As an avid reader, lately the element of literary surprise has been lost on me.
Now only every couple of years I’d come across a book that’s mentally metamorphic.
When I say mentally metamorphic , i mean a book that is either so incredibly informative or poetically profound that it transforms the reader in the reading process and partly their overall life.
“The Brain That Changes Itself” is definitely one of those books.
In summary, the book is about the positive elasticity of our brains (in scientific terms : Neuroplasticity).
Our brains are like muscles to be molded whichever way we train them.
What Neuroplasticity has miraculously disclosed is that not only developing brains but also All Adult brains are susceptible to positive change (neural rewiring).
From the neurotypical brain, to the neurodivergent brain and to the brain that has been subjected to psychological or physical traumas.
Definitively, Neuroplasticity (brain plasticity) is the biological, chemical, and physical capacity for the brain to reorganize its structure and function.
Neuroplasticity occurs as a result of learning, experience and memory formation due to prolonged practice of skill/ habit or unintentionally as a result of psychological or physical damage to the brain.
Activity-dependent plasticity can have significant implications for healthy development, learning, memory, and recovery from brain damage.
These neuroplastic changes range from individual neuron pathways making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping.
Neuroplasticity was once thought by neuroscientists to manifest only during childhood, but research in the latter half of the 20th century showed that many aspects of the brain can be altered (or are “plastic”) even through adulthood.
Literarily, “The Brain That Changes Itself” is written in a simple and concisely poetic flow. Since, the author of the book Norman Doidge initially studied literary classics and philosophy. As for the neuroscientific facts, after his first degree Norman Doidge obtained a medical degree, followed by residency in psychiatry and lastly a degree in psychoanalysis.
You may also want to read : https://factualfeatures.wordpress.com/the-link-between-mental-health-and-gut-health/
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