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The Influence of Your Thoughts

“How can I turn my dreams into reality?”

Cognitive neuroscience shows how Thoughts influence Words, which influence Actions, which influences ones Reality

This page discusses 4 specific topics surrounding cognitive neuroscience

1. Cognitive Appraisal

2. Neuroplasticity

3. Metacognition

4. Inhibitory Control

Cognitive Appraisal - refers to the process of an individual interpreting situations as either positive or negative, which influences their behaviors (Starick et al., 2021). Those with a negative problem orientation perceive problems as “threats”, whereas those with a positive problem orientation reframe problems as “opportunities” (2021).

Neuroplasticity - “the malleability of the brain, observable as changes in neuronal structure and connectivity” (Hermans et al., 2025). This is why even though the human brain cannot unlearn anything, it is able to break negative beliefs as long as the new belief overrides the old. Which is done by practicing the new stimulus more times than the old. This process of rewiring neural connectivity can take form in various ways. If you tell yourself “I’m not a morning person” consistently, often, and more times than you tell yourself that you are a morning person, your brain begins making a strong connection between you and disliking waking up early. YOU are literally changing the structure of your brain to make it a challenge for you to wake up early.

Metacognition - is defined as “thinking about thinking” (Koyuncuoglu, 2023). It’s the ability to analyze and reflect on one's own thinking, draw conclusions based on this analysis, and apply what has been learned to practical situations. In order to effectively address challenges, it is important for students to have an understanding of their own cognitive processes (2023). Inhibitory cognitive control is a necessary condition for metacognitive competence (Kuhn, 2022). Meaning, metacognition is influenced by one’s ability to self regulate. There are positive associations between academic success and both metacognition and general self-efficacy. It's a type of individual difference that has been found to predict students’ academic achievements in various subjects (e.g., math and science). It allows students to plan, self-monitor, and self-evaluate their learning processes and products (Sato, 2025).

Inhibitory Control - Inhibitory control is a type of executive function defined as the ability to suppress actions when they are unlikely to accomplish valuable results (Kang, 2022). It’s one way to self regulate (Nili et al., 2022) People are able to control intrusive thoughts due to Inhibitory Control (Anderson et al., 2025).

Success is highly dependent on

1. One’s malleability of the brain and their ability to rewire and alter their thoughts (Neuroplasticity)

2. One’s ability to reframe every stimulus as an “opportunity” (Cognitive appraisal)

3. One’s ability to reflect and think about thinking (Metacognition)

4. One’s abilities to self-regulate during stressful situations and control their thoughts (Inhibitory Control)

In summary: “what I think, highly influences who I become”

For More Info:

Anderson, M. C., Crespo-Garcia, M., & Subbulakshmi, S. (2025). Brain mechanisms underlying the inhibitory control of thought. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1-23.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-025-00929-y

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Starick, E., Montemarano, V., Cassin, S. Coping during COVID-19: The Impact of Cognitive Appraisal on Problem Orientation, Coping Behaviors, Body Image, and Perceptions of Eating Behaviors and Physical Activity during the Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11305. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111305 

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Hermans, E. J., Hendler, T., & Kalisch, R. (2025). Building resilience: The stress response as a driving force for neuroplasticity and adaptation. Biological Psychiatry, 97(4), 330-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.10.016

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Kang, W., Hernández, S. P., Rahman, M. S., Voigt, K., & Malvaso, A. (2022). Inhibitory control development: a network neuroscience perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 651547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.651547

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Koyuncuoglu, D. (2023). The Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy in the Relationship between Metacognition and Academic Success of University Students. International Journal of Modern Education Studies, 7(1), 184-201. EISSN-2618-6209

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Kuhn, D. (2022). Metacognition matters in many ways. Educational Psychologist, 57(2), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2021.1988603

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Nili, A. N., Krogh-Jespersen, S., Perlman, S. B., Estabrook, R., Petitclerc, A., Briggs-Gowan, M. J., ... & Wakschlag, L. S. (2022). Joint consideration of inhibitory control and irritability in young children: contributions to emergent psychopathology. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 50(11), 1415-1427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-022-00945-x

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Sato, M. (2022). Metacognition. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and individual differences (pp. 95-110). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003270546

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Starick, E., Montemarano, V., & Cassin, S. E. (2021). Coping during COVID-19: The Impact of Cognitive Appraisal on Problem Orientation, Coping Behaviors, Body Image, and Perceptions of Eating Behaviors and Physical Activity during the Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11305. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111305

Fun Facts:

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Sleep Quality vs Sleep Quantity

Many individuals believe that in order to function to the best of their ability in a day, they need a certain amount of hours of sleep. Tang conducted research to understand how to define “Sleep Quality.” His findings suggest that the most important factor contributing to perceptions of sleep quality in adolescents is sleep quantity (2023). Meaning, adolescents are more likely to say they experienced poor sleep quality on a night when they received less hours of sleep than usual.

Similarly, Merayo and colleagues studied football players to see if there was a relationship between sleep quality and quarterly academic achievement. “Athletes with worse quantity and quality of sleep showed negative effects on academic results” (Merayo et al., 2022). In this study sleep quality was determined based on if the athletes slept the recommended amount by the American National Sleep Foundation (2022).

Research suggests that sleep quality is highly determined by an individual's perception. Meaning YOUR thoughts and how YOU choose to view external stimuli highly influence performance in various aspects such as in sports and academics.

For More Info:

Tang, C. (2023). Understanding What Defines Sleep Quality in Adolescents (Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago). https://hdl.handle.net/10523/15703

 

Merayo, A., Gallego, J. M., sans, O., Capdevila, L., Iranzo, A., Sugimoto, D., & Rodas, G. (2022). Quantity and quality of sleep in young players of a professional football club. Science and Medicine in Football, 6(4), 539–544. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2021.1962541

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