What is Neuroplasticity? A Psychologist Explains [+14 Exercises]

14/02/21

Our brains are truly amazing, aren’t they?

Have you ever watched one of those specials on someone who experienced an amazing,
unexpected recovery after a traumatic brain injury, stroke, or other brain damage?

Some of those stories seem like the only explanation is magic.

Although it certainly seems inexplicable, scientists have been hard at work studying exactly
these cases over the last several decades, and have found the explanation behind the magic:
neuroplasticity.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Positive Psychology
Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive
psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion and will give you the tools to
enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students or employees.

You can download the free PDF here.

This Article Contains:

 What is the Meaning of Neuroplasticity?

 A Brief History of Neuroplasticity
 The Theory and Principles of Neuroplasticity
 Neuroplasticity and Psychology
 Neuroplasticity and Learning
 Does Neuroplasticity Change with Age?
 Research and Studies on Neuroplasticity
 7 Benefits Neuroplasticity Has on the Brain
 How to Rewire Your Brain with Neuroplasticity
 Healing the Brain with Neuroplasticity After Trauma
 Neuroplasticity Rehabilitation for Stroke Recovery
 How Can Neuroplasticity Help with Depression?
 Using Neuroplasticity to Help with Anxiety
 Chronic Pain and Neuroplasticity
 Neuroplasticity Therapy for ADHD, OCD, and Autism
 The Role of Mindfulness in Neuroplasticity
 How Music Changes the Brain
 Do Online Games and Apps Really Work?
 The Sentis Brain Animation Series

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  TED Talks and YouTube Videos on Neuroplasticity
 9 Recommended Books on Neuroplasticity
 9 Quotes on Neuroplasticity
 A Take-Home Message
 References

What is the Meaning of Neuroplasticity?

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt. Or, as Dr. Campbell puts it:

“It refers to the physiological changes in the brain that happen as the result of our interactions
with our environment. From the time the brain begins to develop in utero until the day we die,
the connections among the cells in our brains reorganize in response to our changing needs.
This dynamic process allows us to learn from and adapt to different experiences”

Celeste Campbell (n.d.).

Our brains are truly extraordinary; unlike computers, which are built to certain specifications
and receive software updates periodically, our brains can actually receive hardware updates in
addition to software updates. Different pathways form and fall dormant, are created and are
discarded, according to our experiences.

When we learn something new, we create new connections between our neurons. We rewire our
brains to adapt to new circumstances. This happens on a daily basis, but it’s also something that
we can encourage and stimulate.

A Brief History of Neuroplasticity

The term “neuroplasticity” was first used by Polish neuroscientist Jerzy Konorski in 1948 to
describe observed changes in neuronal structure (neurons are the cells that make up our brains),
although it wasn’t widely used until the 1960s.

However, the idea goes back even farther (Demarin, Morović, & Béne, 2014)—the “father of
neuroscience,” Santiago Ramón y Cajal, talked about “neuronal plasticity” in the early 1900s
(Fuchs & Flügge, 2014). He recognized that, in contrast to current belief at that time, brains
could indeed change after a person had reached adulthood.

In the 1960s, it was discovered that neurons could “reorganize” after a traumatic event. Further
research found that stress can change not only the functions but also the structure of the brain
itself (Fuchs & Flügge, 2014).

In the late 1990s, researchers found that stress can actually kill brain cells—although these
conclusions are still not completely certain.

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For many decades, it was thought that the brain was a “nonrenewable organ,” that brain cells are
bestowed in a finite amount and they slowly die as we age, whether we attempt to keep them
around or not. As Ramón y Cajal said, “in adult centers, the nerve paths are something fixed,
ended, immutable. Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated” (as cited in Fuchs &
Flügge, 2014).

This research found that there are other ways for brain cells to die, other ways for them to adapt
and reconnect, and perhaps even ways for them to regrow or replenish. This is what’s known as
“neurogenesis.”

Neuroplasticity vs. Neurogenesis

Although related, neuroplasticity and neurogenesis are two different concepts.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form new connections and pathways and change
how its circuits are wired; neurogenesis is the even more amazing ability of the brain to grow
new neurons (Bergland, 2017).

