Dynamic Living: Neuroplasticity

Dynamic Living 

What if seeking out unique experiences can help us be more creative and help our brains stay supple and healthy? 

I'm sure you've seen the advice from studies and health blogs: "If you want to maximize your health and creativity, wake up at the same time every day; stick to this diet; develop a routine; etc." 

But what if there is another method of living that rarely gets talked about? What if doing the same thing all the time isn't actually the best way to live? What if constantly changing it up is a healthier, more enriching way to live? 

At the very least, what if there are some benefits to a dynamic life? 

We know that our experiences shape our perspectives and thoughts. So, it follows that varied and unique experiences could be more likely to lead to varied and unique perspectives and thoughts. 

In other words, if you are living life differently than most people, it's likely that you will have different ideas as well. 

The idea of this post is that dynamic experiences can improve neuroplasticity. 

Let's call this method "dynamic living."  

The Science: Neuroplasticity 

What is neuroplasticity and what does it have to do with dynamic living? 

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt throughout life in response to experience. There are billions of neurons in the brain. And the brain can constantly create new connections and even new neurons throughout our lives. 

This is important because it means that brains continue to change throughout our lives. And that we can encourage this change by living in certain ways. [1]

These changes in our experience/environment can improve our ability to learn new things; think more creatively; prevent memory loss, and recover from trauma and other mental distress. 

For example, one study showed that taxi drivers in London -- who frequently improvise and do creative problem-solving -- showed significant structural differences in the brain when compared with bus drivers who were assigned to rigid routes. In other words, taxi drivers developed brains that were wired for more creativity because they had more variety in their days. [2]

By exposing our brains to different and unique stimuli and experiences, we can develop more and different neural connections. Which can lead to a healthier and more creative brain. 

Of course, neuroplasticity can also be over-hyped and some have tried to turn it into another self-help miracle solution. But in reality, it's not going to totally rewire our brains and it won't help us become whoever we want to be. 

However, there is reason to think that it can explain how seeking out unique experiences will lead to unique perspectives and a more flexible mind. In other words, dynamic living probably won't totally change you as a person; but you might have a few more creative or original ideas (although that doesn't mean that they will be good ideas!). 

Real Examples 

History is full of examples of creative people who had eccentric behavior. 

One set of famous examples is people with irregular sleep patterns. Polyphasic sleep -- a pattern of taking short naps around the clock instead of sleeping through the night -- has been used by creative people like Buckminster Fuller (a noted architect and futurist) and Nikola Tesla (Tesla allegedly rarely slept more than 2 hours per 24 hours). 

Leonardo da Vinci was another famous polyphasic sleeper, and also did a ton of different stuff -- inventing, painting, architecture, engineering, etc. He clearly lived dynamically. 

In the art world, surrealist painter Salvador Dali was famous for his antics and surprising habits -- like delivering lectures in a swimsuit and driving around in a car filled with cauliflowers. Mariah Carey supposedly sleeps 15 hours per night to sing the way she wants to and sleeps with 20 humidifiers around her bed. Stanley Kubrick apparently loved animals and once had 16 cats, 7 golden retrievers, and 4 donkeys. Composer Eric Satie only ate food that was white. And had over 100 umbrellas. 

In science, Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu, who patented the floppy disk and has over 3,300 inventions to his name, believes that his greatest ideas hit him when he is close to drowning. So he would dive deep underwater and stay there until just before passing out, then visualize an invention. 

You might notice that some of these habits are actually pretty strict routines (I'm looking at you and your white foods, Satie). But you'll also notice that they aren't ordinary. So, maybe dynamic living isn't all about just changing it up; it's also about living life in a way that goes against the grain. 

Putting "dynamic living" into practice 

What could dynamic living look like day-to-day? 

Well, there are literally infinitely many options.

For starters, you could try: 

• irregular sleep patterns (like going nocturnal) 
• trying new and different activities 
• taking different routes when you go places (even just to work!)
• traveling to off-the-beaten-path destinations (not the typical tourist spots)
• seeking out books, music, and media that expand your perspectives 
• learn a new language or pick up a new art form or instrument 
• learn to play a new video game 
• try a new diet 
• use psychedelics

That's a basic list to start with; the possibilities are endless. 

However, we should also keep in mind that doing "normal" activities keeps us engaged with the world, which helps our ideas stay relevant and useful. And connecting with people in traditional ways is also often good for mental health. 

But hopefully, trying some of these dynamic living ideas in moderation could lead to a more creative and healthy mind.

Let me know how it works out for you, and what methods you come up with!  

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[1] Vemuri P, Lesnick TG, Przybelski SA, et al. Association of lifetime intellectual enrichment with cognitive decline in the older population. JAMA Neurol. 2014 Aug;71(8):1017-24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963

[2] E.A. Maguire, D.G. Gadian, I.S. Johnsrude, C.D. Good, J. Ashburner, R.S. Frackowiak and C.D. Frith, ‘Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97 (2000), 4398–4403. E.A. Maguire, K. Woollett and H.J. Spiers, ‘London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis’, Hippocampus, 16 (2006), 1091–1101.