DAY 120 - LET’S GET SCIENTIFIC: THE NEUROPLASTICITY OF THE BRAIN

Day 120

For decades, scientists thought that the brain was unchangeable.  And that, if anything, your brain shrunk because neurons died.  Now, we know that, in fact, the connections between neurons can be altered and that through experiences, at any given time in our life, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to create these new neural connections, can potentially take place. 

  

This discovery could have a major impact on happiness.  In a previous post, I talked about being born happy.  If it is possible to change the wiring of our brain through the repetition of “happy experiences”, it means that the set point for our individual happiness can be increased.

One of the researchers who has been working on the answers to these questions is Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison: 

"It used to be — not that long ago, in fact — that science was sure that our brains were hard-wired, that our happiness had a set point, that our brains could not regenerate. Now we know that our brains can regenerate, and that they're "plastic," able to create new neural connections not just when we're young, but as we age. We were all taught that the brain is different from other organs in the way it changes over time. We thought the process was one of irrevocable death. We now know that view is definitively wrong. The brain is capable of generating 7,000 to 9,000 cells a day."

Davidson studied the biological effects of what happens in the brains of Tibetan monks, who have practiced meditation techniques for over 10, 000 hours.  He found that the practice of meditation, and especially meditation focusing on love and compassion, stimulated and developed the part of the brain related to happiness.

Neuroplasticity tells us that we have the power to transform our state of mind through the repetition of experiences, such as meditation, that stimulate brain connectors related to the feelings of inner peace and happiness.   

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