On neuroplasticity
If you haven't viewed these two CBC Nature of Things documentaries featuring Dr. Norman Doidge and others talking about neuroplasticity, do something for yourself today.
Everyone should know about neuroplasticity. It means that the brain is plastic, changing every moment of every day with every attitude, thought, action. Understanding what that means can go a long way towards increasing motivation and initiative, two essentials for learning anything. Because learning is brain change. Here's a book that everyone should read: The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. In an interview on a PBS documentary called The Brain Fitness Program, Doidge lists seven tenets of neuroplasticity. You will notice they closely connect to each other.
Doidge's seven tenets of neuroplasticity
1. Brain change (learning) can occur only when the brain is in the mood. Be engaged and committed, pay attention, be alert, on the ball, ready for action.
2. Repetition and change strengthen connections between neurons (brain cells) working together at the same time. When we are working at something and learning, the brain selectively changes and strengthens the brain cell connections that produce the results we desire.
3. "Neurons that fire wire wire together." The brain relates what you're doing now, such as working on math exercises, to past activities and experience and makes predictions. It also retrieves related information that's stored in the brain, recalling it as memory, skills, etc.
4. Initial brain changes are just temporary. The brain stores what it regards as important into memory. More lasting brain change and memory occur when you practice and repeat whatever it is you're learning. Of course, this happens best when you're focusing and paying attention to what you're doing and trying to learn.
5. Brain plasticity is not all good news: it's "a two-way street." We can change or brains in positive or negative directions, which helps to explain some bad habits and addictions. A plastic brain is a vulnerable brain.
6. Memory is crucial for learning. The brain sets models for where your learning is headed. It's also remembering how you're progressing towards developing the skill or ability you're working at while it's evaluating your progress against a model stored as memory.
7. Motivation is a key factor. Set a standard and strive towards a goal such as a better grade on your next test essay, then get into high gear. Remember, it's the work you're doing, attentively and repeatedly, that is strengthening the brain connections you need to make the grade. Mainly focusing on the goal won't get you there.
2. Repetition and change strengthen connections between neurons (brain cells) working together at the same time. When we are working at something and learning, the brain selectively changes and strengthens the brain cell connections that produce the results we desire.
3. "Neurons that fire wire wire together." The brain relates what you're doing now, such as working on math exercises, to past activities and experience and makes predictions. It also retrieves related information that's stored in the brain, recalling it as memory, skills, etc.
4. Initial brain changes are just temporary. The brain stores what it regards as important into memory. More lasting brain change and memory occur when you practice and repeat whatever it is you're learning. Of course, this happens best when you're focusing and paying attention to what you're doing and trying to learn.
5. Brain plasticity is not all good news: it's "a two-way street." We can change or brains in positive or negative directions, which helps to explain some bad habits and addictions. A plastic brain is a vulnerable brain.
6. Memory is crucial for learning. The brain sets models for where your learning is headed. It's also remembering how you're progressing towards developing the skill or ability you're working at while it's evaluating your progress against a model stored as memory.
7. Motivation is a key factor. Set a standard and strive towards a goal such as a better grade on your next test essay, then get into high gear. Remember, it's the work you're doing, attentively and repeatedly, that is strengthening the brain connections you need to make the grade. Mainly focusing on the goal won't get you there.
Michael Merzenich, V.S. Ramachandran,and Judy Willis, are among the many other neuroscientists well worth discovering.