You can see how neurogenesis is a more exciting concept. It’s one thing to work with what we
already have, but the potential to actually replace neurons that have died may open up new
frontiers in the treatment and prevention of dementia, recovery from traumatic brain injuries,
and other areas we probably haven’t even thought of.

The Theory and Principles of Neuroplasticity

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s take a moment to look at the theory and principles
underpinning neuroplasticity.

First, we should note that, although we have a fairly succinct definition of neuroplasticity above,
the reality is a bit less well-defined. Neuroplasticity experts Christopher A. Shaw and Jill C.
McEachern describe it this way:

“While many neuroscientists use the word neuroplasticity as an umbrella term, it means
different things to researchers in different subfields… In brief, a mutually agreed upon
framework does not appear to exist”

(2001).

Shaw and McEachern write that there are two main perspectives on neuroplasticity:

1. Neuroplasticity is one fundamental process that describes any change in final neural
activity or behavioral response, or;
2. Neuroplasticity is an umbrella term for a vast collection of different brain change and
adaptation phenomena.

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The first perspective lends itself to a single theory of neuroplasticity with some basic principles,
and that research on the subject would contribute to a single, all-inclusive framework of
neuroplasticity. The second perspective would require numerous different frameworks and
systems to understand each phenomenon.

Unfortunately, there is still no unifying theory of neuroplasticity that I can lay out in simple
terms here. All I can say with certainty is that this is still a young field and new findings are
popping up every day.

What we do know right now is that there are two main types of neuroplasticity:

 Structural neuroplasticity, in which the strength of the connections between neurons (or
synapses) changes.
 Functional neuroplasticity, which describes the permanent changes in synapses due to
learning and development (Demarin, Morović, & Béne, 2014).

Both types have exciting potential, but structural neuroplasticity is probably the one that is more
attended to at the moment; we already know that some functions can be rerouted, relearned,
and re-established in the brain, but changes to the actual structure of the brain are where many
of the exciting possibilities lie.

Neuroplasticity and Psychology

These new lines of research are exciting for neuroscientists, biologists, and chemists, but they
are also exciting for psychologists.

In addition to changes in the way the brain works and functional adaptations, neuroplasticity
offers potential avenues for psychological change as well.

As Christopher Bergland (2017) notes,

“One could speculate that this process opens up the possibility to reinvent yourself and move
away from the status quo or to overcome past traumatic events that evoke anxiety and stress.
Hardwired fear-based memories often lead to avoidance behaviors that can hold you back
from living your life to the fullest.”

We already use medications and chemicals to change the way our brain works, and psychology
has certainly put forth tons of effort to learn how to change the way the brain works through
modifying our thought patterns. What if we really can make permanent, significant changes to
our brain structure and function through simple activities that we often do in a normal day?

This is where the importance of learning comes in.

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Neuroplasticity and Learning

The relation between neuroplasticity and learning is an easy one to surmise—when we learn, we
form new pathways in the brain. Each new lesson has the potential to connect new neurons and
change our brain’s default mode of operation.

Of course, not all learning is created equal—learning new facts does not necessarily take
advantage of the amazing neuroplasticity of the brain, but learning a new language or a musical
instrument certainly does. It is through this sort of learning that we may be able to figure out
how to purposefully rewire the brain.

The extent to which we apply the brain’s near-magical abilities is also dependent on how
invested we are in promoting neuroplasticity and how we approach life in general.

A Growth Mindset and Neuroplasticity

We’ve written about the growth mindset before, but we didn’t really connect the topic to
neuroplasticity. The connection is an important one.

The concepts mirror each other; a growth mindset is a mindset that one’s innate skills, talents,
and abilities can be developed and/or improved with determination, while neuroplasticity
refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and develop beyond the usual developmental period of
childhood.

A person with a growth mindset believes that he or she can get smarter, better, or more skilled at
something through sustained effort—which is exactly what neuroplasticity tells us. You might
say that a growth mindset is simply accepting the idea of neuroplasticity on a broad level!

Does Neuroplasticity Change with Age?

As you might expect, neuroplasticity definitely changes with age, but it’s not as black and white
as you might think.

Neuroplasticity in Kids

Children’s brains are constantly growing, developing, and changing. Each new experience
prompts a change in brain structure, function, or both.

