What Is Neuroplasticity? Rewire Your Brain for Personal Growth

Neuroplasticity refers to the capacity of the nervous system to create new connections between neurons and modify existing ones. Put simply, it’s the brain’s ability to rewire itself, which can help us replace old habits and thought or behavioral patterns with new ones.

In this article, we’ll discuss what neuroplasticity is at length, covering its benefits, the mechanism behind it, and more. Plus, we’ll explain how you can leverage it for personal growth based on your Enneagram type.

What Is Neuroplasticity?

Also known as neural plasticity and brain plasticity, neuroplasticity is the nervous system’s ability to modify and reorganize itself throughout life. In other words, it refers to the brain's capacity to form, weaken, or strengthen neural connections in response to new experiences, injuries, learning, and other stimuli.

In the context of the nervous system, plasticity was first mentioned by the American philosopher and psychologist William James in 1890. However, the term “neural plasticity” is credited to the Polish neurophysiologist Jerzy Konorski, who suggested that neuroplasticity is the process of remodeling existing neural connections rather than merely creating new ones.

According to researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, scientists first believed that the brain loses plasticity after childhood. Research over the past several decades, however, shows that the brain remains flexible well into adulthood. This flexibility helps us acquire new skills and information, form memories, and adapt to new circumstances.

There are two main types of neural plasticity:

1. Structural neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain’s capacity to change its physical structure through learning and new experiences (e.g., strengthen or prune existing connections)
2. Functional neuroplasticity, which occurs when the brain alters and adapts the functional properties of neurons to compensate for the loss of function in another part of the brain due to damage, such as traumatic brain injury or stroke (i.e., it is the brain’s ability to heal itself)

Now that you know what neuroplasticity is, let’s find out how it works.

How Neuroplasticity Works

Neuroplasticity works by strengthening, weakening, or forming new neural pathways. Put simply, the nervous system is composed of neurons, which are basic cells of the nervous tissue that receive and transmit electrical signals. Brain plasticity strengthens or weakens certain pathways by sending electrical signals through them.

All neurons are connected, but there’s a tiny gap between each connection. This gap, called a synapse, plays a pivotal role in neuroplasticity; this is because neural pathways strengthen as electrical signals cross synapses between neurons.

Repetition is key to learning and neural plasticity, as it facilitates the formation and strengthening of neural pathways; the more neurons activate together, the stronger their connection becomes. This explains how habits form and why doing something for the first time, such as learning a language, is difficult and gets easier over time.

Essentially, brain plasticity follows the “Use it or lose it” principle. It continuously rewires itself based on experience, strengthening connections we use and weakening or eliminating those we neglect, a process known as synaptic pruning.

Since you now know not only what neuroplasticity is but also how it works, it’s time to explore its benefits.

3 Main Benefits of Neuroplasticity

The three main benefits of neuroplasticity are improved habits, enhanced emotional regulation, and strengthened cognitive skills.

Let’s discuss how brain plasticity can contribute to your well-being in greater detail:

#1. Improving Habits

Neuroplasticity can help you break unhealthy patterns and develop better habits. Both good and bad habits form through repetition, which reinforces certain neural pathways. As such, you can replace routines that don’t serve you with positive practices by rewiring your brain through repeated actions.

For example, if you struggle with procrastination, consistently choosing to tackle your to-do list instead of picking up your phone and doomscrolling will gradually improve your discipline. It may be hard at first, but taking action will eventually become second nature, as the lack of use will ultimately weaken the old neural pathway, while repetition will strengthen the new one.

#2. Enhancing Emotional Regulation

Another major benefit of neural plasticity is improved emotional regulation, which you can achieve by consistently practicing self-regulation techniques, such as mindfulness or deep breathing.

If you consistently react with anger or fear, the neural pathways associated with those emotions become stronger, making you more emotionally reactive. Breaking this pattern with calming techniques can help you gradually rewire your brain and control intense emotions.

A study by Shweta Arora supports this, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between emotional intelligence development and neural architecture. Simply put, improving your emotional intelligence, which also entails emotional regulation, reinforces neuroplasticity and vice versa, leading to greater cognitive flexibility, stress resilience, and self-awareness.

#3. Strengthening Cognitive Skills

Engaging in mentally demanding activities, such as learning new information, memorizing a speech, or solving complex problems, activates and strengthens neural pathways associated with memory, focus, and other cognitive skills. This way, neuroplasticity plays a critical role in sharpening cognitive skills.

Furthermore, it facilitates recovery from brain injuries and enhances cognitive flexibility, improving your learning capacity, creativity, and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. As such, it can help you boost your brain health and switch from a fixed to a growth mindset.

Next, let’s discuss neuroplasticity and personality development.

Neuroplasticity and Personality Development

Neuroplasticity supports personality development by helping you change unhelpful thoughts and unhealthy behaviors. More specifically, it empowers you to break toxic behavioral patterns, overcome negative thinking, and eliminate self-sabotaging tendencies, allowing you to reshape certain aspects of yourself and fully embrace personal growth.

