6/3/2020 TheNeuroscienceofBehaviorChange-StartUpHealth

TheNeuroscienceofBehaviorChange
Fl,ro Fit4D [ Follow ]
.º""' Aug8,2017·5minread

Helpingpatients changebehaviorsbyund erstandingthebrain

Aspatientswithdiabetesparticipateinanewactivity,theyaretrainingtheirbrainstocreateanewneuralpathwa y.Whe
ntheactivityisrepeated,thepathwaygetsstrongeruntil thebehavioristhenewnormal.

1 finditfascinatingthatourbrainscan
change.Iwasraisedwiththebeliefthat"youcan'tteachanolddognewtricks."However,Ihave
alwaysquestionedthisand,not
toolongago, neuroscientistsdiscoveredthat
creatingnewbehaviorscanbedonebyrewiringthebrain.

Diabetesisachronicdiseasethatrequireslifestylebehaviorchanges.Asclinicians,itisveryusefult
oprovideinformationandeducationaboutdiabetestoourpatients.Butin
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ardertoelicitpositivebehaviorchange,itisimportanttounderstandthesciencebehi nd

Ihave
beenabletopersonallyachievemyhealthgoalsandprofessionallyempowermypatientstoreacht
heirhealthgoalsbyunderstandingtheneuroscienceofbehaviorchange.

Whatdoesbehaviorchangelooklikeinthebrain?

Neuralpathways,comprisedofneuronsconnectedbydendrites,arecreated

thebrainbascdonourhabitsandbchaviors.Thcnu mbcrofdendritcsincreaseswiththefrequeney
abehaviorisperformed.Ipicturetheseneuralpathwaysasdeepgroovesorroadsinourbrain.Ourbr
aincellscommunicatewitheachotherviaa processcalled"neuronalfiring."

PsychologistDeannWare,Ph.D.,explainsthatwhenbraincellscommunicatefrequently,thecon
nectionbetvveenthemstrengthensand"themessagesthattravelthesamepathwayinthebrainovcr
andovcrbcgintotransmitfastcrandfastcr."Withcnoughrepetition,thesebehaviorsbecomeauto
matic.Reading,driving,andridingabikeareexamplesofcomplicatedbehaviorsthat
wedoautomaticallybecauseneuralpathwayshaveformed.

Justbecausepatientshaveformedneuralpathwaysdoesnotmeanthattheyarestuckwiththosehab
itsforever.Aspatientsparticipateinnewactivities,theyaretrainingtheirbrai nstocrcatcncwncur
alpathways.Thcpathwaysgctstrongcrwithrcpctitionuntilthebehavioristhenewnormal.

importanceofrepetition

Intermsofrepetition,itisestimatedthatittakes10,000repetitionstomasteraskilland
developtheassociatedneuralpathway.Asclinicians,wecanencourageandsupportrepetitio
nwhenourpatientsareworkingtoachievetheirhealthgoals.

Itisestimatedthatittakes3-
6monthsforanewbehaviortobecomeahabit,thoughthisestimatevaríesbyperson.Asclinician
s,wecanencouragepatientsthat,
withtime,theirrepetitionwillpayoffwhentheirbehaviorbecomesnatural.Ascoaches,wecan

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continuctoprovidcstratcgicsforovcrcomi ngbarricrs,hclptocrcatcback-
upplans,andprovidesupportwhileourpatientstakeonnewgoalstowardsbetterhealth.

Everybrainisdifferent

It
isimportanttounderstandthateverybraindifferent.Eachpersonhastheirownuniqueexperie
ncesthathaveshapedtheirbrainandcontinuetoshapeitthroughouttheirlives.Therefore,itrea
llyisin1portanttolistentothepatientindividuallyto
u nderstandtheiruniquecxperiencesandvalues

ordertohcl pthcmdevelopaclearplanforachievingtheirhealthgoals.

Developingnewneuralpathways

Connectinganewbehaviortoasu1ot11yareasofthe
brainaspossiblehelpstodevelopnewneuralpathways.Bytappingintoalifivesenses,wecancre
ate"stickiness"thathelpsformneuralpathways.

Weallhaveexperiencesthatchangedus. Wecanrecallthesensatíons:theimages,
smells,howwefelt,etc.Whenworkingwíthpatientsconsiderhavingpatientsconnectthcírsucccs
scsorhcalthgoalstoasmanyscnscsaspossiblc.

Visualizationcanbeavcrypowcrfulscnscthatcanhclppaticntsbuildncwncuralpathwaystowardbe
haviorchange.Forexample,askpatientstovisualizewhattheiroptimalhealthlookslike,feelslike,a
ndwhattheywouldbedoingiftheirdiabetes wasmanaged.

Anotherexampleistoaskpatientstorecallapositiveexperiencewithdiabetes.Havethemelaborat
eonas
manyemotionsandsensesaspossible.Askwhattheylearnedaboutthemselvesandhowtheycana
pplythoselearningstoachievetheirdesiredhealthgoals.

Modifyingthebraintostaypositive

InDr.RickHanson'sIIardwiringIIappiness,theneuropsychologistexplainsthatourbrains
arewiredtowardthenegative.Forexainple,ifwehavetenexperiencesduring
theday,fiveneutraleverydayexperiences,fourpositiveexperiences,andonenegatíve

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experience,weareprobablygoingto
thin kaboutthatonenegativeexperiencebeforegoingtobedthatnight.

Knowingthistendency,howcanwechangeourbrainstofocusonthegoodexperiences?
HardwiringHappinessgivespracticaladviceformaintainingthepositive.Onestrategyistofocuso
nthegoodfor10-20seconds,reallyabsorbingandstoringtheexperienceinourlong-termmemory.

Personally,afterreadinghisbookandpracticing

foursuggestedsteps,1amconvincedthatIhavedevelopedstrongneuralpathwaysfrom"taking
inthegood"andthatmylifehaschangedforthebetter.Ipracticemindfulnessofgoodexperiences
andspend20-30secondsreallyabsorbingthegood-
notjustinmymind,butinmybodybyfocusingonsensationsandemotions.

Forexample,whenIseearainboworthewildflowersonthesideofthehighway,1usedtosimplynoti
cc,thcnsay,"Wow,howbeautiful,"andmovcon.Now,1stop,spcnd20-30secondstaking
thebeautyandabsorbingitso theexperiencelandsin
termmemory.

AccordingtoBarbaraFredericksonoftheUniversityofNorthCarolina,peoplearemuchn1ore
likelytomakechanges
whennewbehaviorsareassociatedwithpositiveemotions.Welikepositivereinforcement,whic
henablesustobecreativeandopentotryingnewthings.

Hclpingpaticntsdevclop
SMARTgoalswithsmallactionstcpscancncouragepositivcernotionsthatleadtosuccess."Taki
nginthegood"withourpatientsbycelebratingwiththemwhentheyaresuccessfulwiththeirSMA
RTgoalshelpsreinforcepositiveemotions.

Anychangecanbeunsettling,evenadesiredone.Itisessentialto understandthepatient's
visionofsuccess

ordertosetSMARTgoals.Throughouttheprocessofbchaviorchangeandncuralrcwiring,it
hclpstocncouragchardworkandcclcbratcsuccess,sothatpatientscanobtainsustainablepro
gresstowardstheirhealthgoals.

ByJulieHani,RN,BSN,BA,CDEFit4D

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CertifiedDiabetesEducator

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6/3/2020 TheNeuroscienceofBehaviorChange-StartUpHealth

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