At birth, each neuron in an infant’s brain has about 7,500 connections with other neurons; by
the age of 2, the brain’s neurons have more than double the number of connections in an
average adult brain (Mundkur, 2005). These connections are slowly pruned away as the child
grows up and starts forming their own unique patterns and connections.

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There are four main types of neuroplasticity observed in children:

1. Adaptive: changes that occur when children practice a special skill and allow the brain to
adapt to functional or structural changes in the brain (like injuries);
2. Impaired: changes occur due to genetic or acquired disorders;
3. Excessive: the reorganization of new, maladaptive pathways that can cause disability or
disorders;
4. Plasticity that makes the brain vulnerable to injury: harmful neuronal pathways are
formed that make injury more likely or more impactful (Mundkur, 2005).

These processes are stronger and more pronounced in young children, allowing them to recover
from injury far more effectively than most adults. In children, profound cases of neuroplastic
growth, recovery, and adaptation can be seen.

Neuroplasticity in Adults

This ability is not absent in adults, but it is generally observed less than in children and at lower
strengths; however, the adult brain is still capable of extraordinary change.

It can restore old, lost connections and functions that have not been used in some time, enhance
memory, and even enhance overall cognitive skills.

The potential is generally not as great in older adults as it is in children and young adults, but
with sustained effort and a healthy lifestyle, adults are just as able to promote positive change
and growth in their brains as the younger generations.

To see some of the amazing ways that neuroplasticity can affect the adult brain, read on!

Research and Studies on Neuroplasticity

So what new things have we learned about neuroplasticity lately? As it turns out, quite a bit!

Here are some of the newest and most exciting developments in the field:

1. Enriched environments (saturated with novelty, focused attention, and challenge) are
critical for promoting neuroplasticity, and can provoke growth and positive adaptation long
after the “critical learning period” of early childhood and young adulthood is over
(Kempermann et al., 2002; Vemuri et al., 2014);
2. “Newborn” neurons at 8 weeks old and older neurons are generally at the same level of
maturation (Deshpande et al., 2013);
3. As few as ten ~1-hour sessions of cognitive training over 5 or 6 weeks have the potential
to reverse the same amount of age-related decline that has been observed in the same time
period (Ball et al., 2002);

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 4. Physical activity and good physical fitness can prevent or slow the normal age-related
neuronal death and damage to the hippocampus, and even increase the volume of the
hippocampus (Niemann et al., 2014);
5. Intermittent fasting can promote adaptive responses in synapses (Vasconcelos et al.,
2014);
6. Chronic insomnia is associated with atrophy (neuronal death and damage) in the
hippocampus, while adequate sleep may enhance neurogenesis (Joo et al., 2014).

This is but a small selection of the recent findings on neuroplasticity (see Shaffer, 2016 to learn
more), but it highlights the enormous potential impact of harnessing the power of
neuroplasticity to improve health and well-being in humans.

7 Benefits Neuroplasticity Has on the Brain

Building on the studies we just mentioned, there are tons of ways that neuroplasticity benefits
the brain. In addition to the improvements and advantages outlined above, these are some of the
other ways your brain benefits from brain adaptation:

1. Recovery from brain events like strokes;

2. Recovery from traumatic brain injuries;
3. Ability to rewire functions in the brain (e.g., if an area that controls one sense is
damaged, other areas may be able to pick up the slack);
4. Losing function in one area may enhance functions in other areas (e.g., if one sense is
lost, the others may become heightened);
5. Enhanced memory abilities;
6. Wide range of enhanced cognitive abilities;
7. More effective learning.

So, how can we apply neuroplasticity and get these benefits?

How to Rewire Your Brain with Neuroplasticity

First, let’s get an idea of some of the ways that neuroplasticity can be applied.