How to Apply Neuroplasticity to Your Enneagram Journey

The first step in applying neuroplasticity to your Enneagram journey is identifying your Enneagram type and learning more about its fears and desires.

These underlying drivers shape your behavior, leading you to strengthen or weaken certain neural pathways. Becoming familiar with what makes you tick allows you to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your behavioral patterns, so it is key to effectively apply the Enneagram for self-development.

From there, you can explore Enneagram arrows to see what your personality type typically looks like when thriving and when struggling. Engaging in actions associated with your growth arrow may feel uncomfortable at first, yet it can help you interrupt unhealthy patterns and strengthen neural pathways that lead to the best, most balanced version of yourself.

The table below summarizes the typical behaviors that help each Enneagram type break unhealthy patterns, rewire their brain, and grow as individuals:

On this note, let’s find out how to rewire your brain with practical neuroplasticity exercises.

5 Practical Neuroplasticity Exercises

Here are five practical exercises you can start doing today to reap the benefits of neuroplasticity:

1. Practicing gratitude. Regularly reflecting on moments you’re grateful for trains your brain to focus on the positive aspects of life. This practice can be extremely valuable to those struggling with negative thinking.
2. Pausing before reacting. If emotional regulation isn’t your strong suit, you might find it helpful to take a short pause to breathe and collect your thoughts when something or someone triggers you. Over time, this small change alone can help you rewire your brain, making it easier to thoughtfully respond to situations.
3. Learning a foreign language. Acquiring new skills, including learning languages, is one of the most effective ways to strengthen neural pathways associated with focus and memory.
4. Engaging in new experiences. Visiting foreign countries, trying a new hobby, and meeting people from diverse backgrounds can help your brain form new pathways, enhancing your cognitive flexibility.
5. Practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is an excellent way to rewire your brain. Since it brings your attention to the present moment, it can be especially helpful for those prone to worry, stress, and anxiety.

4 Neuroplasticity Myths and Misconceptions

The four most common myths and misconceptions about neuroplasticity are that it is only accessible in childhood and always has positive outcomes. Many people also believe that the brain can rewire itself overnight, and that neural plasticity can turn you into a completely different person.

Let’s discuss each of these misconceptions in greater depth:

#1. “The brain can’t change after a certain age.”

While it’s true that children exhibit more neural plasticity than adults, the truth is that the brain remains flexible and capable of strengthening and forming new neural pathways throughout life. Therefore, you can acquire new skills and rewire your thought and behavioral patterns even in old age; it may just take a bit more effort than it did when you were a child.

#2. “Neuroplasticity is instant.”

Rewiring your brain isn’t something that happens overnight; it requires consistency and repetition. While you may begin to see small changes relatively quickly, it may take weeks or months to break deeply ingrained habits or behavioral patterns.

#3. “Neuroplasticity is always good.”

Contrary to popular belief, neuroplasticity isn’t always positive, as the brain can’t tell the difference between things that are good for you and those that harm you. It simply strengthens neural pathways you frequently use and weakens those that are rarely active, whether positive or not. As such, brain plasticity can cause you to develop both good and bad habits.

#4. “Neuroplasticity can completely change your personality.”

Although neuroplasticity can help you change your thought and behavioral patterns, it cannot change your entire personality because it is partly influenced by genetics. For instance, if you’re introverted, you can rewire your brain to become more comfortable with socializing in large groups. Still, you won’t find such interactions as energizing as extroverts do.

Key Takeaways

If you’re looking to rewire your brain, the most important thing is consistency. Even small actions repeated over time can contribute to significant changes.

Now that we’ve explored what neuroplasticity is through and through, it’s time to summarize our key points:

• Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form, strengthen, and weaken certain neural pathways, which helps us form memories, learn new skills, and adapt to changes.
• The main benefits of neural plasticity are better habits, improved self-regulation, and sharpened attention, focus, and other cognitive skills.
• You can apply brain plasticity to personal development by consistently engaging in behaviors that promote growth for your Enneagram type.
• Some practical neuroplasticity exercises include learning new languages, practicing gratitude, and trying something new.

What Is Neuroplasticity FAQs

#1. What is the best-known example of neuroplasticity?

One of the best-known examples of neuroplasticity is the effect of mindfulness meditation on the brain. Researchers at Parthenope University of Naples found that individuals who meditate exhibit distinct brain connectivity patterns compared with those who don’t, specifically in the right hippocampus. The study suggests that meditation could be helpful for preventing Alzheimer’s disease due to these changes.

#2. How long does it take to rewire your brain?

How long it takes to rewire your brain varies individually, depending on how deeply ingrained your habits are and how consistently you practice new behaviors. Having this in mind, it’s safe to say that it can take anywhere between several weeks and months to rewire your brain.

#3. Can neuroplasticity change your Enneagram type?

No, neuroplasticity cannot change your Enneagram type. Although it can alter your behavior, habits, and even certain traits, it doesn’t change your core motivations and fears, so it can help you become a more balanced version of yourself without changing who you truly are.