POWER OF NEUROPLASTICITY IN BEHAVIORAL CHANGE

Change is an inevitable factor in human life from the time we are born. We often retreat from change in fear of facing challenges, failures and uncertainties. We tend to give numerous reasons to justify our choice to reject the change that's coming. Embracing change in life is rather an art of living which is difficult to master.

But, little do we know that the neurons in our brains are malleable to support the change, which is termed as Neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity refers to the dynamism of neural structure in our brains. Studies have shown that our neurons are capable of adapting to change within days if we deliberately practice something that we want to master. It relates to the saying "Practice Makes Perfect".

Neuroplasticity plays a key role in evolutionary adaptation to support mankind to learn from experience and continue to survive.

For instance, a person who struggles to get up early in the morning faces the challenge of maintaining punctuality, therefore branded as late comer at workplace. This negative behavior could be changed by practicing a routine of sleeping and waking up early.


Within two to three weeks of practice, he or she would naturally wake up early and to be precise; may find it difficult to wake up late as a result of the newly formed neural network in the brain.

Talking about neuroplasticity and change, being a right handed person, I challenged myself to write with my left hand. Unfortunately, I could hardly write even a letter. From that moment, I started practicing daily and to my surprise, I could write sentences within a couple of weeks. As months passed by, I became an ambidextrous.

With the existence of Neuroplasticity, we could change any of our unwanted habits as well as make adjustments to the life events that are taking place in our life. 

Sometimes when we fail to embrace change, it could lead us to various dilemmas.  It is because the only thing which is permanent in life is “change” and we could only progress if we adapt to these changes timely.

For example, if you feel reading is such a difficult task for you, try reading a paragraph per day consistently for about one to two weeks without giving up and you may find yourself becoming passionate about reading. You will always look for something to read thereafter.

Any newly formed neural network gets stronger from repetition and intensity. It weakens and fades away if no practice or stimuli is given. If you continuously rehearse a particular activity over a period of time, it becomes a second nature. It applies to tasks such as reading, driving, cooking, new job tasks, exercising, public speaking and so on. This is the power of Neuroplasticity.

Neurons that fire together will wire together but if you don’t use it you will lose it over time. A singer who has stopped singing for years may find it extremely difficult to sing even a song due to the weak neural networks in the brain for that particular activity.

The reason you are good at something today is due to the continuous practice that keeps the neural circuitry expanding and strengthening.

Neural networks are formed well when there are stimuli with sufficient repetition and intensity to change or re-wire neurons are carried out. However, as human beings, we fail to carry out the repetition intensively and fail halfway when the journey to change takes place. We normally avoid the behavioural changes by saying it is too difficult to carry out.

In order to form the new neural network, we should indulge in the change process for few weeks to months continuously.

With the availability of neuroplasticity, you can have the power to rewire your brain. You can stop an unwanted habit by not doing it in order to weaken it and replace it with a good habit by doing it often where it creates and strengthens the new neural network.

Access the power of Neuroplasticity where you have the ability and power to condition your brain to achieve your dreams and make positive changes in you and your life.

Written by : VIGNESWARAN KANNAN
    
Edited by  : SUTHASHINI SUBRAMANIAM