You can teach your brain new ways. You can change your thinking by changing your brain and encouraging it to adapt to the change. Why? The brain doesn’t stop growing. If you allow it, your brain can grow and change throughout your life, and you can make your brain work for you, all the time.
How? Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity. Derived from two words – neuron and plastic (a moldable thing), neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to change anatomically, neurochemically, and also in terms of its functional performance in the course of your life. It means that your brain has the power to change. The changes result from the formation of new brain cells and the neural connection/ pathways, which results in an improvement in your brain’s capabilities.
While your brain is in a constant state of change in function, structure, chemistry, and circuitry, there are things that you can do to enhance its function and boost your brain power. You are who you are because of your brain, but you can also change who you are by changing/ rewiring/ improving your brain.
Thanks to neuroplasticity, you have seen people cycling backward, people maneuver complex cities with little experience or children developing higher IQs than expected. Well, all these tell you that the brain can be made better and more powerful than we think. And this is why domestication and inactivity reduce brain function, activity, and size.
So, how can you boost your brain power?
Engage in and be open to lifelong learning
You see how marijuana growers are always on the lookout for the best seed varieties, and they even experiment and test new strategies before growing marijuana seeds to maximize their yield and to produce the purest form of the seed they sow, that is what you should do you your brain. Learn new things that will make it powerful. Find new techniques that will make your brain unique and highly sought after, and never stop.
Research shows that the brain will never stop changing/ growing, evolving if you continually learn new things. Find new ways of empowering your brain.
For example, art lessons have been proven to improve fluid intelligence, brain plasticity, and to boost attention both in children and adults. Making music is also great for your brain, and at least 400 neuroscience studies have confirmed the importance and the benefits of dancing. It’s been proven that dancing causes the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the protein known for the enhancement of the maintenance, growth and the plasticity of the neurons needed for memory and learning.
You could also learn a foreign language – it will enlarge the size of your brain’s language center and the hippocampus.
Physical Activity
Physical activity boosts mental fitness by increasing neuroplasticity, and if you’ve been on a healthy diet, a jog or a short workout session will negate the effects of the poor diet. Exercise will also raise the levels of the brain chemical responsible for the formation of new brain cells and neural connections, hence protecting you against mental decline. Start walking.
Meditation
For years, we’ve known that meditation is great for your health, particularly brain health. But if you’ve been doubtful, here’s something you should know – meditation changes your brain’s structure, and it builds strong neural connections throughout the brain.
Food and supplements
Flavonols, omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, curcumin, magnesium, ginkgo, Gotu Kola, and vitamins D & E boost brain health and neuroplasticity.
Through neuroplasticity, you not only keep diseases at bay but also boost your level of happiness and you develop new (healthy) habits.
