Understanding How Thinking Creates New Neural Pathways that Affect a Person

“UNDERSTANDING HOW THINKING CREATES NEW NEURAL PATHWAYS THAT AFFECT A PERSON”

(Romans 12:1-2) “…And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

Two thousand years may have passed since under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote the words, “think about such things,” but in the last two decades, researchers have discovered that what a person thinks about actually changes the structure of the brain (Buonomano & Merzenich, 1998; Pascual-Leone, et al., 1995; Kandel, 2000).

Hebb (1949/2002) has shown that neurons that fire together wire together (p. 63).

He says, “The general idea is an old one, that any two cells or systems of cells that are repeatedly active at the same time will tend to become ‘associated,’ so that activity in one facilitates activity in the “other” (pp. 69-70). Additionally, research has found that neural connections will only be formed as a result of focused attention (Recanzone, Schreiner, & Merzenich, 1993).”

When attention is focused on a particular thought or task, neurons in a specific pathway fire and connect to other neurons.

As the thought or task is repeated, the connection becomes stronger and the transmission becomes faster.

What began as a mere goat path of a connection soon becomes a neuronal superhighway (Merzenich, Tallal, Peterson, Miller, & Jenkins, 1999).”

In light of this research, the command in Philippians 4:8 to “think about such things” promises a renewing of the mind, not just at a spiritual level, not just at an emotional level but even to the very core of the physical structure of the brain.

No wonder the passage ends with a promise of “the overwhelming well-being that flows from God’s peace.”