Synapses & plasticity
Connections used together grow stronger and unused ones fade. This is neuroplasticity, the reason the brain can change throughout life.
Neighboring concepts: Habits & willpower · Neurotransmitters · BDNF · Memory & hippocampus · Sleep & rhythm · Full knowledge map
Posts on this concept 8
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If Genes Are Selfish, Why Do We Help Others? Givers Were Happier
The way you treat others comes back to you. Using kin selection and Tit for Tat from Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, together with studies in Science and PNAS, we explain why money spent on others makes us happier and why the brain processes another person's pain like our own, plus a three-step plan you can start today.
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Do We Really Use Only 10% of Our Brains?
The "10% of the brain" claim beloved by movies and ads has no basis. Instead, the brain really does change shape depending on how we use it. Clearing away the myth, we turn to neuroplasticity.
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Does Studying Five Minutes a Day Work? It Feels Like Less, but More of It Sticks
Spending the same time studying, you remember longer if you spread it over several days instead of cramming (a meta-analysis of 317 experiments, 2006). Yet people felt they learned more by cramming (Psychological Science, 2008). Along with a study in which three months of juggling increased gray matter that shrank again after stopping (Nature, 2004), this post explains why a five-minute daily habit works and offers a tool to plan your review dates.
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Why Do We Repeat Things We Regret? Does Naming the Feeling Help?
We repeat things we regret because brain circuits that value immediate rewards separately get in first, and hunger or anger widens that gap (Science, 2004). Simply naming the feeling in a word reduced amygdala responses (Psychological Science, 2007), and 'if X, then Y' plans and precommitment that narrows your options helped. Here's a summary, with a tool for practicing emotion labeling.
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Can Adult Brains Still Grow? Three Months of Study Enlarged Medical Students' Hippocampi
Yes, the brain changes throughout life. Here is the research: medical students' hippocampi grew while studying for an exam (J Neurosci, 2006), exercise started in one's 60s increased brain volume, and therapy that changes thinking changed brain circuits, plus the open debate over new neurons in adult brains.
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How to Boost Neuroplasticity: The Hippocampus Changed in Just 2 Hours
The best-supported ways are moving your body, sleeping enough, and seeking out new experiences. Here is the research on running and new neurons (Nature Neuroscience, 1999) and sleep and synapses (Science, 2014), plus how far the evidence on gut health really goes.
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What Is Neuroplasticity? Three Months of Juggling Changed Adult Brains
Adult brains do change. Three months of juggling grew gray matter (Nature, 2004), and older adults who learned new skills improved their memory. Here is what neuroplasticity research shows, and 3 steps to change your brain with new habits.
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Why Do New Things Make You Sleepy? It Isn't Laziness
It's not weak willpower. The brain is 2% of body weight but uses about 20% of its energy (PNAS, 2002), so it avoids mentally demanding work. Here is why new things feel tiresome and sleepy, and 3 steps to let a new habit settle in.
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