Brain damage just isn’t what it used to be. Science is revealing that our ultimate organ is in fact far more capable of repair than we ever imagined. However, just as startling is the news that it’s far more easily injured than we’ve previously suspected, and unplugging our brains in front of a range of screens really can rot your morals.

First, the good news…

When my wife and I first heard our doctor tell us our son had “something wrong with his brain” our hearts fell. We thought of the brain as something like a horribly complicated Swiss watch: mess around with the innards and you’ll never get it ticking again. But in the years that followed we learned that a Lego masterpiece was a far better analogy. The brain can be taught to rearrange and substitute pieces for missing ones, laying down new neural pathways to achieve startling results. A damaged young mind could recover in ways that left scientists scratching their heads, and the key often lay in what the brain was trained to concentrate on.

Probably the most famous case in recent times is that of Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, who describes herself as “…a woman born with severe learning disabilities that caused teachers to label [me] slow, stubborn or worse.” But her book The Woman Who Changed Her Brain outlines how she used cognitive exercises to change the structure of her mind. Literally, diligent concentration = sustained transformation. I know, it sounds a bit like snake oil but the process is far more than a new shine on “positive thinking”. Targeted, sustained exercises have achieved what scientists now sagely refer to as neuroplasticity: the nervous system’s ability to respond to stimuli by reorganising its structure, functions and connections.(1) And it isn’t a process that’s restricted to the developing mind. Researcher Dr Norman Doidge’s book, The Brain That Changes Itself, lists remarkable cases in which adult stroke and injury victims manage truly remarkable recoveries through the same approach. Yes, our brain is much more malleable than we ever imagined, right up into adulthood.

Interesting, I know, but this is a popular culture column, right? Well, now the bad news…What we train our brains to concentrate on matters more than we previously thought.

According to the journal Nature Neuroscience: “The brain is constantly being shaped, wittingly and unwittingly, by environmental forces … The circuitry that has been implicated in social and emotional behaviour appears to be importantly shaped by experience.” (2)

Put crudely, our experiences can amount to brain surgery. For example, William Struthers in his book, Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks The Male Brain, picks up on the changes sustained exposure to sexual imagery can make to the way the brain operates. It’s early days yet, but it seems that by diligently concentrating on negative content we don’t just form bad habits—we run the risk of rewiring the way our brains perceive pleasure, so that righteousness becomes a physically harder choice.

I believe I’ve seen this sort of sustained transformation: a leaning towards violent TV leading to a perpetually angry character; a taste for horror films leaving the viewer craving more inventive suffering. And yes, I’m aware of the irony that these observations come from a professional reviewer. These days I pray that God will protect me every time the lights go down.

This month fans of Brad Pitt will consider buying a ticket to Killing Them Softly, a film about a criminal enforcer who talks about common decency even as he arranges brutal bashings. Meanwhile, TV viewers will anticipate the third season of The Walking Dead, an internationally successful series about a world overrun by zombies. And shoppers will be tempted to pick up Underbelly: Badness, the DVD series about ruthless gangland boss Anthony “Rooster” Perish. The first contains images you’ll want to forget; the second presents the hacking up of human bodies as entertainment; the third turns a thug into a captivating villain. All could contribute to the reshaping of a healthy brain.

This could be alarming news were it not for the Bible beating us to the punch once again. Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi finishes with the apostle’s encouragement to diligently train their minds with the right material:

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.” (Phil 4:8-9)

Putting these things into practice even before we feel like doing them is crucial for neurologists and Christians alike. Decades before anyone thought of neuroplasticity, C.S. Lewis realised that the brain had to be trained by habit before we could expect the results we desire: “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets… If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”(3)

The sustained transformation the Apostle Paul was looking for at Philippi was a personality characterised by the “peace of God” rather than the lust, anger or disinterest that conform to popular culture. If we’re truly going to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, we’ll do well to weed out the content that threatens to rot our brains.

References
1) Cramer, S, et.al., “Harnessing neuroplasticity for clinical applications”, Brain: A Journal of Neurology, 2011: 134; 1591–1609, 2) Davidson Richard J & Bruce S McEwen, “Social influences on neuroplasticity…”, Nature Neuroscience 15/5 [May 2012], 3) Lewis  C.S., 1997, Mere Christianity, Harper Collins, London, 108.

Image: sxc.hu