Brain cells communicate through electrical signals [1]. However, it is less commonly known that neurons can rewire themselves, forming new connections and discarding old ones – a process known as neuroplasticity [2]. Therefore, it is neuroscientifically possible to train your brain and acquire new motor skills (i.e. the ability to perform new movements or sequences thereof) or improve memory, focus, or coordination well into adulthood [3]. This ability declines with age, which is why it becomes harder as an adult to learn new things, but it is not impossible and “simply” requires more discipline than it does for children [4].

Over the last decades, many elite athletes have discovered the power of visualization and motor imagery. Serena Williams [1], Wayne Rooney [2], Michael Jordan [3], Michael Phelps [4], … the list grows longer and longer. The technique includes both the visualization of different competition sequences (see quote above) and the imagination of specific movement sequences (e.g. “game-winning shot” in basketball). But what makes visualization so effective and why should one train it regularly?

You might not believe it, but the idea that the brain communicates through electrical impulses is actually nothing new at all. It can be dated back as far as to the 18^th century when Luigi Galvani accidentally made a frog’s leg twitch with an external electric conductor [1]. This is a general experiment that every Biology student has probably already had their own experience with. However, it wasn’t 90 years later in 1875 that the Liverpudlian Richard Caton became the first to demonstrate the existence of electrical currents in the brain through experimenting with rabbits [2]. Although he lacked the technology to preserve his recordings, he accurately observed the dynamic nature of brain waves, noting how they varied depending on whether the animal was awake, asleep, or deceased. Unaware of Catons work, Adolf Beck published similar findings in 1890. In addition to identifying spontaneous brain wave fluctuations, Beck was the first to describe evoked potentials –  brain responses triggered by external sensory stimuli [3]. Their pioneering discoveries were further solidified when, in 1924, the German Hans Berger successfully recorded these electrical signals in living humans, earning him recognition as the father of electroencephalography (EEG) [4]. Berger also identified two distinct brain wave frequencies, which he named alpha and beta waves, correlating them with different levels of mental activity. Today, we know that the brain operates across multiple frequencies that interact with each other [5], with certain frequencies becoming more prominent depending on the brain region and the individual’s level of mental alertness [6].

As a brain researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, Marian Diamond  [1] did not only study Albert Einstein’s brain, but was also one of the founders of modern neuroscience. She was the co-discoverer of neuroplasticity [2], the principle that brain cells, brain synapses (the connections between brain cells), and even whole areas in the brain adapt in anatomy and function according to utility. The quote above presumably refers to the fact that each of our brains is made up of approximately 86 billion neurons  [3], which additionally maintain up to another 10,000 connections per neuron.