Neuroplasticity-Based Training
For much of the twentieth century, scientists believed the adult brain was largely fixed. Once you’d grown up, the wiring was done. You were who you were.
That belief has been turned on its head. We now know the brain keeps reshaping itself throughout life, in response to what we do, feel and repeat. For anyone who has ever said “that’s just how I am”, it’s quietly radical news.
What is it?
01Learning the words to a new song. Finding your way around a new city. Catching yourself halfway through an old argument and choosing to stop. Each of these leaves a small trace in the brain.
That capacity to change with experience is called neuroplasticity. Connections that get used often grow stronger and faster. Ones that are rarely used fade.
Neuroplasticity-based training is a broad label for approaches built on this idea. They use repeated practice to make new habits of thinking, feeling or doing feel more natural. The label covers a wide range, from structured clinical programs run by trained professionals to brain-training apps and online “rewiring” courses.
You’ll also find neuroplasticity at work in many other therapies in this Toolkit. CBT, ACT and DBT all involve practising new skills until they stop feeling forced and start feeling like you.
What may it help with?
02It’s the third time this month you’ve said yes when you meant no. You know exactly where the habit comes from. You’ve journalled about it, talked it through, maybe even cried about it. And still, in the moment, the old reflex wins.
That gap between knowing and doing is where neuroplasticity tends to make the most sense to people. It offers a kinder explanation. The old pattern has had years of practice. The new one has had very little. Of course the old one gets there first.
People explore neuroplasticity-based approaches when they feel stuck in patterns they can’t seem to shift, when chronic stress has worn grooves into how they react, or when low self-worth has become a voice that sounds like the truth.
How does it work?
03If you’ve ever driven overseas on the other side of the road, you’ll know the feeling. At first, every turn takes concentration. You talk yourself through roundabouts. By the end of the trip, it’s almost automatic.
Then you get tired, or a car horn blasts, and your hands reach for the wrong side.
Brains work much the same way. What we practise, we strengthen. A calmer breath, a kinder thought or a different choice gets a little easier each time it’s repeated, especially in real situations rather than only on a screen or in a session.
Under stress, the older and more practised response usually shows up first. That isn’t failure. It’s simply the faster pathway firing. Noticing it, even afterwards, is part of the practice.
The other important ingredient is time. Change built through repetition tends to be gradual, which can feel slow when you’re hurting. It’s also why it can last.
“Learning that my brain could change gave me something I had desperately needed. Hope.”
Founder, The Mental Wealth Hub
What does the evidence say?
04“Neuroplasticity-based training” covers very different things, so there’s no single answer. It helps to look at each kind separately.
Brain-training games and apps
A major 2016 review looked closely at the studies cited by leading brain-training companies to support their products. It found strong evidence that people get better at the games they practise, less evidence that this carries over to similar tasks, and little evidence that it improves everyday thinking or how people manage in daily life. Many of the studies had significant design flaws [1].
In other words, you’ll probably get very good at the game. Whether it changes your Tuesday is another question.
Cognitive remediation
This is a structured program delivered by trained clinicians, mostly used to support people living with schizophrenia. Its evidence is much stronger. A 2024 review of 67 randomised trials, involving 5,334 people, found small but lasting improvements in thinking skills and day-to-day functioning. Programs worked better when they helped people apply their new skills in real life [2].
Therapies built on practice
CBT, ACT, DBT and other skills-based therapies have their own evidence, which you’ll find on their pages in this Toolkit.
“Brain retraining” programs
Some popular programs make big claims about rewiring the brain to heal a wide range of conditions. We didn’t find strong independent research supporting most of them.
The thread running through all of it: practice that connects to your real life seems to matter most.
What does practice look like?
05It depends on the approach. Practice might be structured exercises with a clinician, as in cognitive remediation. It might be using a skill from therapy, like reframing a thought or slowing your breath, many times a day. It might be a small new habit, repeated until it sticks. Or it might be an app or course.
A small experiment
Choose one pattern you’d like more choice around. Not your whole personality. One thing, like snapping when you’re tired, or apologising for things that aren’t your fault.
Decide what you’d like to do instead. Keep it small and specific: one slow breath before answering, or saying “Let me think about it” instead of an automatic yes.
Practise it first when the stakes are low. Then start noticing the real moments. Some days you’ll catch it in time. Some days you’ll only notice an hour later. Both count. Noticing is how the new pathway starts to form.
Risks and considerations
06“Neuroplasticity” has become a popular marketing word. Be cautious of programs that promise to rewire your brain in a set number of days, or to heal many different conditions with one method. Big promises often come with little independent evidence.
Questions to ask a practitioner
07- What independent research supports this program?
- Were real-life benefits measured, or only scores on the exercises?
- Who developed the program, and do they profit from it?
You’ve read about it. Now what can you actually do?
You don’t need to have the perfect plan. Choose the next step that feels most useful for where you are right now.
Always speak with a qualified health professional before starting something new. If you are struggling right now, find immediate support.
Want to keep exploring?
Recommended articles, books, podcasts and lived experiences related to this topic.
Explore the LibraryRelated Tools
This is educational information. It is not a recommendation that this approach is right for you. Always speak with a qualified health professional.
