A few years ago I started to hear in the media that some people would go on suborbital trips, where they could experience zero gravity. I never thought it was something relatively accessible and possible to most people until I discovered the flights that take place, mainly for experimental and scientific purposes, where normal planes experience the same zero gravity. I don’t think 24 hours have passed since I discovered flights until I signed up for a zero gravity flight experience.
Discovering new experiences and doing new things has always been something that has led me to meet new people, new places and to understand my body better. Despite being an adult, all of us, from the youngest to the oldest, have an enormous capacity to learn and adapt to the new stimuli we receive. Our brain has a great ability to reorganize itself in response to the stimuli we receive. It is a dynamic learning process, called neuroplasticity, which allows us to have more chances to live in a different environment than we are used to. This adaptation process takes place from the moment we are in our mother’s womb until our death and as such, all people at all ages have this brain adaptability, creating connections between neurons and discovering new pathways. All of this happens daily, but the intensity with which it happens depends on what we do with our lives.
Our brain is continuously changing and adapting it self until we die.
At the end of the day that I performed my zero gravity flight, at night when I was in bed, I started to think about the experience and the new moments I experienced. Automatically my spine started to decompress and the sensations I was having in my body were the same ones I had felt on the plane when I was at zero gravity. Wow. Even though my body had never experienced that sensation, it seemed like one day was enough for the information and sensations to be registered and stored.
When we learn new things or have completely different experiences, like zero gravity, our brain creates connections and can even create new neurons, contributing to a different functioning. Of course, not everything has this impact. If we learn a new mathematical theorem, the neuronal change will be very low, but if we learn a new language, it will have a substantial impact on the way our brain works. This neuroplasticity that we have and that allows us to adapt to different environments and cultures, is reduced with age and as such our adaptation potential is also reduced. Despite this, we never lose this ability and with some effort and a healthy lifestyle, we manage to have neurological changes like young children.
More than 5 minutes of zero gravity inside an airplane.
Ever since I learned about our brain’s capabilities and how we can promote healthy changes in it, I’ve been trying to create new experiences and new things in my life that promote neuroplasticity. From taking a different path to work or being subjected to new experiences like zero gravity, new stimuli lead to positive things like your ability to concentrate, your memory or your mood. Nothing better than thinking and acting like a child so that we are always growing and developing.