A few of the methods that have been shown to enhance or boost neuroplasticity include:

 Intermittent fasting (as noted earlier): increases synaptic adaptation, promotes neuron

growth, improve overall cognitive function, and decreases the risk of neurodegenerative
disease;
 Traveling: exposes your brain to novel stimuli and new environments, opening up new
pathways and activity in the brain;
 Using mnemonic devices: memory training can enhance connectivity in the prefrontal
parietal network and prevent some age-related memory loss;
 Learning a musical instrument: may increase connectivity between brain regions and
help form new neural networks;

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  Non-dominant hand exercises: can form new neural pathways and strengthen
the connectivity between neurons;
 Reading fiction: increases and enhances connectivity in the brain;
 Expanding your vocabulary: activates the visual and auditory processes as well as
memory processing;
 Creating artwork: enhances the connectivity of the brain at rest (the “default mode
network” or DMN), which can boost introspection, memory, empathy, attention, and focus
(see art therapy activities);
 Dancing: reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and increases neural connectivity;
 Sleeping: encourages learning retention through the growth of the dendritic spines that
act as connections between neurons and help transfer information across cells (Nguyen,
2016).

For references on each of these methods, see Thai Nguyen’s work.

Healing the Brain with Neuroplasticity After Trauma

Research on neuroplasticity has gained in leaps and bounds from observing changes in the
brains of those who suffered serious trauma.

Scientists noticed that some patients with severe damage to the brain were able to recover to an
amazing degree, given the extent of the damage, and wondered how this was possible; as we now
know, neuroplasticity is what allows this recovery to happen.

According to researchers Su, Veeravagu, and Grant (2016), there are three phases of
neuroplasticity after trauma:

1. Immediately after the injury, neurons begin to die and cortical inhibitory pathways are
decreased; this phase lasts one to two days, and may uncover secondary neural networks
that have never been used or have been rarely used.
2. After a few days, the activity of these cortical pathways changes from inhibitory to
excitatory and new synapses are formed; both neurons and other cells are recruited to
replace the damaged or dead cells and facilitate healing.
3. After a few weeks, new synapses continue to appear and the “remodeling” of the brain is
in full swing—this is the time when rehabilitation and therapy can help the brain to learn
some helpful new pathways.

There are many pharmacological treatments currently in development and testing that aim to
help recovery through encouraging neuroplasticity, in addition to therapies involving stem cells,
modifying gene expression and cellular proliferation, regulating inflammatory reactions, and
recruiting immune cells to stop the damage (Su, Veeravagu, & Grant, 2016).

Although injury to the brain is a difficult thing to recover from, it is paradoxically one of the best
times to take advantage of the brain’s neuroplastic abilities, because post-injury or trauma is
when the brain is most capable of making significant changes, reorganizing, and recovering (Su,
Veeravagu, & Grant, 2016).

Relevant: What is Post-Traumatic Growth?

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Neuroplasticity Rehabilitation for Stroke Recovery

Neuroplasticity has been observed quite often in those recovering from strokes. Strokes often
leave patients with brain damage, ranging from moderate (e.g., some facial muscular
impairment) to severe (e.g., serious cognitive impairments, memory problems); however, we
have also seen amazing recovery from stroke patients.

According to the experts at stroke-rehab.com, the best way to encourage neuroplasticity in

stroke recovery is to use two key methods:

1. Task repetition;
2. Task-specific practice.

In other words, learning a new skill or activity (or re-learning an old one) through specific,
regular practice can result in significant changes in the brain. You may not be able to learn
anything with repetition and specific practice, but you can certainly learn a lot—and
improvements in one area can often spill over into improvements in other abilities and skills.

How Can Neuroplasticity Help with Depression?

The connection between neuroplasticity and depression is a good news/bad news one.

The bad news is that, when it comes to psychiatric disorders, there’s a sort of negative
neuroplasticity; depression can cause damage to the brain, encouraging unhealthy and
maladaptive pathways and discouraging healthy and adaptive ones (Hellerstein, 2011).

The good news is that some treatments for depression seem to be able to halt the damage and
perhaps even reverse it. The even better news is that research on neuroplasticity has shown us
that “your day-to-day behaviors can have measurable effects on brain structure and function,”
which can offer healing and recovery from psychiatric disorders (Hellerstein, 2011).

It may not be easy and it might take sustained effort, but we have the ability to “remodel” our
brains at any age in ways that can help us to function better.

Using Neuroplasticity to Help with Anxiety

The same principles apply to manage and treat anxiety disorders—our brains are also perfectly
capable of rewiring and remodeling to improve our ability to manage anxiety.

