TheBrainThatChangesItself

(NormanDoidge)
Stagesoflearningarefollowedbyperiodsof
consolida>on
Thelossofdrillssuchasrotememoriza>onand
handwri>nghasbeencostly;theymayhavebeen
theonlyopportunitythatmanystudentshadto
systemicallyexercisethebrainfunc>onthatgives
usuencyandgracewithsymbols
Theearlyyearsiswhenneuroplas>cityisgreatest

 Mentaltrainingorlifeinenrichedenvironments
increasesbrainweightby5%inthecerebralcortex
ofanimals
Trainedors>mulatedneuronsdevelop25%more
branchesandincreasetheirsize,thenumberof
connec>onsperneuron,andtheirbloodsupply
Thecompe>>venatureofplas>cityaectsusall.If
westopexercisingourmentalskills,wedonotjust
forgetthem;thebrainmapspaceforthoseskillsis
turnedovertotheskillsweprac>seinstead.

 SecondlanguageslearnedaNerthecri>cal0to8
periodarenotprocessedinthesamepartofthe
brainasisthena>vetongue
Thecompe>>venatureofplas>cityaectsusall.
Ifwestopexercisingourmentalskills,wedonot
justforgetthem;thebrainmapspaceforthose
skillsisturnedovertotheskillsweprac>se
instead.

 Postmortemexamina>onshaveshownthat
educa>onincreasesthenumberofbranches
amongneurons.Anincreasednumberofbranches
drivestheneuronsfurtherapart,leadingtoan
increaseinthevolumeandthethicknessofthe
brain.
Theideathatthebrainislikeamusclethatgrows
withexerciseisnotjustametaphor
Thebrainisnotaninanimatevesselthatwell;
ratheritismorelikealivingcreaturewithan
appe>te,onethatcangrowandchangewith
propernourishmentandexercise

 Apowerfulsignalhasgreaterimpactonthebrain.
Whenwewanttoremembersthingwehaveheard
wemusthearitclearly,becauseamemorycanbe
onlyasclearasitsoriginalsignal
WeoNenpraisetheabilitytomul>task.Yetwhile
youcanlearnwhenyoudivideyouraWen>on,
dividedaWen>ondoesntleadtoabidingchangein
yourbrainmaps
Thenucleuscanonlybeac>vatedwhensomething
important,surprisingornoveloccurs,andifwe
maketheeorttopaycloseaWen>on

 Rewards(egafunnyfaceonascreen)canbea
crucialfeatureoflearning.Each>meachildis
rewarded,his/herbrainsecretes
neurotransmiWerssuchasdopamineand
acetylcholine,whichhelpconsolidatethemap
changesjustmade.
Dopaminereinforcesthereward,andacetycholine
helpsthebraintuneinandsharpenmemories
Massivepruningbackinadolescencehasitsmerits.
Ge]ngridofextraskeepsthebrainmorefocused
andecient

 Inmiddleage,wes>llregardourselvesasac>ve,
butwehaveatendencytodeceiveourselvesinto
thinkingthatwearelearningaswewerebefore
Werarelyengageintasksinwhichwemustfocus
ouraWen>onascloselyaswedidwhenwewere
youngeregtryingtolearnanewvocabularyor
masternewskills
Suchac>vi>esasreadingthenewspaper,prac>sing
aprofessionofmanyyears,orspeakingourown
languagearemostlythereplayofmasteredskills,
notlearning

 Tokeepthemindaliverequireslearningsomething
trulyNEWwithintensefocus
However,youcantimproveafadingmemoryby
askingpeopletodowhattheycant.Instead,
s>mulatethruhearing/sight/tracingexercises
Dierentchemistriesareinvolvedinlearningthan
inunlearning.Evidencesuggeststhatunlearning
exis>ngmemoriesisnecessarytomakeroomfor
newmemoriesinournetworks.
Massiveneuronalreorganiza>onoccursattwolife
stages:Whenwefallinlove,andwhenwebegin
paren>ng

 Brainscansshowthatinac>onandimagina>on,
manyofthesamepartsofthebrainareac>vated.
Thatiswhyvisualizingcanimproveperformance
Insomecases,thefasteryoucanimagine
something,thefasteryoucandoit.
Thesystemisplas>c,notelas>c.Elas>cbands
reverttotheirformerstructureaNerbeing
stretched.Thebraindoesntrevert.

 Expertsdontstoretheanswers,buttheydostore
keyfactsandstrategiesthathelpthemget
answers,andtheyhaveimmediateaccesstothem,
asthoughtheywereinshorttermmemory
Thisuseoflongtermmemoryforproblemsolving
istypicalofexpertsinmostelds.
Becominganexpertinmosteldsusuallytakes
aboutadecadeofconcentratedeort

 Earlychildhoodtraumacausesmassiveplas>c
changeinthehippocampus
Thelongerpeoplearedepressed,thesmallertheir
hippocampusgets
DontgetworkedupaboutliWlethingsstress
releasesglucocor>coids,whichcankillcellsinthe
hippocampus

 Ac>vi>esthatinvolvegenuineconcentra>onare
associatedwithalowerriskofdemen>a
Agerelatedmemorylossseemsalmostcertainly
reversiblewiththerightmentalexercises
Physicalexerciseisimportant,becausethebrain
needsoxygen
Whenwelearnaskillduringtheday,wewillbe
beWeratitthenextdayifwehaveagoodnights
sleep.