Not so long ago, many scientists believe that the brain did not change after childhood, that it was hardwired and fixed by the time we became adults. But recent advances in only the last decade now tell us that this is simply not true. The brain can and does change throughout our lives. It is adaptable like plastic.

Hence neuroscientists call this neuroplasticity. How does neuroplasticity work? If you think of your brain as a dynamic connected power grid, there are billions of pathways or roads lighting up every time you think, feel, or do. Some of these roads are well traveled. These are our habits, our established ways of thinking, feeling, and doing.

Every time we think in a certain way, practice a particular task or feel a specific emotion, we strengthen this road. It becomes easier for our brains to travel this pathway. Say we think about something differently, learn a new task, or choose a different. We start carving out a new road. If we keep traveling that road, our brains begin to use this pathway more.

And this new way of thinking, feeling, or doing becomes second nature. The old pathway gets used less and less and weakens this process of rewiring your brain by forming new connections and weakening old ones is neuroplasticity in action. The good news is that we all have the ability to learn and change by rewiring our brains.

If you have ever changed a bad habit or thought about something differently, you have carved a new pathway in your brain and experienced neuroplasticity firsthand with repeated and directed attention towards your change. You can rewire your brain.

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