Can You Really Rewire Your Brain? How Neuroplasticity Enables Real Change
- Peter Wong
- Jun 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 10
Your Nervous System's Amazing Ability to Rewire—And the Conditions Required for Change
Can you really "rewire your brain?" (more accurately, your 'nervous system') The question pops up for me from time to time - usually after relapses into old patterns - and breaking my own promises to stop eating Oreos right before bed.
Hopeless as we may seem at times, decades of neuroscience research provides a more hopeful answer: The human nervous system is highly capable of meaningful, lasting change. At the biological level, this process is called neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. And while this ability is most robust in childhood, studies confirm it remains active well into adulthood.¹
However - triggering neuroplasticity in adults requires specific conditions. And they have real implications for how you approach your personal goals, whether you’re in therapy or not.
Condition#1: Focused Attention and Effort
Research shows that passive exposure to new experiences doesn’t lead to neuroplasticity. What matters most is focused attention and deliberate effort.
In one foundational study, Merzenich and colleagues discovered that adult cortical maps could be reorganized, but only when participants were highly attentive to the task.²
In simple terms: If you’re engaging with a behaviour or skill while on autopilot, it probably won’t stick. In order to trigger neuroplasticity, you need to be alert, engaged, and ideally working right at the edge of your ability.
When you are paying focused, effortful attention on a new experience, two key neuromodulators are essential in triggering plasticity:
Acetylcholine, which enhances attention and helps strengthen neural connections during learning³
Norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline), released in response to novelty or challenge, which boosts arousal and focus⁴
These chemicals act like highlighters for the brain: this matters. Without them, repetition alone often fails to produce meaningful change.
Condition#2: Limbic Friction
Ironically, the best conditions for brain change often feel uncomfortable. Moderate levels of frustration, stress, or challenge—when paired with focus—enhance the brain’s ability to rewire.⁵
This is sometimes called limbic friction—the emotional and mental effort needed to move beyond old patterns. So - that discomfort that you’re feeling? Sometimes it’s just a sign that your mind is right where it needs to be - working at the edge of your tolerance.
Condition#3: Rest and Consolidation
The final, and often ignored, condition for neuroplasticity is rest. Change doesn’t lock in during effort—it solidifies during recovery.⁷
Key consolidation windows include:
Deep sleep
Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) like meditation or quiet reflection⁶
Listen, I'm all for Mamba mentality as much as they next person - but sometimes the "No days off" approach can be counterproductive to long-term growth. Your nervous system literally replays, strengthens and consolidates new patterns while you rest. So - try new things, do hard things, but afford your mind and body time to rest.
So… Can People Really Change?
Yes. But it isn’t easy - especially as we get older.
To change anything deeply embedded—whether it’s a thought pattern, unproductive coping mechanism, or automatic emotional response—you need frequent repetitions of:
Focused attention
A dose of struggle (limbic friction)
Dedicated rest for consolidation
If you're currently in therapy, or seeking therapy, it's important to acknowledge these conditions if you hope to make progress.
Want to dive deeper? For an excellent, in-depth exploration of neuroplasticity, check out neuroscientist Andrew Huberman's episode, “How Your Nervous System Works & Changes.” on the Huberman Lab podcast.
Works Cited
Pascual-Leone, A., et al. "The plastic human brain cortex." Annual Review of Neuroscience, vol. 28, 2005, pp. 377–401.
Merzenich, M. M., et al. "Cortical representational plasticity." Annual Review of Neuroscience, vol. 13, 1990, pp. 357–377.
Kilgard, M. P., and M. M. Merzenich. "Plasticity of temporal information processing in the primary auditory cortex." Nature Neuroscience, vol. 1, no. 8, 1998, pp. 727–731.
Sara, S. J. "The locus coeruleus and noradrenergic modulation of cognition." Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. 3, 2009, pp. 211–223.
McEwen, B. S., and J. C. Wingfield. "The concept of allostasis in biology and biomedicine." Hormones and Behavior, vol. 43, no. 1, 2003, pp. 2–15.
Mednick, S. C., et al. "The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration." Nature Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 7, 2002, pp. 677–681.
Stickgold, R., et al. "Sleep-dependent memory consolidation." Neuron, vol. 44, no. 1, 2004, pp. 121–133.
Huberman, Andrew. “How Your Nervous System Works & Changes.” Huberman Lab, 5 Sept. 2022, https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/how-your-nervous-system-works-and-changes. Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash
Ready to Rewire Some Brain Connections in Therapy?
Therapy isn’t just about talking—it’s about creating the right conditions for real, lasting change. If you’re ready to move forward, we’ll help you build the habits, awareness, and emotional flexibility to do it.
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