{"id":101,"date":"2007-02-14T14:08:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-14T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondblue\/2007\/02\/rewiring-brain.html"},"modified":"2007-02-14T14:08:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-14T14:08:00","slug":"rewiring-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/02\/rewiring-brain.html","title":{"rendered":"Rewiring the Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

This just in from “Time<\/a>” magazine: the brain can be rewired. <\/p>\n

Replacing the dogma that the adult brain is immutable, recent research in neuroscience has discovered the brain’s capacity to change in structure and function according to experience and thoughts.<\/p>\n

In last month’s cover article, “How the Brain Rewires Itself<\/a>,” Sharon Begley, author of “Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain<\/a>,” described what, exactly, the brain’s recently-discovered “neuroplasticity” (its ability to reorganize itself by forming neural connections through life) means to a person like me.<\/p>\n

“Something as seemingly insubstantial as a thought can affect the very stuff of the brain, altering neuronal connections in a way that can treat mental illness or, perhaps, lead to a greater capacity for empathy and compassion. It may even dial up the supposedly immovable happiness set point.”<\/p>\n

In a series of experiments conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jeffrey Schwartz<\/a> and colleagues applied the therapeutic potential of mindful mediation (the type practiced by Buddhist monks) to a group of patients struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder<\/a> (OCD). After 10 weeks of mindfulness-based meditation, brain scans showed dramatic changes in the orbital frontal cortex (the core of the OCD circuit), similar to the effects OCD meds achieve. Schwartz calls this brain-changing activity of the mind “self-directed neuroplasticity.”<\/p>\n

The same results happened when cognitive-behavioral techniques were used to treat depression. In a specific study at the University of Toronto, 14 depressives underwent cognitive-behavioral therapy<\/a>, or CBT (replacing distorted thoughts that cause unwanted feelings and behavior with positive or realistic thoughts associated with mental and physical health ). Brain scans showed some interesting results.<\/p>\n

“Cognitive therapy targets the cortex, the thinking brain, reshaping how you process information and changing your thinking pattern,” explains Helen Mayberg<\/a>, a pioneer in developing deep brain stimulation<\/a> (SBS)–a revolutionary treatment that entails brain surgery for the ten percent of people with severe depression for whom antidepressants, psychotherapy, and electroshock therapy doesn’t work. “It decreases rumination, and trains the brain to adopt different thinking circuits.”<\/p>\n

Fascinating. Incredible.<\/p>\n

BUT NOT THE WHOLE STORY. PLEASE READ ON.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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