Brain View , a photo by Suranga's Photo Collection - InstagramSriLanka on Flickr.
p.8
The revolutionary findings about your brain's remarkable ability to change itself are barely a decade old.
In
the 1990s, scientists rocked the field of neurobiology with the
startling news that the mature mammalian brain is capable of sprouting
new neurons in the hippocampus and the olefactory bulbs, and that it
continues to do so even into old age. This process is called neurogenesis.
Scientists also confirmed what was long suspected: your brain is not hardwired. It
can reinvent itself, as it were, by creating new pathways to reroute,
readjust, and otherwise change the networking and connections, sometimes
even substituting one area for another.
Your
brain also changes to reflect what you learn, do, and think. In fact,
your brain is physically rearranging its networks just about every
minute of every day. That's neuroplasticity.
Then
they discovered that your actions, thoughts, feelings, or environment
can change your genes - more specifically, whether certain genes are
expressed - altering brain fuction; character traits; and risk of some
diseases, from cancer to schizophrenia. That's epigenetics.
p. 9
They
showed how neglect, abuse, and bullying in childhood can stunt brain
development, and they gave some credibility to age-old concepts of
positive personal transformation through religious experiences,
meditation, self-help programs, and even positive thinking and your own
will. They also explain how and why talking cures such as psychotherapy
and cognitive behaviour therapy can change lives.
Judith Horstman
2010
Wiley USA
