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Ideas about the human brain have shifted dramatically over the last few decades, in leaps equivalent to the shift from believing the earth was flat to the realization of our spherical world. Less than 30 years ago, most scientists in the world considered the brain to be fixed or “hard-wired”. The belief was that after childhood the only way the brain changed was to decline through the spiral into old age.
Now cut to 2010 when scientists are able to use high tech scanning devices to observe how the brain functions in response to various stimuli. Scientists now know the brain is not hard-wired, but it is in fact extremely changeable with the right stimulation. Scientists have now begun to call this new science neuroplasticity; neuro as in neuron and plastic as in changeable, malleable or modifiable.
With new technology, scientists were able to “map the brain”, or stimulate micro segments of a body part and see exactly which area of the brain lit up on the scan. It was during brain mapping research that the idea of neuroplasticity was first encountered. In his book, The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge, M.D., describes a process whereby the brain maps of several monkeys’ hands were produced. Scientists then surgically crossed the nerve (or physical wiring) for the index finger with the nerve for the thumb. After this alteration, scientists expected that when they stimulated the index finger (with the nerve for the thumb) they would see the thumb portion of the brain light up; miraculously though, instead the index finger portion of the brain still lit up. The brain had overridden the hard-wiring and changed it’s processing of the information; it was not fixed but adaptable and changeable.
Scientists also discovered that when one finger was completely restricted from being used, the brain maps for the adjacent fingers began to grow and take over the portion of the brain map for the unused finger. This proved that not only is the brain changeable, but there is competition in the brain for utilization. Suddenly the phrase “use it or lose it” has real meaning. If portions of brain maps, or neuro-pathways, are not utilized they will be taken over by maps or pathways for other body parts, motions, and actions that we actually do utilize.
So what? So what does this mean to us “every day folks”? Think about your average day. You get out of bed, probably the same way each time, drive to work (usually completely mindlessly because it’s so rote), and work, which for many people means sitting at a desk, moving very little, and doing very repetitive tasks, including repetitive thinking. The average day is not very stimulating for most and does not cause the brain to develop new neuro-pathways or even strengthen pathways that are beginning to fade. Ours brains are not growing; they are, in essence, dying. We then wonder why we can’t do all of those things we used to be able to do. It’s simply because the pathways for those actions were long ago taken over by the actions that are performed over and over and over.
So, how do we keep our brains growing and changing throughout our lives and thus allow ourselves to “grow young”? The answer lies in our ability to continue learning. By learning I am talking about the function of organically solving a problem, coming to a realization, or finding a way of doing something through your own exploration; not the function we usually refer to as learning, which requires only the act of memorizing something that someone else tells you. Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, the developer of the Method I teach, defined learning as the ability to change our response to the same stimulus. Children are experts at this; always playing with and varying the way they do everything.
As adults, our actions and thoughts become rote; we stop learning. The Feldenkrais Method offers a way of learning, through movement, that allows for the type of learning we engaged in as children. Dr. Feldenkrais knew 50 years ago what scientists are just now seeing and calling neuroplasticity. The Feldenkrais Method employs the use of the whole self; thoughts, feelings, senses, and body movements to engage the entire nervous system in a type of learning that, in effect, causes new neurons to fire together and subsequently the development of new neuro-pathways or the strengthening old, seldom used pathways.
If you would like to maintain, or regain, your youthful vitality, try doing something new each day, or at least change up your routines, e.g. roll out of bed a different way, drive to work a new way, or use your other hand to work your computer mouse. See how many of your daily tasks you can vary, even if it’s just slightly. Also, be on the lookout for the announcement of my new website, coming later this year, which will allow you to download my Feldenkrais Method audio lessons so you can begin a home program of learning to learn again and start using it instead of losing it.
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