Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This week on Change Your Mind, we tackle the slightly controversial subject of manifesting. It might sound a bit woo, but hosts Cat de Lange and Helen Thomson get stuck into whether there is any proper science behind the practice, and if so, what is going on in the brain?
One promising area of research is sports psychology. Studies show that simply imagining your golf swing, gymnastics moves or basketball play activates the same areas of the brain as actually playing the sport.
Further research has also shown that when people with an injury imagined moving that part of their body, they experienced less muscle wastage.
All of which goes to show that the power of imagination and rehearsal can have a real impact on the body and potentially your performance.
Elsewhere on the show, we explore why the brain tends to focus on the negative, and why thinking yourself out of these negative thought patterns - as people do with manifestation - could be helpful, as well as selective attention, which could point to why vision boards and journaling might actually work.
Listen to the full episode of Change Your Mind with New Scientist wherever you get your podcasts.
#manifesting #neuroscience
This week on Change Your Mind, we tackle the slightly controversial subject of manifesting. It might sound a bit woo, but hosts Cat de Lange and Helen Thomson get stuck into whether there is any proper science behind the practice, and if so, what is going on in the brain?
One promising area of research is sports psychology. Studies show that simply imagining your golf swing, gymnastics moves or basketball play activates the same areas of the brain as actually playing the sport.
Further research has also shown that when people with an injury imagined moving that part of their body, they experienced less muscle wastage.
All of which goes to show that the power of imagination and rehearsal can have a real impact on the body and potentially your performance.
Elsewhere on the show, we explore why the brain tends to focus on the negative, and why thinking yourself out of these negative thought patterns - as people do with manifestation - could be helpful, as well as selective attention, which could point to why vision boards and journaling might actually work.
Listen to the full episode of Change Your Mind with New Scientist wherever you get your podcasts.
#manifesting #neuroscience
