Neuroscientist Dr. Mike Merzenich On Re-Wiring The Brain

I HOST AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE for corporate communication leaders, and each year have a special guest who both is our keynote speaker and spends several days with our group. In 2007 our guest was Dr. Mike Merzenich, a noted neuroscientist from UC San Francisco. His study is "neruoplasticity," which is how the brain learns generally, and more particularly, how the brain re-wires itself over time. It's a central issue, because ultimately ALL personal change -- habitual and attitudinal -- requires a re-mapping of the neural networks that run through your cortex. Which is why it's so hard to stop smoking, hit a golf ball straight, or forgive that person you've resented for all these years ... or to forget how to ride a bike.

I was happy to see he was a recent speaker at TED. A video of his talk is below, and it's well worth watching.