Plastic Surgery for My Brain

There's a book I want to buy by  Norman Doidge called "The Brain That Changes Itself," which talks about research in a growing field called neuroplasticity, or how the brain can rewire itself. Scientists have found that the brain can reorganize itself after debilitating injuries or traumatic events, effectively creating new neural pathways. They think it may be useful in helping everyone from stroke victims to addicts.

The idea of literally rejuvenating my hitherto boozed-out brain by my pure willpower alone sounds pretty damn appealing. There is a school of thought around the idea you can change your brain chemistry by actively being aware of your thoughts and changing them. In other words, if you constantly are having negative thoughts, being aware of where they come from and rerouting these thoughts to positive ones lead to new habits. The author even refers to psychoanalysis as "neuroplastic therapy", according to a write up in this month's Psychology Today magazine, where memories are disconnected and reconnected. I'm not sure I'm crazy about this idea. Sounds a little Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde mad scientist to me.

The book does talk some about addiction as it relates to brain pathology, so I am curious to find out what it has to say on the subject. I feel like the constant flow of positive AA thinking and therapy and the actions of going to meetings, etc. are a way to reroute my thoughts away from the drink. Now, how permanent that can be, I would not want to put to the test. But it is an intriguing idea, a sort of training for the brain. Or "think your way to a new you!" Sounds like a horrible tagline for a pop-psyche shrink.

From what I can tell, the book, and it's brethren books about the topic, are more about the possibilities for this vein of research rather than concrete evidence of how the brain works in this manner. Our brains still remain largely mysterious organs even for the most brilliant of scientists. Just look at films and pictures of the ugly gray mattter flashing off all sorts of electrical responses. It's a miraculous, wacky thing, the brain.

What I believe is that my deepest, ugliest thoughts, memories and beliefs about myself will find dark, squishy crevices to hide in no matter how much new roadwork I lay down. Maybe all this neuroplasticity will be another good jumping point, but I think I personally need a all-angles attack to keep my demons from getting the better of me. I wish I could believe it was just a few neurons firing the wrong way or connected incorrectly that caused all my ills. The fact is, it's a lot more complicated than that. There's a lot of treacherous terrain to navigate upstairs in my head. The more tools I have to navigate, the more people I have to help me find my way, the more likely this little girl won't go too astray into the forest of my own mind.