Neuroplasticity and Psychotherapy

No, it is not the latest scientific breakthrough in biodegradable plastics that are actually biodegradable.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change its structures and functions by establishing or rearranging its neural connections.

Let us explain.

Our brains are constantly building new cells from the moment we are born. These cells make an incredible number of neural connections as they grow, and these connections underpin our capacity to learn and remember what we need and use, as well as our capacity to forget what we don’tFor example, as a child learns a new skill, cycling for example; new connections are formed in the brain. As a child continues to practice this skill, his or her neural connections will become denser and stronger with each repeated activation.

It is similar to wading through a thick wheatfield for the very first time. Sickle in hand, one has to bash through the thick vegetation and forge a new path in order to get across. Eventually, you would have created a pathway from your starting point to your destination. This process is analogous to neuroplasticity, where the new pathway represents a neural connection that you have formed in your brain through the repeated activation of the same set of neurons. The pathway becomes easier and more pleasant to traverse the more it is used.

Neuroplasticity and Psychotherapy

However, while neuroplastic changes are often thought of in a positive light, such as learning a new skill or knowledge, the same process applies to unhealthy and unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.

Maladaptive thoughts, distressing emotions and unhelpful behaviours that underlie many mental disorders are formed in the same way. For example, the negative thoughts and feelings characteristic of clinical depression may become entrenched and reflexive as a result of maladaptive plasticity, which is why it is becomes incredibly hard for sufferers to break out of this vicious cycle. In fact, many mental disorders are a direct result of the formation of such undesirable neural connections.

Through a good understanding of our brains and neuroplasticity, clinical psychologists employ various psychotherapies to reduce the strength of these undesirable neural connections while promoting the use of the desirable ones. Your psychologist will work with you to disrupt negative pathways and decrease neural activity in particular areas of the brain. As new (and healtier) pathway are forged, the old ones eventually fall into disuse. Much like Chernobyl.

Tip: While neuroplasticity has been observed to a lesser extent in adults than in children, adults are just as capable of effecting adaptive neuroplastic changes and neurological growth through consistent effort and by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.