I pulled this from Wikipedia, since so many people claim that NLP has no scientific basis. Contrary to popular belief, NLP practitioners who are versed and up-to-date in research often have better knowledge about the processes that NLP develops.
For instance, many doubt the existence of repetitive cognitive associations in an NLP process like the Swish Pattern. However, based on concepts in neuroplasticity and Hebbian Theory:
The adult brain is not “hard-wired” with fixed and immutable neuronal circuits. There are many instances of cortical and subcortical rewiring of neuronal circuits in response to training as well as in response to injury. There is solid evidence that neurogenesis, the formation of new nerve cells, occurs in the adult, mammalian brain—and such changes can persist well into old age.[3] The evidence for neurogenesis is mainly restricted to the hippocampus and olfactory bulb, but current research has revealed that other parts of the brain, including the cerebellum, may be involved as well[5].
Using the theoretical basis that has already been researched, NLP tests to see how these processes work with humans.