The Science to Improving Learning Ability

What is Neuroplasticity?
The act of learning in scientific terms is called Neuroplasticity. As the name implies, neuroplasticity is the brain's capability to change and adapt by forming new connections between neurons. This process allows us to learn new things and adjust to changes in our environment.

Not Only for children!
For a long time, it was believed this could only be achieved by a child’s brain. However, now it has been proven with excellent evidence neuroplasticity can also be completed by the adult brain IF done correctly.

This is where it gets interesting!

Leveraging Neuromodulators
Neuromodulators gate plasticity in the adult brain. They are signaling molecules that regulate how neurons communicate with each other. Examples of serotonin include dopamine. 

Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is a neuromodulator that plays a crucial role in the body's response to stress or danger. Due to its intense nature, it increases its impact on the brain and memory. This is why traumas are so difficult to get rid of, as the levels of epinephrine were so high when you experienced them. We can positively leverage this neuromodulator, as I will show you shortly.

Acetylcholine is the second neuromodulator essential for learning. It promotes the ability of connections between neurons to change and adapt in response to experience.

Balancing Stress and Rest
You must understand that no neuroplasticity happens DURING the event. All the plasticity and creation of new connections occur in sleep or naps/meditation after the experience.

The intense feelings of epinephrine/adrenaline are required to impact the brain, but the lasting connections are made in states of rest.

Using Ultradian Rhythms
Your entire existence is broken up in Ultradian rhythms that occur throughout the day and last about 90 minutes. This is about the time we can focus deeply. As described in a past edition, this is the exact time we use for a Deep Work session. 

We can create neuroplasticity by not switching contexts and pushing ourselves to focus intensely. To make these new connections last, we must give our brains a rest period. The ideal way to do this is to sleep, but as we would like to have more than one period for deep work, there are alternatives. 

Sleep & Meditation
The time we give our brain to turn inwards and make these connections lasting is essential to creating long-term lessons or memories. I trust you are applying last week’s newsletter knowledge to get a fantastic, deep sleep. I want to give you a very time-efficient way to create lasting connections during the day. Meditating for about 10 to 20 minutes gives our brain the ability to turn inwards and make real, lasting connections during the day. I suggest you give it a try. The states you can access while awake but wholly focused on the internal world are compelling.

Supplements
These last years, there have been a ton of “nootropics” flooding the market. I will cover some of them, but I want to focus on the fact that nothing can ever replace the power of deep sleep and meditation.

A couple of supplements can be very helpful once we know the neuromodulators we want to target. This way, we have clear goals we want to achieve with our supplementation instead of taking general “smart drugs.”

To increase Epinephrine, we can drink coffee. It’s a very low-cost and effective way to achieve this. Ensure you don’t leverage this tool late in the day because that will interfere with your deep sleep.

The next modulator we know is essential to learning is Acetylcholine, which can be increased by taking Alpha GPC. The mushroom Lion Mane has also been shown to have a powerful impact on the ability to make new connections.

As most connections are created in deep sleep, we want to ensure we get as much deep sleep as possible during the night. L-theanine, Magnesium L-Threonate, and Apigenin are shown to do this effectively. 

Conclusion
As people are often looking for the easiest way toward results, the supplement market is booming. I want to remind you, however, that nothing can ever beat real focus for 90 minutes, followed by meditations a couple of times a day. To complete the cycle, we must also consistently have great sleep.

Just as new skills or information, we can also leverage neuroplasticity to learn how to change our relationship with specific events or people. Also, we learn to overcome certain bad habits or states of fear in our lives.

Learning is a true superpower and I hope you use the actionable, low cost and time-efficient strategies I have shown you in this week’s newsletter to increase that power and improve your life.