Robert Whitfield MD explains how neuroplasticity lets you rewire habits and personality through experience. Your gut microbiome talks directly to your brain and influences chemicals like BDNF that shape how you think and feel.
Absolutely. Well, so I'm glad you kind of brought that up and shared because one of the things when it comes to habits is that people feel like, oh, I've always been this way. I talk a lot about this in my book the Anatomy of well Being is this is the way I was born. I can't change. This is just me. And the one thing I want them to be familiar with is this concept of neuroplasticity, which is this beautiful thing about the brain's ability to really reorganize itself and form new connections. And these new connections are based off of your experiences and they are also closely linked to the gut brain access, which is a bidirectional communication between your brain and your gut. And studies have even shown that your gut, which you actually host a microbiome, a microbiota. I know most people are familiar with oh my gut microbiome, but they don't really know what it does. Well, your gut microbiome can influence how your brain works. So keeping in mind that it's not just influencing how your brain works, but also can influence certain chemicals, one of which being brain derived neurotropic factor bdnf. And that is very critical for brain health, for cognition and overall well being.
