For a very long time, scientists believed that brain function started to decline around the age of 25. However, a number of recent studies show that our brain's abilities actually change over time. This is made possible by a phenomenon known as brain plasticity.
The capacity of the brain to adapt to new information and experiences is known as brain plasticity. It builds, destroys, and reorganises our neural networks every day. As a result, it is not fixed and is constantly changing.
You must take advantage of your cerebral plasticity to rewire your brain by strengthening beneficial connections and severing those that don't serve you. Let's look at a few illustrations to see how the procedure works.
Say you want to improve your ability to focus. You could use the Pomodoro technique, which involves working in increments of 25 minutes.
You work uninterrupted for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break before starting up again. You will strengthen the area of your brain responsible for self-control and improve your ability to concentrate if you make it a habit to work in this manner every day.
You must also build new neural networks between your neurons if you want to improve your skills, such as learning a new language, learning to code, or even learning to play an instrument. You can use the spaced repetition method for this.
In order to memorise information and forge strong connections in your brain, spaced repetition involves repeating material (vocabulary words, programming rules, historical facts, music theory, etc.). For instance, you can repeat vocabulary words at regular intervals to help you memorise them if you want to learn a language. Additionally, the more times you repeat them, the easier it will be for you to remember them in the future.
Additionally, you can use deliberate practise. This method is especially helpful when learning a new language, a new sport, or strategic games like chess. It entails focusing on your areas of weakness at each training session. If you're learning to play tennis, for instance, and you're having trouble delivering accurate serves, you'll practise that particular move until you've mastered it.
Your ability to become excellent will increase as a result of focusing on your areas of weakness.
You must establish the connections necessary for good habits to emerge. It will be simpler for you to keep them the more you maintain them.
I found it difficult to motivate myself when I first started running, as an example from my own experience. My brain had not yet established the connections necessary for this habit to take hold. However, by working out three times per week, I strengthened these ties, which made it much simpler for me to maintain this habit.
Good habits must therefore be practised for a long enough period of time to become ingrained in your brain.
Now, the opposite is also accurate. Bad habits must be abandoned for a sufficient amount of time in order for your "bad connections" to weaken. Then, giving up your addiction will be simpler for you. This explains why quitting smoking is difficult for smokers at first, but after a few months, the urge to smoke disappears. Because the neural network that served as the foundation for this addiction has diminished or even vanished entirely.