The Real Brain Game: Harnessing Neuroplasticity to Improve Our Mental Equipment And Brains Fitness

In preparation for the new season of National Geographic's Brain Games, their producers asked me to participate in a virtual roundtable around this thought-provoking question:

"Do you think individuals can train their brain to respond in a particular way to certain situations, or do you think our brain's innate "startle response" is too hardwired to alter?"

My short answer: Yes, we can train our brains.

My long answer: Not only we can, but we SHOULD train our brains to respond in particular ways to certain situations. That's why we have a human brain to begin with...

At the core, the question above goes back to the old "Nature vs. nurture" debate. It's pretty clear by now that both matter. As the growing field of epigenetics has shown, genes and lifestyles interact with each other.

The idea that we are genetically "hardwired" for many behaviors is deeply misleading. Yes, we are born with many predispositions, but how those are expressed depend on our lifelong experiences, thoughts, feelings and decisions. We are ALWAYS training our brains, for good or for bad. 

The range of possibility--while certainly not unlimited--is much larger than previously thought. The new fundamental understanding is "cells that fire together wire together." The brain never stops changing through learning (this is called "brain plasticity"). And the brain, and the mind that emerges from it, is of course the driver of behavior. 

The Brain Games TV program explores multiple examples of how learning changes your brain, such as what happens to the brains of taxi drivers, musicians and experienced meditators...including how brain training can take over the innate "startle response" and others.

Why does this matter? Why SHOULD we figure out ways to better train our brains and harness our human potential?

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit Oslo's Nobel Peace Center. Exposed to so many inspiring stories by Prize Winners, it struck me what a beautiful example they provide of our power to transcend our genes and even our "memes" (cultural and environmental influences, as coined by biologist Richard Dawkins).

See this powerful paragraph by Dawkins, in his influential book The Selfish Gene:

"The point I am making now is that, even if we look on the dark side and assume that individual man is fundamentally selfish, our conscious foresight-our capacity to simulate the future in imagination- could save us from the worst selfish excesses of the blind replicators. We have at least the mental equipment to foster our long-term selfish interests rather than merely our short-term ones...We have the power to defy the selfish genes of our birth and, if necessary, the selfish memes of our indoctrination. We can even discuss ways of deliberately cultivating and nurturing pure, disinterested altruism-something that has no place in nature, something that has never existed before in the whole history of the world. We are built as gene machine and cultured as meme machines, but we have the power to turn against our creators. We, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators."

Please notice these fragments...

-- "conscious foresight-our capacity to simulate the future in imagination 

-- "our "mental equipment to foster our long-term selfish interests rather than merely our short-term ones" 

-- "ways of deliberately cultivating and nurturing pure, disinterested altruism"
What if we can train and expand that "mental equipment"? What if we are witnessing the birth of a new "brain fitness" culture and toolkit, combining old meditative and cognitive techniques with new digital platforms, to help us improve imagination, working memory, emotional self-regulation, altruism, and more?

Shouldn't we find ways to adopt them, in our schools, our workplaces, our lives, and become better and happier human beings?

In my mind, that's the real brain game. To find ways to harness our brain's lifelong neurogenesis (creation of new neurons) and neuroplasticity (how the brain changes itself responding to experience) to lead happier, fuller lives.

by #SharpBrains

Your Past is Not Your Future

Many persons have had extensive negative experiences throughout their lives. Perhaps they grew up in a divided or troubled family or hung around with the wrong people in the neighborhood when they were growing up.


Some people, unfortunately, go on to commit crimes and are eventually incarcerated for a number of years. Others have experienced physical as well as emotional abuse, depression, or other serious challenges along the way.



Perhaps you have not experienced any of the above, and your life may be relatively peaceful when compared to the above situations. Nevertheless, there is a likely chance that you have faltered in a number of areas up until now, and those failures may have weighed considerably upon you and kept you from realizing your goals.



Many people unfortunately let their past mistakes (as well as past experiences that were outside of their control) determine their present and future experiences. They dwell on the past problems instead of looking for future solutions. Always remember that many people have gone through the same experiences that you have had and have come out on the other side to experience success.



It is crucial that you remember this: where you're headed to is more important than where you've been.



The first step in experiencing real change in your life is to accept responsibility for your actions as difficult as this may be. So many people go through their adult life continuing to make excuses for their mistakes and never accepting complete responsibility as adults. Once you accept responsibility, you'll realize that you have choices to make each and every single day, and these choices will determine the future course of your life.



You may want to deny responsibility so that you don't have to take the blame for your failures. At the same time, accepting responsibility can be scary because there is always the possibility that you will fail in any given endeavor. However, accepting responsibility can also be a liberating and empowering step in your journey towards success.



This is simply because accepting responsibility helps eliminate excuses and all the negative emotions that you may experience when you blame others for your problems. At the same time, it gives you control and allows you to make decisions that will improve your life. You don't need permission from anyone else to begin making the right decisions. This simple truth can be quite liberating and your first step towards success.

4 Awesome Ideas For Finding Inspiration

I love how inspiration can come into my mind when I least expect it.


On the other hand, I dislike how I have to struggle to find inspiration when I need it. Finding inspiration may be easy for others, but if you find yourself constantly looking for it, then maybe it's time you searched for it instead of waiting for it to come find you.



Here's how:



1. P.E.P. People, Experiences, Places



These are my top 4 sources of inspiration, and these include but are not limited to:



Nature



Art (galleries, photos, sculpture, etc.) and writings (books, blogs, journals, magazines, etc.)



Music and science



Life impact, underdog stories



Meeting new people, seeing new places and basking in life's experiences are the greatest sources of inspiration. It doesn't always have to be some grand experience, nor a fabulous cross country trip or a famous person. You can get the most extraordinary stories from ordinary people and things, right?



2. Solitude



While sharing your experience with others can also help you find more inspiration, so does solitude. Alone, you can focus your mind and body, which can allow you to tune in to your surroundings, your thoughts and your life.



What I really love about solitude is, it lets you notice some of the things that you would have missed if stuck in a busy, noisy environment. Finding inspiration may just come when you're relaxing your mind and sharpening your senses and solitude is a place where we can find time for reflection and deep thinking.



3. Role Models



We all have role models.



What does your role model do that make you look up to him or her so much? Is it their excellent ideas, how they handle a situation, the steps they take to overcome hardship, their ability to lead and complete great things?



Make sure your role models align with the areas in your life that you are passionate about, because it's important to determine whether they are the source of inspiration that is most important to you right now. Are they truly impacting you with inspiration that matters to you and not just because of their social influence?



4. Experience sharing



Finding inspiration becomes a lot easier when you are actually talking about it doing that and talking with other people. I believe that looking for inspiration can be a lot easier when other people bring those stories to you directly in conversation.



Simply sharing one inspiring story with a friend can spark them to think of their own inspiring messages too. It builds a stronger relationship where you can continue to share the inspiration and drive each other to find more. Actually, sharing stories of meaning and value are also a best way to learn new things and inspiration as well!