Our previous post, ‘Agoraphobia and Brain Plasticity’ explored how the principle ‘neurons that fire together, wire together’ is behind certain exposure therapies, including strategies used to help sufferers of agoraphobia.
This same understanding can be used, in conjunction with other therapeutic work, to help patients deal who are struggling with conditions of abnormal psychology, including sexual problems.
In Dr. Doidge book The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge tells of a man who had experiences when he was young which caused the mind-maps for sexuality and aggression to become fused. Successful treatment involved finding ways to help him associate sexuality with things other than aggression and anger, such as love and gentleness. By disassociating the neurons that had fused sexuality with aggression, and then reinforcing healthy neuro-connections, the patient was able to eventually leave behind his sexual pathologies.
This understanding not only helps people who suffer from pathologies, but is also at the cutting edge of therapies to help people born with various types of learning disabilities. But more about that in a future post.
Further Reading