Neuronal Plasticity

Neuronal Plasticity

For an expert description, please see excerpts from Sharon Begley here. ...Through attention, UCSF's Michael Merzenich and a colleague wrote, "We choose and sculpt how our ever-changing minds will work, we choose who we will be the next moment in a very real sense, and these choices are left embossed in physical form on our material selves."

The discovery that neuroplasticity cannot occur without attention has important implications. If a skill becomes so routine you can do it on autopilot, practicing it will no longer change the brain. And if you take up mental exercises to keep your brain young, they will not be as effective if you become able to do them without paying much attention...

Since the 1990s, the Dalai Lama had been lending monks and lamas to neuroscientists for studies of how meditation alters activity in the brain. The idea was not to document brain changes during meditation but to see whether such mental training produces enduring changes in the brain.

All the Buddhist "adepts" -- experienced meditators -- who lent their brains to science had practiced meditation for at least 10,000 hours. One by one, they made their way to the basement lab of Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He and his colleagues wired them up like latter-day Medusas, a tangle of wires snaking from their scalps to the electroencephalograph that would record their brain waves.

Eight Buddhist adepts and 10 volunteers who had had a crash course in meditation engaged in the form of meditation called nonreferential compassion. In this state, the meditator focuses on unlimited compassion and loving kindness toward all living beings.

As the volunteers began meditating, one kind of brain wave grew exceptionally strong: gamma waves. These, scientists believe, are a signature of neuronal activity that knits together far-flung circuits -- consciousness, in a sense. Gamma waves appear when the brain brings together different features of an object, such as look, feel, sound and other attributes that lead the brain to its aha moment of, yup, that's an armadillo.

Some of the novices "showed a slight but significant increase in the gamma signal," Prof. Davidson explained to the Dalai Lama. But at the moment the monks switched on compassion meditation, the gamma signal began rising and kept rising. On its own, that is hardly astounding: Everything the mind does has a physical correlate, so the gamma waves (much more intense than in the novice meditators) might just have been the mark of compassion meditation.

Except for one thing. In between meditations, the gamma signal in the monks never died down. Even when they were not meditating, their brains were different from the novices' brains, marked by waves associated with perception, problem solving and consciousness. Moreover, the more hours of meditation training a monk had had, the stronger and more enduring the gamma signal.

It was something Prof. Davidson had been seeking since he trekked into the hills above Dharamsala to study lamas and monks: evidence that mental training can create an enduring brain trait.

Prof. Davidson then used fMRI imaging to detect which regions of the monks' and novices' brains became active during compassion meditation. The brains of all the subjects showed activity in regions that monitor one's emotions, plan movements, and generate positive feelings such as happiness. Regions that keep track of what is self and what is other became quieter, as if during compassion meditation the subjects opened their minds and hearts to others.

More interesting were the differences between the monks and the novices. The monks had much greater activation in brain regions called the right insula and caudate, a network that underlies empathy and maternal love. They also had stronger connections from the frontal regions to the emotion regions, which is the pathway by which higher thought can control emotions.

In each case, monks with the most hours of meditation showed the most dramatic brain changes. That was a strong hint that mental training makes it easier for the brain to turn on circuits that underlie compassion and empathy.

"This positive state is a skill that can be trained," Prof. Davidson says. "Our findings clearly indicate that meditation can change the function of the brain in an enduring way."

What Begley is talking about in the article quoted above is neuronal plasticity, from attention to a meditational practice.

According to Simon Evans, Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt, Ph.D., co-authors of Brainfit for Life neuronal plasticity can happen within minutes, and hours, as our neurons are constantly trying out or seeking new connections with their neighbors.

If we give them the right kind of challenge in the right way with the right kind of feedback (according to Merzenich, about 80% correct answers), then neuronal plasticity can be enhanced and guided. For a 61 year old brain, which enjoys meditation, but is not going to take on becoming a Buddhist Monk, guided and enhanced plasticity is just fine.

So what tools are available now that can give us a taste of the neuroplasticity that Merzenich and Begley talk about?

To start, with the Posit Science Brain Fitness tool. It has mostly been tested on Senior Citizens, in the IMPACT study, and the important tests show that exercising the neurons the way Posit Science does provides benefits which generalize to other areas of my life, like not having to use a written list at the grocery store. Check it out here.

The research behind this program, Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro, is astounding, and my experience of the training, which takes about 1/2 hour per day for 19 days is nothing short of astounding. Fun and even a bit addictive once you catch on.

Want a subscription service? Lumosity and Happy Neuron are the two best, quick, hard hitting, I like to keep them booted up and use them between calls and office chores for neuronal refreshment.

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