Using Play to Rewire & Improve Your Brain | Episode 58
Main Takeaways
Play is crucial for neuroplasticity, and it allows us to explore different outcomes in a low-stakes environment.
The state of playfulness is essential for optimal performance, even in competitive scenarios.
Play is homeostatically regulated, and restricted play leads to an increased need for it.
Play releases natural opioids, and the prefrontal cortex explores different possibilities during play.
Childhood play evolves from self-centered to cooperative, and peak development for play identity is between 10-14 years old.
Adults and children establish roles and form hierarchies through play, and play postures affect power dynamics.
Play helps adjust who we are as adults and opens up neurochemical substrates created by trauma.
Richard Feynman was a lifelong tinkerer with a playful spirit, and it's essential to maintain a sense of play throughout adulthood.
Four factors determine our play identity, including how we play, our personality, sociocultural environment, and economics and technology.
Play is a powerful portal to neuroplasticity, and engaging in it helps us understand ourselves and others, discover our proficiencies, and work out our brains in novel situations.