However, as life coach and clinician Ian Cleary (2015) says:

“Any brain changes are at the expense of other changes. The development of these parts of our
brain that effortlessly trigger anxiety, it is at the detriment of the ones that aid calmness &

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confidence… it is not enough to just stop anxiety in any given moment which is often people’s
focus. The anxiety wiring is still there and waiting to be triggered. We need to create
competitive wiring. We need to create specific wiring of what we want to achieve which is
‘competitive wiring’ to the problem. Without this we loop endlessly in anxiety with no neural
pathway to take us forward.”

Basically, neuroplasticity can be applied to help you manage, treat, and perhaps even “cure”
anxiety, but it takes some time and effort! These more permanent brain changes can be achieved
through adapting and changing thought patterns, through recall and memory patterning,
breathing exercises, eye patterning, modifying postural habits, increasing body awareness, and
targeting sensory perception (Cleary, 2015).

8 Neuroplasticity Exercises for Anxiety and Depression

There aren’t many neuroplasticity exercises designed specifically for depression, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t do anything about it.

All of these activities and exercises—many of which you’ll recognize from more traditional
advice on managing depression—have been found to improve neuroplasticity and may be helpful
for dealing with depression:

1. Memory tasks and games;

2. Learning to juggle;
3. Learning to play a new instrument;
4. Learning a new language;
5. Yoga;
6. Mild to moderate regular exercise;
7. Challenging brain activities like crosswords or sudoku;
8. Learning a new subject—especially a large, complex subject in a short period of time
(Hellerstein, 2011).

Chronic Pain and Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity can also play an important role in helping people manage and treat chronic pain.
After all, pain itself is experienced as a set or sequence of neuronal firings—if we can change the
way our brains are wired, what’s to stop us from changing the experience of pain?

A recent study on the subject found that there are at least four methods that can help your brain
adapt and manage chronic pain:

1. Transcranial direct current stimulation (electrodes implanted in certain areas of the

brain to stimulate certain responses);
2. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (non-invasive magnetic stimulation of the brain via a
“wand” to engage specific areas);
3. Intermittent fasting (periods of fasting followed by periods of normal food intake);

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 4. Glucose administration (taking glucose supplements to replace what we lose due to
normal aging; (Sibille, Fartsch, Reddy, Fillingim, & Keil, 2016).

In addition to these more intensive treatments, there are many things you can do to apply the
principles of neuroplasticity to your experience of pain, and the good news is that most of them
are things that we should all do to become more healthy anyway!

6 Neuroplasticity Exercises for Treating Chronic Pain

These six practices and exercises have proven useful for dealing with chronic pain, and they all
have the ability to affect how our brain wiring receives and translates the message of pain:

1. Regular exercise;
2. Healthy eating;
3. Quitting smoking;
4. Keeping your mind active, engaged, and challenged;
5. Relaxation techniques to keep stress at bay;
6. Mindfulness meditation (Irving, 2016).

Each of these activities has the potential to rewire and retrain your brain to react differently to
pain.

Neuroplasticity Therapy for ADHD, OCD, and Autism

The methods of using neuroplasticity to treat ADHD, OCD, and autism largely mirror the
methods we have already covered. There are games, activities, and programs designed around
the principles of neuroplasticity to help people and children with a wide range of issues and
impairments.

However, they all come down to the same general themes: learning new things, being open to
new experiences and new activities, consciously adapting and modifying your thought patterns,
and using science-backed techniques to challenge yourself.

To learn more about how neuroplasticity can benefit children with ADHD, click here for a
description of the Atentiv System.

To get specific information on how neuroplasticity therapy can be applied to OCD, click here.

The Role of Mindfulness in Neuroplasticity

Proponents of mindfulness meditation have long thought that meditation can actually cause
physical changes in the brain; as it turns out, they were right! Mindfulness meditation can, in
fact, change the brain through neuroplasticity.

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Jessica Cassity (n.d.) writes this about mindfulness meditation and neuroplasticity:

“With meditation, your brain is effectively being rewired: As your feelings and thoughts
morph toward a more pleasant outlook your brain is also transforming, making this way of
thought more of a default… The more your brain changes from meditation, the more you react
to everyday life with that same sense of calm, compassion, and awareness.”

