Episode 1. The Neuroscience Behind Change

<p> </p> <p>Dr Gabija Toleikyte is a neuroscientist, lecturer, and performance and wellbeing coach.  She is currently a lecturer in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University and her first book, “<a href='https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Cant-Change-Insights-neuroscientist/dp/1408714167/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HE47SK9B5EJR&dchild=1&keywords=why+the+f+ck+can%27t+i+change&qid=1610635299&sprefix=why+the+f%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-1'>Why the F*ck can’t I change?</a>”, will be published in January 2021.</p> <p>There were two significant events that helped develop Gabija’s interest in neuroscience, Firstly, when she was around 8 years old, she went to see a neurologist to deal with some migraines and he explained to her in detail how the brain worked, which fascinated her. There was a second slightly more sad event as her father had a stroke which severely affected him, fortunately, after intense therapy for three months he made a good recovery. </p> <p>Gabija completed her PhD at University College London and her PhD findings were published in one of the highest impact research journals, Nature Neuroscience, in 2017. Prior to that, she undertook award-winning research on Parkinson’s disease at the University of Helsinki. During her PhD, Gabija also qualified as a business coach and coached UCL academics and administrative staff. Combining her neuroscience background with coaching experience Gabija started her own consulting company, providing coaching and seminars for organizations and the general public. Gabija is also a TEDx speaker and her work has been featured in the Guardian.  </p> <p>I first met Gabija in 2017 at one of her evening lectures and quickly became a huge fan of hers and neuroscience and have attended a number of her lectures and workshops since then. I was so pleased when she agreed to appear as the first guest on my podcast, we had such a fun conversation and talked about the following:</p> <p>Habits -  why we form them, what needs they serve, why it’s so difficult to change them and potentially looking for alter