holds each other neuron through the synapse and every complex thought is composed of several simpler thoughts. All the existing neural networks are there to merge our inner reality model to the real world outside us, through the awareness and perception of our body.
We’ve got millions of our own neuronal nets that define our particular thinking systems, shape models and our consciousness in the way we perceive life. The exact same neuron pathways are igniting every time we think about that same thing, and for that reason keeping a rigid thinking approach is limiting what’s our true potential in our life.
Perpetuated beliefs keep using the same neuronal web. This really is being ‘hard wired’ and thus fixated and inflexible in our perspectives.
To make an example, one possible belief formed by this set of organized nets may be that “oranges are not safe”. If someone is juggling with an orange up and down inside their hand, we may start igniting neuronal pathways that let us think of being possibly hit, and consequently start feeling nervous. Other people however others may not have that reaction at all.
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When we discover our neural net predetermines our reactions, we truly realize how significant it’s to challenge our automated psychological responses, and investigate the opportunity to build new, alternative beliefs (idea generators) that will help us respond in a more elastic and efficient manner.
Endless Brain Options
Yet our options seem restricted because of the existing rigid belief systems, which are already hooked into predetermined results, including the tendency to block new ways of thinking.
Taking what we know as the truth without seeking to comprehend alternate ways of perceiving and defending our beliefs, is a recipe for stagnation and inability to change and evolve. It’s all up to us to challenge our assumptions about what’s our true potential, to be able to take full advantage of the freedom given to us by the incredible amount of reactions and interpretation that exist in each individual second.
Our intelligence will raise though our ability to learn and relearn, and we can understand new concepts by exercising our head through proven disciplines that help develop higher degrees of brain plasticity with guaranteed success.
The moment we stop keeping a firm hold on an old belief, the neural network’s links start to divide, and new neuron links start forming the brand new belief (a new neural net) that’s pointing us toward the success we want. This is the real meaning of altering one’s mind! The old manner of thinking ceases to exist and for that reason we will never be tempted into restricting ourselves ever again.
REFERENCES
- Sterr A. et al. Changed perceptions in Braille readers. Nature 1998;391:134-135
- Nelson, Charles Alexander; Collins, Monica Luciana; Luciana, Monica (2001-01-01). Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262140737.
- Green, C. S., and D. Bavelier. “Exercising Your Brain: A Review of Human Brain Plasticity and Training-Induced Learning.” Psychology and aging 23.4 (2008): 692–701. PMC. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
- Meinzer M, Elbert T, Wienbruch C, Djundja D, Barthel G, and Rockstroh B (2004). Intensive language training enhances brain plasticity in chronic aphasia. BMC Biology. 2-20.