The more mindful we become and the more we meditate, the more our brain adapts to this state
as our default state. This is why mindfulness meditation has such a big impact on regular
practitioners even outside of their dedicated practice time; they have taught their brain to be
mindful, calm, at peace, and centered all throughout the day, not just when they are actively
meditating.

Using Meditation to Promote Neuroplasticity

To learn more about the connection between meditation and neuroplasticity and to take
advantage of the neuroplasticity that mindfulness meditation brings, check out this PDF from
Harvard Health.

In it, you’ll learn about some recent studies on the subject and find guided meditations, yoga
sequences, and other exercises that can help you gain the benefits outlined.

You can also watch a great TED Talk from Sara Lazar on how meditation can change the brain
here:

Several areas of the brain actually become larger after meditation, such as the hippocampus and
the fight-or-flight response system in the amygdala. The science behind meditation’s effect on
the brain is enough to invite you, our reader, to take three cleansing breaths before continuing
with this article!
 

How Music Changes the Brain

Listening to music is not only an enjoyable way to pass the time or influence our mood and
energy level; it may also be an impactful way to make structural and functional changes to the
brain.

A 2010 article reviewing several relevant studies found that those who trained as musicians
displayed several differences in the structure and connectivity of their brains compared to non-
musicians, including:

 The anterior portion of the corpus callosum (the thick part of the brain that connects the
two hemispheres) was larger in musicians, especially those who began their training at a
young age;
 The right motor cortex was larger in right-handed musicians than right-handed non-
musicians, especially for those who began their musical training at a young age;
 The volume of the cerebellum in male musicians is larger than in male non-musicians;

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  The volume of the grey matter in motor, auditory, and visuospatial cerebral areas is
larger in musicians than non-musicians;
 Musicians have more structured right posterior internal capsules than non-musicians,
especially for those who began practicing their craft early on;
 Musicians have higher gray and white matter density in the left primary sensory-motor
cortex and right cerebellum, as well as higher white matter integrity in the right posterior
internal capsule;
 Pianists have increased cortical representation of piano tones;
 Musicians have enhanced responses to temporal novelty in the anterior left
hippocampus;
 Musicians have earlier and larger auditory and audiovisual responses to speech and
music stimuli (Rodrigues, Loureiro, & Caramelli, 2010).

If none of this makes sense to you, don’t worry—you’re not alone! I’ll let the authors describe
what all these findings suggest:

“…[S]everal forms of intensive training have an impact on brain and cognition, but it is
possible that musical training has specific effects that other forms of training do not have, or
even produces a range of different effects… [The] cognitive enhancement effects of musical
training, the result of neuroplastic processes, might be due to a combination of skills required
by music study, such as decoding visual information into motor activity, memorizing extended
passages of music, learning music structures and rules, learning to make fine auditory
spectral and temporal discriminations and learning to perform skilled bimanual finger
movements.”

(Rodrigues, Loureiro, & Caramelli, 2010, p. 284).

Basically, findings on how music affects the brain indicate that musical training—and perhaps
even habitual engagement with listening to and appreciating music—can help the brain enhance
its natural neuroplasticity and improve countless abilities and cognitive skills.

Do Online Games and Apps Really Work?

You’ve no doubt heard of the many games and apps designed to harness the power of
neuroplasticity and apply it to improve your memory, processing speed, and problem-solving
skills. A few of them even purport to protect you against developing dementia!

Unfortunately, on the whole, these games and apps are not grounded in relevant science. In fact,
a large group of scientists has this to say about the brain game trend:

“In summary: We object to the claim that brain games offer consumers a scientifically
grounded avenue to reduce or reverse cognitive decline when there is no compelling scientific
evidence to date that they do. The promise of a magic bullet detracts from the best evidence to
date, which is that cognitive health in old age reflects the long-term effects of healthy, engaged
lifestyles”

(“A Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community”, 2014).

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In other words, there may not be any harm in playing these games (except for a slightly lighter
wallet), but engaging in healthy habits and regularly exercising, learning, and trying new things
is the much more evidence-backed way to go.

