• How You Can Learn
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• The Richer Your Life, The
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• Notes From The Lab
• On The Job
• FASTR Learning

Do you know what condition your attention is in?

Given that the brain retains its plasticity throughout life, and that learning and experience can induce changes in the brain, it might be possible, with the right training and enough time, to rewire our brain circuits to serve specific cognitive goals.
This is the thinking behind "self-directed neuroplasticity," which neuropsychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz defines as "the ability of an individual to alter his or her own brain activity through the active practice of focusing attention in constructive ways." (ref-2)


Schwartz's own research has applied this concept to the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a psychiatric condition marked by repetitive, uncontrollable actions, such as repeated hand-washing. With just a few weeks of intensive training, people with OCD were able to alter the brain circuitry underlying the intrusive thoughts and urges that characterize the condition. A distinct pattern of changes in regional brain function was confirmed in PET scans (brain imaging that measures neural activity) and these changes correlated with improvements in OCD symptoms. (ref-3)

If you want to learn something, pay attention

Schwartz says the key to self-directed neuroplasticity is "attention density." By paying close attention to a particular task, and, by extension, to the neural networks underlying it, one can eventually "hard-wire" new neural patterns into the brain.

"With enough attention density, individual thoughts and acts of the mind can become an intrinsic part of an individual's identity," Schwartz says.

While acknowledging that more research is needed to understand how much attention is required and what training formats are best to foster long-term brain change, Schwartz and co-author David Rock offer some general tips you can apply at work to increase your attention-density (ref-4):

• Cultivate moments of insight through thoughtful reflection or meditation that is focused on solutions, as opposed to problems.
• Leave problem behaviors in the past; focus on identifying and creating new behaviors.
• Ask what is needed to resolve challenges rather than focusing on what went wrong.
• Create a mental image of the desired behavior, and keep revisiting that image.
• Use positive feedback when you get it right-reward yourself! This is likely to grab the brain's attention and engage its reward pathways, which can strengthen new learning.

Now try the memory trick with a new list of words: twelve, patio, password, coffee, drillbit, Matthew, shoelace, audit, pencil, fish. Make up your own clues, and see how you do!