Nueroplasticity - Exercising the brain.
Yes, I made a brain out of playdoh. It was weirdly therapeutic. Give it a go!
Just ask my kids, I am quite obsessed with neuroplasticity. Having spent some time trying to read more about the brain and the effects of brain injury I was fascinated by the concept of your brain still being able to change and develop that it is a fantastic malleable, changeable miracle and we can do insanely easy things to help it.
There are several things that are frequently recommended for staving off brain aging and helping neuroplasticity. These can include learning a new language, travel, learning a musical instrument, exercise and meditation among others. Learning a new language didn’t feel like an option for me. I am not sure Mr Page has recovered from my third form sojourn into the lost Latin language. Even at a time when my brain was aquiver with neuroplasticity I was really crap at learning a language. As for travel, Covid put quite the dampener on having a great adventure on distant shores. Not to mention that recovery from my injury has made big holiday plans enter the too hard list, for now.
Nearly 2 years ago, we moved into a new place and the planets aligned so that my precious piano moved in with us. It was the perfect thing to get my brain into action and I resolved to relearn the piano. I hadn’t played in so long and certainly had not played regularly for more than 30 years. I couldn’t remember what the notes were. I couldn’t remember how long each quaver, semiquaver or crotchet was and I had no feel for the space and dimensions of the keys and my hand positions.
I started playing small amounts, only the pieces I was very familiar with. I would play for 10-20 minutes or until my head hurt. It was hard work and tiring but it started to come back. Don’t get me wrong, I still make a lot of mistakes, I still stop halfway through a piece because it gets too hard and I still get completely lost. There will be no recitals due to the swear words that punctuate each mistake and ‘wahoos’ if I get through a hard bit. Aside from the fact that no one should be made to endure a home recital.
Playing has become a good indicator of my stress levels and where my concentration is at. When thing are hard I find coordinating different hands, reading two lines of music incredibly difficult. I don’t push it. I know that with rest it will come back. The joy it has given me has been huge, I love it.
“Playing music can improve memory and cognitive function, help you hear and understand better in noisy environments and even help to treat patients with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Researchers have also shown that the act of playing music – which includes singing – activates the brain’s limbic centre and releases chemicals, such as dopamine, that make us experience joy. And not just while you’re playing – the benefits can stay with you into old age. What’s more, the physiological and psychological dividends are especially substantial if you’re a novice or if you’re dusting off an instrument from your youth. Translation: as long as you’re challenged in some small way, being bad at an instrument is good for you.”
Your Brain on Drums: The Benefits of Playing an Instrument, Men’s Health, https://www.menshealth.com/uk/mental-strength/a39043738/benefits-of-playing-an-instrument/