The Sentis Brain Animation Series

This fascinating, engaging video series on the brain and its amazing abilities is a great way to
learn more about this topic. If any of the brain terms and areas in this piece left you scratching
your head, you’re not alone—but this series can help you learn more about the puzzle that is the
brain!

In particular, check out this video on neuroplasticity. It’s only 2 minutes long, but it’s a great
overview.

Those billions of pathways in your brain light up every time you “think, feel, or do something.”
So if you want new habits to become ingrained in your daily life, then it is a matter of building
and strengthening certain pathways while not reinforcing others.

If you watched the short clip above, you’ll find yourself with their series, and it is rich with
helpful information on how our brains work.

TED Talks and YouTube Videos on Neuroplasticity

For a quick lesson on neuroplasticity or to learn more, these TED talks and brief lectures on the
subject might just hit the spot:

 “After Watching This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same” by Lara Boyd

 “Growing Evidence of Brain Plasticity” by Michael Merzenich

 “How to Increase Neuroplasticity (6 Neuroplasticity Exercises)” by Siim Land

 “The Most Important Lesson from 83,000 Brain Scans” by Daniel Amen

 “Make Your Brain Smarter: It’s Not What You Think” by Sandra Chapman

 “Thinking to Doing to Being” by Dr. Joe Dispenza

9 Recommended Books on Neuroplasticity

If you’re interested in learning more and you have more than 20 minutes or so to dedicate to it,
you might enjoy one of these books on the subject:

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  The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the
Frontiers of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge (Amazon)
 Neuroplasticity (MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series) by Moheb Costandi (Amazon)
 Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health by Dr.
Caroline Leaf (Amazon)
 The Power of Neuroplasticity by Shad Helmstetter (Amazon)
 The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness
& Neuroplasticity by Melanie Greenberg (Amazon)
 The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain
Science by Norman Doidge (Amazon)
 My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte
Taylor (Amazon)
 The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Jeffrey M.
Schwartz and Sharon Begley (Amazon)
 Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New
One by Dr. Joe Dispenza (Amazon)

9 Quotes on Neuroplasticity

Before you go, check out these 9 interesting, engaging, and sometimes entertaining quotes about
neuroplasticity.

Among other things, neuroplasticity means that emotions such as happiness and compassion
can be cultivated in much the same way that a person can learn through repetition to play golf
and basketball or master a musical instrument, and that such practice changes the activity
and physical aspects of specific brain areas.

Andrew Weil

Because of the power of neuroplasticity, you can, in fact, reframe your world and rewire your
brain so that you are more objective. You have the power to see things as they are so that you
can respond thoughtfully, deliberately, and effectively to everything you experience.

Elizabeth Thornton

Any man could, if he were so inclined, be the sculptor of his own brain.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Meditation invokes that which is known in neuroscience as neuroplasticity; which is the

loosening of the old nerve cells or hardwiring in the brain, to make space for the new to
emerge.

Craig Krishna

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Everything having to do with human training and education has to be re-examined in light of
neuroplasticity.

Norman Doidge

Neurons that fire together wire together.

Donald O. Hebb

Brains are tricky and adaptable organs. For all the ‘neuroplasticity’ allowing our brains to
reconfigure themselves to the biases of our computers, we are just as neuroplastic in our
ability to eventually recover and adapt.

Douglas Rushkoff

Our brains renew themselves throughout life to an extent previously thought not possible.

Michael S. Gazzaniga

Our minds have the incredible capacity to both alter the strength of connections among
neurons, essentially rewiring them, and create entirely new pathways. (It makes a computer,
which cannot create new hardware when its system crashes, seem fixed and helpless).

Susannah Cahalan

A Take-Home Message

I hope you’ve enjoyed this very brief journey through the subject of neuroplasticity! As you saw
on this quick journey, it is a very large and complex subject, with new discoveries every day—
often challenging what we thought we knew about the brain.

If you’re interested in learning more, please check out the books, videos, and other resources
noted above. I think the work on neuroplasticity is, in some ways, just beginning, so it’s a great
time for you to engage.

What are your thoughts on neuroplasticity? Do you have an amazing recovery to share? How do
you try to “rewire” your brain? As always, let us know in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our 3 Positive
Psychology Exercises for free.

If you wish for more, our Positive Psychology Toolkit© contains over 300 science-based
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