Your brain is designed to adapt. Here's How to Make It Better And Improve Brain Function.

 

About two years ago, two life events occurred at the same time: attending college and relocating to a large city.  I was so eager to start the process that I couldn't stop.  But the feelings came flooding in as August drew near and I began packing my boxes.  I was leaving friends and family behind as well as moving to a place I had always longed to call home.  My parents were also selling the house I grew up in.  In addition, I would have to become used to living in a dorm.  Yes, this was college, so it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but these intense feelings nonetheless caused me to feel anxious and seriously impacted my mental health.  But when you're experiencing anything new, whether it's good or awful, that's how it is.

Change affects your brain on a chemical level. "Novelty is a big driver of learning and synaptic change," says Alison L. Barth, PhD, professor of life sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. "Your brain works differently when everything is new." The best news about all of it: Your brain was designed for it. "Changing isn't a stressful or awful thing your brain can't handle—literally, it's its job," says Rachel Proujansky, PsyD, director of trauma services at the Center for Motivation and Change in New York City.

 We owe this to a characteristic known as neuroplasticity, an ability of the brain to adjust as a reaction to a new setting. Your brain gets used to what to anticipate by reorganizing its circuitry and developing new neural circuit Daya A Grant a neuroscientist.

That is, you're thinking differently, based on the appropriate sensory input you're getting, even though you won't realize it. For example, when you're starting a new job, you may pay attention to even more acutely what's happening around you, whether the front-desk receptionist is crabby or friendly. Your mind is "learning mode" since you're familiarizing yourself with the environment.

This process might take some time:  Change demands your brain to fully adapt.  In fact, you won't even get used to the program initially because, just like muscles that must get accustomed to a strength-training regimen, your brain requires a lot of repetition to get used to it.  And that discomfort you experience, perhaps, when a co-worker appears irritated with your very legitimate question? Because your brain is still acclimating to the new normal, it's triggering a stress response in your body.

 Nowadays, however, the same stress messages are evoked even when the threat is not physical, like a life-changing change that appears to be out of control. (In my case, the danger was that I would be relocating to NYC and perhaps not make friends or acclimate to college life.) Professionals do recommend patience.

To avoid anxiety, humans require control and predictability in their lives. Psychologist Sue Varma, MD, author of Practical Optimism, states that our brains are compelling us to remain sensitive to threats in the new environment if this balance is disrupted (even when we have made a conscious career switch). Promotion: Keep reading  Below  These humans previously received these signals of stress when they were entering new woodlands, for example, since they could have a bear concealed behind a tree and we had to be careful.

Your brain is working hard to build new neural connections and learn new things.  Additionally, there are other factors that influence how quickly you adjust, such as your mindset before these situations and how you manage stress.

 

Breaking Down the Basics of the Brain 

 

Hormones (like cortisol) and neurotransmitters (the chemical messengers that convey information between neurons, including dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid) are released in large quantities before, during, and after a significant life transition.  Minutes, hours, or even days may pass while they flip.  Since our bodies are first "reacting, getting used to, and preparing themselves" to react and defend ourselves, the majority of hormones are released simultaneously.

 Later on, you can retreat and determine how you feel about that change (new! exciting! intense!)-so just keep in mind that these chemical and emotional changes are what drive us through different situations, even though they may not be so awesome at first. How long these chemical changes last is determined by what you are interpreting the change to be. Dr. Varma explains. Suppose you already know that you are going to be proposed to and even assisted in selecting the actual ring you would like to be given: The moment of the proposal itself may lose some of its magic after it has taken place. In this case, the chemicals released will likely change only for hours or minutes. But if you are totally taken aback by a proposal (you had no inkling it was in the works), you will tend to find it more significant and impressive, and those peaks and troughs will be more enduring.

The same goes for your capacity to control stress, including your natural stress threshold.  Adding more stress to your plate may cause your neurotransmitter levels, which are likely already high if you're more easily frazzled, to remain higher for a longer period of time.  

Sensibility  of complex science: 

let's just take a little case study here and look at how it applies: Assume that you just moved because you needed more space, but you left a street behind that was really good friends and had a really close-knit neighborhood. As you begin to acclimate to living in your new place, you might look around at your kids and your belongings in different places and find yourself becoming stressed out, doubting the move, perhaps even wondering if you should have stayed put. (Blast the increase in cortisol for that reaction. As a secondary effect of this stress response, adrenaline is also released, triggering an attack-or-flee response, and you experience a surge of norepinephrine, making you tuned in and on target. But the following morning, as you flip pancakes for the cast and crew, tension has broken down and you might feel nearly euphoric.

