It may seem that we only change our minds when making one decision for another, but in reality our minds are always changing, at least from a neurological point of view. Some of that change we have no direct control over like aging, disease and injury. With age, disease and injury we can reduce our susceptibility with reasonable measures, such as diet, exercise, and safety awareness. Then there is the change in our minds that we can directly control through challenging exercises that confront our minds with a certain level of difficulty and repetitive engagement.

This relates to what is called brain plasticity (neuroplasticity), which is now widely accepted in the neurosciences and described in the book “Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain”, by Sharon Begley. Her book describes neuroplasticity as the ability of the brain to change in response to experience, revealing that the brain is capable of altering its structure and function. The brain can even generate new neurons, a power we retain well into old age. So, feel free to change your mind at any time!

One aspect of “brain training” is Vision Therapy, a sequence of activities individually prescribed and monitored by a Developmental Optometrist. This type of therapy or brain training is designed to develop efficient visual skills and processing for individuals whose vision did not develop naturally, or who have experienced injury to the brain. Many of these people experience a wide range of physical, academic and behavioral problems. In-office techniques utilize lenses, prisms, filters, and many other types of specialized equipment with corresponding home activities to reinforce developing visual skills.

Vision Therapy changes the brain, specifically the visual system, by engaging the brain in repetitive, challenging tasks. In turn, these activities enhance existing neural pathways or create new ones. The key to successful vision therapy is the right amount of difficulty. In the book “The Talent Code,” author Daniel Coyle describes how the nervous system reinforces neurons and neural connections through repetition and maintaining a level of difficulty at the edge of failure, which he described as deep practice.

Imagine a young girl rolling a soccer ball between her feet and trying to pop it up in the air in order to pass it to a team mate. She tries and fails repeatedly until she slows the process down and concentrates on simply rolling the ball onto her foot. In time she realizes the subtle movements needed to make the delicate pass. Now imagine our young soccer player repeating over and over the subtle maneuver with the ball until it becomes automatic and she is able to pass the ball to her teammate effortlessly. This is deep practice.

The concept of deep practice is central to most vision therapy procedures. Tasks begin at the level of difficulty needed to induce minor failures which cause the patient to become increasingly aware of how they are performing, in other words self-evaluation. Vision therapy patients begin self-correction at the point of failure. They explore the edge of their abilities and begin to develop the required visual and motor skills necessary to move forward. This is repeated over and over again until there are no more levels of difficulty to achieve. This process causes the nervous system to reinforce the needed neural pathways. Once these pathways are reinforced their use becomes automated and permanent.

Vision therapy is based on deep practice and the science of neuroplasticity. To learn more about vision therapy contact a developmental ophthalmologist or developmental optometrists, like Dr. Todd Davis and Dr. Amy Carlyle, Developmental Optometry – Vision Therapy – NeuroOptometry – Low Vision Services who can put over 30 years of experience to work for patients experiencing vision related issues. They can create a vision therapy program specifically designed to deliver optimum performance from each and every patient.