Playing with Our Plasticity
Bodies have an amazing plasticity; we are constantly being re-molded according to need.
If I am cycling all day, every day, my leg muscles get stronger as resources are re-organised. The lines of tensile strength needed to cycle are made thicker; even the bones where these lines attach are made denser. On the other hand, if I give up moving altogether, my body will re-organise the molecules in my bones and soft tissues for more important functions; bone density will drop and muscles atrophy.
This happens in the brain too. Although we are born with a rough outline of organisation in the brain, it is our experiences which stimulate nerve endings to re-organise to meet new demands. This is why our early experiences are so influential; they literally mold us.
Plasticity plays an important role in how bodywork—in particular, movement therapies—work.
When I perform a new physical movement, I will find it difficult until new neuronal connections have grown to make the necessary circuitry. It is our intention —our attempts— to perform new tasks which stimulates new neurons to head off in the right direction and link up. New cells travel along fibrous pathways of supporting glial cells to their destination and then mature into new connections. This is why we have to practice new actions even if we cannot yet do them successfully. We need to give our body a new demand combined with enough time to grow new pathways.
The body will attempt to meet our requirements but it needs time to redeploy resources; and it will not make such redeployment readily. It will not adapt to every move you make. It will only make physical adaptations to new demands that are likely to be needed in the future. There won’t be much body re-organisation after going to one yoga class. The more times we perform a new movement, the more chance there is of redeployment being triggered because it becomes apparent that this is a new ‘need’ rather than a one-off event that you are unlikely to bother with again.
Luckily there is a way to speed up change. The body will speed up making new connections if this new skill has meaning to you. Repeating a tai chi move 1,000 times may be a complete waste of time if you don’t have any engagement with the new action. For the body to redeploy resources it needs good reason. Engagement is the best way to do this. Research shows that we can encourage plasticity though exploration and/or play. Slightly modifying your practice rather than repeating endlessly exactly the same move, speeds up learning.
“What we found is if you practise a slightly modified version of a task you want to master, you actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practising the exact same thing multiple times in a row”
The reason seems to be reconsolidation—a process by which we adapt to new experiences by comparing them with our previous ones. This is really useful information about how movement therapies work; if we want our body and mind to learn new skills, we must engage with the process, make it meaningful and relevant.
When playing we are engrossed emotionally and purposefully, and during play we explore. We do not mindlessly repeat set patterns. Similarly, when we are honing a craft or skill, we slightly modify our actions as we attempt to constantly improve our craft; there is the emotional engagement of creativity and satisfaction. There is constant refinement—fine tuning.
This is how to gain the most benefit from movement therapies: practice, yes, BUT explore slight adjustments and modifications, enjoy, engage; perhaps even play with plasticity. The result will be a new you; new nerve pathways, new tissue constitutions and new organisation.
Artwork in photograph is by ceramic artist, Amanda Doidge