That's because the brain's motivation neurotransmitter and reward pathway component, dopamine, has increased, telling you that the change is good and to keep moving—or in this case, residing in this new, exciting house instead of returning to your previous home, says Grant. (There's a reason the early days after a dramatic life change are called the "honeymoon" phase.) Without dopamine, you would not be able to arise in the morn without an effort, report to the office, plan your week, take risks, or make decisions that give you a sense of meaning. On top of that, endorphins—those natural painkillers that come with good vibes—force this greater-than-great feeling. And a few weeks later on, when you're all settled in and comfortable, lounging in your roomy living room binge-watching Netflix, you may find yourself feeling chilled out and jovial again. And that's because gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA) and serotonin are being released into your system, facilitating relaxation, mood regulation (GABA), and keeping you "happy" (serotonin). Actually, you'll get a serotonin high whenever something good happens that is connected to that change (perhaps you notice how nice it is to have a yard and to see your children play in the grass) so that you remain happy and energized when you think about it. And so when you have your first dinner party in the new residence, count on serotonin flowing and solidifying that you did, indeed, make the correct choice and are exactly where you are supposed to be.

You can be strong with continuity

We are better at learning and adjustment to change the longer we have been around because our brains are conditioned to deal with all that newness down the line.  It has had experience linking up and communicating with its numerous networks, so whatever task includes change comes second nature to it.  The primary system through which our brain can adjust to new situations is something called "long-term potentiation". When you exercise your brain repeatedly, the synapses—the spaces between neurons where they pass chemical messages—strengthen.

The stronger the synapse, the faster the chemical "message" is transmitted, Grant says. Think about it: If you get a new job and need to commute to a remote office further away from your previous one, you may need to take a detour to get there. The first time around, you can get lost. But after seven days, the new "pathways" within the brain are more cemented because of LTP, modifying the brain at the level of neurons, Grant says. That is, your neurons have had five days of talking to each other in this new way, and that means you'll remember exactly which turn to take, what highway ramp to use, and where to park. This is the brain essentially thinking, "Oh yeah, I've now done this thing a few times, so now I know what to do here," Grant explains.

 

You become more confident the more you drive your new commute.  She contends that once you understand that we can cope with these shifts, we are developing resilience so that the next time you must cope with some major shift of any sort, you'll be more capable of handling it.  Also, Grant points out that enjoying positive change is a way to keep your brain healthy as you grow older. For instance, existing studies in Brain Sciences indicate that subtle adjustments to what time you feed and walk your puppy may enhance neuroplasticity in your brain and even aid in creating new neural pathways.  With age, your learning abilities and memory are enhanced since presenting your brain with new information makes it more active. Change Is Not Always Created Equally

l Unless you were thinking that we're just here to sing the praises of change, you should know that in some situations, a drastic change is harder for your brain to handle. Whenever you decide to change something—let's say, retirement—there's some degree of control involved so that it's more likely you're going to see it as a positive challenge, says Proujansky. But if the change is out of your control, like getting fired or your spouse being relocated to a new state, you’re more likely to perceive it as a threat.It can feel incredibly exhausting at this time, so our body really goes into such unthinkable circumstances.

With these kinds of changes, the brain is designed to defend us and itself against harm, so it places an additional emotional burden. In this case, the frontal cortex (which plays a role in decision-making, social action, controlling impulses, and planning) will become inaccessible, and your focus will be on the threat in your environment (this surprise change)You may be wondering, What do I have to do to stay alive? rather than Wow, I'm really excited about this new phase of my life.

Conclusions 

  You will probably experience more negative feelings, like fear, anxiety, and sadness, initially. As women, we experience things that occur to us in our lives and make us feel like we are out of control—like when we get our period, are pregnant and give birth, or experience menopause. These are in a category unto themselves because, on top of all the normal brain transformations, hormones shift during these periods of our life. This added biological factor can make our reaction (and the reaction of our brain) to change unpredictable, You can, however, adjust your attitude in an effort to see an unwelcome transformation, or something that you were not anticipating at a particular time, as a desired challenge. And it could be as basic as reminding yourself that, in your head or out of it and you'll be more interested and motivated because you're charged up.