You’ll have to bear with me here.
This is probably one of the most fascinating studies and the most useful studies that has ever been done.
You’re going to be able to use the wisdom that you acquire in this short newsletter immediately thanks to the study.
Here’s the experiment.
They taught one group of people who did not know how to play the piano some simple fingering exercises.
And they looked at their brains and saw that as people learned the finger exercises, certain areas of their brains developed and expanded.
Now they gave other people the task of practicing these fingering exercises mentally.
They were not supposed to actually use the piano at all.
They were only supposed to imagine practicing.
This group that only practiced mentally showed almost identical brain changes to those people who had practiced with a real piano.
Therefore mental simulation of movements activates some of the same central neural structures required for the performance of the actual movements.
So why do I insist that the study is so important?
mental practice alone seems to be sufficient to promote the modulation of THE neural circuits involved.
Many of us fantasize.
We especially fantasize about sex.
And this study and many others show that our fantasies wire our brains.
This is especially important in these days of readily available internet pornography.
Many men and also many women regularly view internet pornography, and in doing so they fantasize and wire their brains without even realizing it.
For men, this brain rewiring can result in erectile dysfunction, commonly called porn-induced erectile dysfunction.
In women, viewing internet pornography can also cause the equivalent of ED and women’s sexual issues–low libido, low sensitivity, and the problem that many young women face today, which is that unless they have sex in a very rough way, they don’t feel anything.
There’s another lesson here.
The positive lesson is that whenever you mentally rehearse and practice is more likely to come true.
However, recognize this: this is not an airy fairy woo-woo version of you are what you think about.
The key is that the brain changes that take place when doing a physical act can be reversed mentally and the rehearsal will result in the same brain changes.
These people in the experiment it didn’t fantasize about becoming rich, or becoming movie stars.
They imagine themselves doing a specific exercise, and in imagining doing the exercise, their brain change accordingly.
This experiment applies to any action which is based in something physical and that can result in our brain changing.
Basically, it’s like this–the nerves that fire together wire together.
If you’re focusing inside, and you’re thinking that you’re sick, and you’re focusing on your problems all the time, your brain will wire itself and you will grow more nerve cells and recruit more neurons around your problems in your internal state.
If you focus outside of yourself on activities related to, say, your church, or your family, or your meaningful work, then your brain will develop more neurons and nerve cells will change and build to serve you looking outside of yourself.
Basically, the study says that you can rewire your brain whenever you want!
All you have to do is mentally practice whatever it is you’re trying to do.
And if you’re mentally practicing without conscious intention, then you are rewiring your brain in a way that you may not be very happy with.
This is what happens with porn-induced erectile dysfunction, and it also happens with hypochondriacs, and people who view the world cynically and pessimistically.
By continuing to view outside things the way they’re doing them, their brain is rewiring around a particular point of view on those things, and they are locking in their worldview.
The answer is that they can rewire their brain and have a lot more pleasurable and wonderful life.
It does take some work.
Citations
Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills
http://jn.physiology.org/content/74/3/1037
Click for more information on Muscle Responses, for information on Diet & Exercise, or for more on Mental Health.