New (ral) Pathways

Satish Dhar explains the concept of neuroplasticity and ways we can adopt to benefit from this marvellous ability of the brain to rewire and restructure itself

- Satish Dhar

In the early years, scientists assumed that the brain was a 'non-renewable organ' and that brain cells were limited in number and died slowly as we aged. But, over the last decade, continuous research has revealed methods for regenerating nerve cells. This is referred to as 'neurogenesis.'

Neuroplasticity is a related yet different concept: it's the brain's ability to establish new connections and pathways and modify how its circuits are linked. The term neuronal plasticity was used by the pioneer of neuroscience, Santiago Cajal, in the early 1900s to characterise non-pathological changes in the structure of adult brains.

Mind and brain

Most people consider the terms 'mind' and 'brain' interchangeable. However, the mind and brain are actually two very different-but interconnected entities. The mind works through the brain but is from the separate brain. The mind uses the brain, and the brain responds to the mind.

The mind also changes the brain. People choose their actionstheir brains do not force them to do anything. Yes, there would be no conscious experience without the brain, but experience cannot be reduced to the brain's actions.

The mind is energy, and it generates energy through thinking, feeling, and choosing. It is our aliveness, without which the physical brain and body would be useless. That means we are our mind, and mind-in-action is how we generate energy in the brain.

When we generate this mind energy through thinking, feeling, and choosing, we build thoughts, which are physical structures in our brain, made of proteins. This building of thoughts creates structural changes in the brain, called 'neuroplasticity.'

Dr Leaf's clinical trial (2021) saw how energy in the brain changed as the subject was thinking, stimulating neuroplasticity in the process. The brain was responding to the person's stream-of-consciousness and nonconscious activity.