The Magnetized Man

Imaging studies of musicians show that they have more developed networks in the areas of the brain that control the movement of their fingers and auditory processes. Imaging studies also show that London can drivers — who have to pass one of the most rigorous exams — have very developed sections of the brain devoted to spatial awareness. Animals that have different senses than us have different functions of the brain. When we stay attached to our old ways of doing things or old ways of thinking (or old ways of worrying) we’re energizing an old network. It’s the same way that a cancerous tumour will build its own network of blood cells. That’s how the word cancer got its name: when ancient doctors cut open tumours, the shape of the blood vessels reminded them of a crab. You’ll notice that networks of neurons in the brain kind of look similar. Now, neurons and blood vessels are not inherently bad things. They’re just channels. And you get to decide what flows through them. But here’s the thing; those internal networks connect to networks in the real world. A musician’s brain locks into the network of brains in the world that can appreciate music. A London cab driver’s brain locks into the network of brains that need a trustworthy person to take them where they need to go. That network is built in a sense of reciprocity. Your ego (your “I”) says to you, “I once acted and operated in this way. This is what people are used to. I can’t just change!” This is you struggling to forgive past versions of yourself and not having faith that there are other dimensions to people as well. 

This brings us to words. There is a branch of linguistics known as pragmatics, which studies the real-world meaning of languages. It covers things like dénotation (the literal, dictionary definition of a word) and connotation (the emotional power that words carry based on history and society). Your brain also carries these connotations and creates an entire network of meaning and emotions around words that may otherwise be neutral. So when you’re building new connections, it’s useful for them to be useful!

Neuroplasticity helps people learn new things, but it can also help people forget things. Neuroplasticity happens mainly through a mechanism known as synaptic plasticity. You can either have long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD) of neurons. LTP has frequent, coordinated firing of presynaptic and post synaptic neurons. LTD is about infrequent and uncoordinated firing. 

For illustrative purposes, imagine that there were a bunch of neurons floating around in space. These neurons are the magic “in-betweeners” or roads that allow a thought from your mind to turn into a word from your mouth that someone in the outside world understands. You think something, you choose the words, and then you either get the response you want or you don’t. Your brain records this closed loop of it working, depending on how much emotion is attached to that event. If there’s not a lot of emotion, it may just need to be repeated over and over again.

Let’s return to words. Your thoughts are words connected to images connected to feelings. If you can learn to change how you understand/see/feel about certain words, you can begin to create new outcomes. But this is hard when you already have an entire life connected to a specific reality and specific beliefs. Learning a new language can help with overcoming this barrier since you’re forced to understand how that language’s speakers organize reality.