Rewiring your brain

[James99]

Hey guys, I wanted to share a really cool aspect of the brain I learnt about while studying psychology at uni. The brain was for a long time thought to be unchangeable after childhood and fixed as such for the rest of our lives. This, we now know, is not the case. The brain is ever changing and always has the ability to change. I'll try and explain this the best I can. Essentially, when you do a behaviour, act in a certain way or even think in a certain way, the action is reinforced over time through pathways in the brain. But here comes the cool bit. Those pathways can also be weakened and changed over time. So here's an example to try and make sense of this. Let's say I have the thought that people are always looking at me in social settings. If I was to challenge and change this belief, and ultimately feel more comfortable in those situations, I would literally be rewiring my brain to act in a different way. When I learnt about this it was a bit of an eye opener because it means there is always a chance to change, no matter who you are or what you have experienced. Hope this makes sense xoxo 

[A_Friend]

@James99 that made sense to as someone who studied some psychology as well. It is one of the most amazing parts of the brain's ability, the brain and our consciousness is so fascinating.

[WheresMySquishy]

That's so true @James99. Thanks for sharing it.
I do believe that even though some traits are inherent, they don't necessarily predict how people actually act. One of my lecturers in university actually scored highly on measures of introversion, but you couldn't tell just by looking at him. He was amazing at engaging people in his lectures and talking in front of an audience.

[GioDes]

Hi @James99, 

Thank you so much for sharing! This is such a cool reminder that we get to chose how our life turns out! I really needed to hear this today so thankyou!

[Anzelmo]

Hi @James99!

I study psychology at Uni and learned the same thing too! It's such a good thing to be aware of and share with people.

We tend to think that there is no going back and that our habits make up who we are, but in fact, we can change our habits as you said and make these new connections and override old ones that may have caused us issues.

It's really nice to know that change is always possible and that no one is ever really stuck.

Great Post!