Rewiring the Brain: A Moving Experience

First let me state that I'm no brain scientist. Yep, that's clear. Yet I'm fascinated with the recent focus in brain theory on the neuroplasticity of the brain. Apparently what scientists have discovered is that even into our old age, we can rewire the brain. We can keep learning. The challenge (of course there is a challenge) is that it's not easy. Recently I've discovered a way to keep my brain fresh, to learn new things and to challenge myself. I'm moving.

After 15 years living of in our first home we are moving to a new home. Aside from the emotional attachment to this house and all of the memories it holds, I realized that now I have to think. Because when you've lived in a space for 15 years or more everything becomes a habit and you don't have to think about it. Up until a few days ago I could walk through this house blindfolded and not hit a thing. I knew every nook and cranny, where things were on dresser tops, or where things hung in closets. But now that we've moved some of the furniture out, boxed up some of the items and brought at least half my wardrobe to the new house, I can't run on habit any more.

So what does this have to do with brain science? The enemy of neuroplasticity as I see it are habits. Habits are ingrained ways of thinking and acting that create a neurological pathway in the brain and eventually become "neuro-cement" making other neuro-pathways more difficult. For example, once the neuro-pathways for language are embedded in our brain it is much easier for the brain to default to our "first" language than to struggle with a second or third (that's why my Spanish is so bad). The other challenge is that habits also have the positive effect of making everything simpler and more efficient. When I don't have to think about where my tie is, or where the best Chinese food is then I can use my brain for other things. But we can allow our habits to become so ingrained that it becomes more and more difficult for our brain to be flexible.

Moving forces the brain to think and rewire. As we move things into the new house I'm rethinking my habits. How will I get coffee in the morning? Where will I write? How will our routines change as a result of living in a three-story house? All of these questions and more challenge my brain to rewrite scripts that I've ignored over the past 15 years. Even the neighborhood and surrounding city is different so I have to think about where to get food and what areas might not be as safe as others.

Rewiring the brain is not easy. The brain likes to default to the most well-used neuro-pathway. However when you want to change a habit or learn something new I'm finding that there is no better way than to give the brain no choice. I can't live in the new house the way I've lived here, so my brain has to change. So, perhaps you don't have to move, but if you want to develop or learn something new try giving yourself no choice. The brain will adapt faster than you think.