How can understanding the principles of neuroplasticity benefit people?

Neuroplasticity refers to the brains ability to 'modify' itself, creating new neural connections and pathways when reinforced practice and repetition of the activity. Understanding this mechanism of change is incredibly useful, as with it, individuals and improve their brain's function and capacity in desired ways, leading to better mental and physical health outcomes. Even by the simple act of just knowing that this process happens in our daily lives with practicing new skills, or reinforcing good (and bad) habits, helps people increase their academic performance, and negated some of the negative effects of stress on learning.

How might you engage with the principles of neuroplasticity for your benefit?

Understanding that improvement is possible is THE biggest block in moving forward with learning new skills. Hitting the wall is something we have all done, in our habits, in our skills. Recognising that we can move past those challenges with enough effort and repeated reinforcement provides an excellent boost to morale. This, combined with lifestyle changes (the aforementioned food, exercise, sleep, mindfulness stuff) will make you and me formidable opponents to the challenges we face. I personally have a host of mental health conditions I have been diagnosed with, as well as Multiple Sclerosis, improving the health of my brain is top on the list of my priorities.

What are some of the ways to increase your neuroplasticity?

• PLAY WITH YOURSELF - Games, and gamifying challenges and habits has been proven to help with reinforcement, and improving key areas of the brain.
• USE IT AND IMPROVE IT - Keep it up with new habits and skills you want to retain, the key to forging new pathways and making changes permanent is repetition and practice (especially challenging practice).
• USE IT OR LOSE IT - While reinforcing habits and skills will help forge new paths in the brains neural pathways, the opposite is true of stopping with skills and habits, double for new ones.
• MINDFULNESS FOR THE MIND - Mindfulness exercises have been shown in many studies to increase brain health in areas associated with attention and sensory procession, and to reduce stress and improve emotional regulation.
• EXERCISE YOUR BRAINS SUPPORT - Unfortunately, physical exercise is also important for brain health.
• BRAIN FOOD IS NOT A JOKE - A healthy diet also will help improve mood, and reduce stress. Get you a healthy case for your brain (you are the brain holder) and you will find it easier to engage in mentally taxing, challenging skill improvement exercises.
• SLEEP ON IT - I feel like this is a no brainer, but sleep has been shown in many, many studies to be important for brain health.

What Is Neuroplasticity? Click here for a medically reviewed article on neuroplastcity.

What is growth mindset and why is it important?

Growth mindset (no, not that kind of grindset) is at its core the idea that intelligence and abilities can be developed though effort and persistence. Its opposite, the 'fixed mindset', is the belief that these things cannot be changed, and are predetermined for us by our early life. In practice, this is an important distinction because people who have the 'fixed' mindset will shy away from challenges deemed too hard or beyond their abilities, whereas people with a 'growth mindset' might instead embrace those challenges, seeing them as opportunities for (you guessed it) personal growth. This has implications for personal and professional development, and by embracing the 'growth mindset', people can be more resilient to stress and failure.

Did anything surprise you or change for you learning about these concepts?

Yes, it absolutely reinforced my lefty biases that people are in fact deserving of evidence based, and compassionate, learning strategies. I am surprised by the amount of evidence there is for these concepts now compared to when I was younger, and that it does seem to be making some impact for people.

How will you integrate growth mindset into your learning journey?

I would like to think I already am, but I will definitely focus more on mindfulness and physical health improvements, as well as the brain stretchy stuff. It has definitely reinforced the need for practice, which I will redouble my efforts with.

Growth Mindset: Clearing up Some Common Confusions. Click here!

Reflect, and discuss how these understandings may shape, or influence, your learning plan and strategy.

Reading about and understanding these concepts with definitely induce more purposeful behaviour. This will influence my learning plan in that I will be pursuing challenging material, will intensify practice, and will be more careful around management of stressors and health.