The nervous system includes your brain, spinal cord, and connections to organs and the rest of the body
Nervous system is way you function at every level: continuous loop of connections between brain and spinal cord to body, and vice versa
Nervous system governs all biological systems of the body
Neuron: nerve cell
Synapses: gaps between neurons which pass chemicals between neurons
Our body is essentially an electrical system, passing nerve cells to direct movement, feelings, and experiences
Mechanism behind Déjà vu sensation: neurons that were active in one circumstance are becoming active again in the same circumstance
Speech and language are controlled by separate parts of the nervous system
Our brain is a map of our experience
Nervous system can be reflexive or deliberate in action
Reflexive = bottom-up; automatic steps
Deliberate = top-down; takes into consideration duration, path, outcome
Sensation: life experience is filtered by sensory receptors – or neurons that filter and generation feeling in body parts (e.g., fingertips detect heat, ears detect sound, etc.)
Perception: ability to take what we’re sensing and make sense of it; perception is under the control of your attention
We can place “spotlights” of attention on a few different things at one time – this is multi-tasking
When rested, attention is absolutely under our control
Feelings/emotions: release of neuromodulators (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, etc.); receptors on different organs of the body
Feelings and emotions are contextual
In trauma: memories don’t get erased but the emotional load of memories can be reduced
Thoughts: draw on what’s happening in the present, things we remember from the past, and what we imagine the future to be; thoughts can be reflexive and deliberate
Actions/behaviors: conversion of sensations, perception, feelings, thoughts into action
Requires top-down processing and feeling of agitation and strain because you are trying to shut down a circuit
Impulsivity is a lack of top-down processing
Neuroplasticity: neurons change connections so you can go from things being challenging to things being reflexive
Most neuroplasticity is self-directed
Two important questions to consider: (1) What particular aspect of my nervous system am I trying to change? (2) What is structure/regimen to engage neuroplasticity?
We can direct neural changes in the brain more than other organs in the body – e.g., we can become less reactive to certain situations but can’t control how well we digest a food
Young brains are incredibly plastic – young children can learn multiple languages much easier than adults
In children born with blindness: area of the brain that would light up for vision, reprograms and lights up for brail reading
Adult brain can change in result to experience
Plasticity in adult human nervous system is controlled by neuromodulators (dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine)
When something bad happens we release epinephrine (makes us feel agitated) and acetylcholine (intense, perceptual spotlight)
Epinephrine creates alertness and increased attention; acetylcholine highlights or tags neurons active in that event so they become active again in that instance in the future
No neuroplasticity occurs in real-time during the event – strengthening of synapses occurs during sleep and non-sleep deep rest
In sleep, we are only in relation to what’s happening inside of us – deliberate processes are not on
Periods of non-sleep, deep rest are key where we turn off duration path and outcomes and attention drifts from strain to reflexive
Sleep cycles occur in 90-minute rhythms – you are not in deep sleep immediately, it takes a few minutes of agitation before the body relaxes
Just 20 min of deep rest (turning off deliberate thoughts) accelerates neuroplasticity
To optimize neuroplasticity: get better at falling asleep, staying asleep, and keeping the brain in the idle state
The autonomic nervous system controls unconscious bodily functions
It governs the transition between alert and focus
Sympathetic: associated with alertness, “fight or flight” system
Parasympathetic: associated with calmness, “rest and digest” system
To engage neuroplasticity, direct transition between wakefulness and sleep, and sleep and wakefulness
Context: 90-minute rhythms of sleep cycles continue throughout the day
Engage in a focused bout of learning throughout the day: first 5-10 minutes will feel unnatural but improve as 90-minute block progresses
Test learning blocks at different times – do you do better in the morning, afternoon, or at night?