Likewise, every connectome changes over time. What kind of changes happen? Neurons, like trees, can grow new branches, and then can lose old ones. Synapses can be created, and then can be eliminated; And synapses can grow larger, and they can grow smaller. 2nd question: What causes these changes? It’s true; to some extent, they are programmed by your genes. But that’s not the whole story, because there are signals: electrical signals, that travel along the branches of neurons, and chemical signals, that jump across from branch to branch. These signals are called neural activity. And there’s a lot of evidence that neural activity is encoding our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, our mental experiences. And there’s a lot of evidence that neural activity can cause your connections to change. If you put those two facts together, it means that your experiences can change your connectome. And that’s why every connectome is unique, even those of genetically identical twins. The connectome is where nature meets nurture. And it might be true that just the mere act of thinking can change your connectome; an idea that you may find empowering mutualresponsibility.org/science/3-ways-the-environment-shapes-human-behavior
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 05:54:32 +0000
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