Time Magazine's January 28th, 2007 issue carries a special feature on the brain, the mind, and consciousness, A User's Guide to the Brain. A favorite topic of personal development readers, the mind intrigues, baffles, amazes, and at times frustrates us. Do mind exercises help us remain mentally sharp and keep the brain young? Using a powerful new tool called an fMRI, which detects blood flow in active areas of the brain, scientists are now able to map events in the brain as they occur, displaying brain images in real time.
Brain Images:
See a familiar face? A specific area of the brain "lights up" on the fMRI. Thinking deep thoughts? A different area shows up as active. Time's special issue will be of particular interest to those on a personal development and growth path because it reflects the growing body of evidence for how the brain interprets data, remembers events, reacts to addictions, and accommodates itself as a result of mind exercises.
Mind Exercises:
We've all heard that "practice makes perfect." Brain imaging confirms this by displaying the neural networks that form when we practice that golf stroke or sales presentation. Specific areas of the brain actually expand in response to the mind exercises of practice. Does merely visualizing or imagining the golf stroke or sales presentation also help as often suggested?
The answer is a resounding yes, and confirmation of this is dramatic. Time shows photos of a person's brain image when seeing a picture and when simply thinking of the same picture. The brain images are nearly identical. Researchers not only found evidence that the brain changes structure in response to practice, but also demonstrated that simply visualizing an activity caused the same brain re-structuring as the physical activity itself!
A Positive Attitude:
From a personal development standpoint, this confirms the value of thinking positively about what we really want, such as a successful sales presentation, an improved golf game, or any other life goal. Thinking of the goal is nearly the same as experiencing it, reinforcing and expanding the brain's neural network around the desired goal.
Conversely, we should avoid thinking about what we don't want. Focusing on the negative of what we really want is in effect practicing the very thing we prefer to avoid, and will equally affect the brain's structure, but toward the thing we don't want.
There's more on the Mind & Body: How friends can help or hinder your growth, how old is too old for personal development, is there proof of the Law of Attraction, and is mind bigger than brain.
