For children, learning happens effortlessly. By six years of age, children know over ten thousand words and learn dozens of new words on a daily basis. By contrast, learning a new language as an adult can be hard going. This curious and dramatic difference between the child and the adult brain is so familiar that we don't even question it. But the mechanism and reason for the difference provides a powerful way for us to increase our adult mental abilities.
The growing brain produces large quantities of a nerve-growth protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF. This protein activates the region of the brain responsible for attention and memory formation. This unstemmed BDNF production ensures that children pay attention to everything (except perhaps their parents!) readily absorbing new information and in the process forming new memories and brain structures.
In late adolescence the body produces a lot more BDNF, so much more that it turns off the brain's attention center. This shutting down effortless learning and constant attention is very important; without it we would be forever swamped by new details finding it hard to choose between long term goals and short term distractions.
As scientists have shown, however, the adult brain isn't cut off from further growth and change. We can reactivate the the brain's plasticity by carrying out mental tasks that require focus and attention while inducing a sense of achievement or satisfaction. These conditions result in the growth of new nerve cells and plastic change.
Intense focus at a challenging task results in neurogenesis (new nerve cell growth) and neuroplasticity (rewiring of brain structure). If we activate these processes while training core brain functions (e.g., processing speed, memory, and problem-solving ability) we can strengthen and improve our mental ability.
The Three Steps to Cognitive Improvement
1. Focus
With mental focus and attention the nucleus basalis produces acetylcholine. Acetylcholine stimulates the brain's long term memory and retention.
2. Challenge
Tackling a mental challenge that yields a sense of satisfaction or reward causes the brain to produce a second substance crucial to plastic change called dopamine.
3. Targeted Mental Exercise
Acetylcholine and dopamine together stimulate new cell growth (neurogenesis), creating the right conditions for change in the brain's function and structure (neuroplasticity). By simultaneously training core cognitive functions the cell growth and plastic change strengthen and improve those core functions.
Practical Applications of Brain Training
While a host of activities (card games, puzzles, learning a new skill) can catalyze neural growth and help us stay in good mental shape, these incidental benefits tend to be less pointed and dramatic than we can achieve with a scientifically designed and tested brain training program.
Brain training aims to produce reliable and measurable changes in brain function: Learning specialists have begun using targeted training to address and even eradicate learning disabilities; Adults in their forties, fifties and beyond now use brain training programs to help reduce or prevent memory loss as well as delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms or dementia; An increasing number of school systems employ brain training so that children will learn more effectively; And across the world individuals are beginning to seize on the advantages for self-improvement promised by programs that can even increase our problem-solving ability.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for a consumer to know which brain training products are the right products. Some products billed as 'brain training' programs engage the user in teasers and games that don't have a true scientific foundation. Others may work but cost hundreds of dollars or require a big time commitment. (Some brain training programs are both highly effective and very afforable.)
Since committing to a program requires time and money it pays to check the scientific credentials of the training. What specifically is it designed to achieve? Has its efficacy been independently tested or proven? Does the vendor specify the degree of improvement you should expect? And does training follow a prescribed timeline with set duration and milestones?
It's perhaps equally important to remember that brain training requires something from us, too. Plastic change can't be had without diligence and stamina. To use the analogy of physical fitness, we can't expect to increase our brain power without breaking a mental sweat. If we are willing to make the investment, however, the rewards will be well worth the effort.
The growing brain produces large quantities of a nerve-growth protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF. This protein activates the region of the brain responsible for attention and memory formation. This unstemmed BDNF production ensures that children pay attention to everything (except perhaps their parents!) readily absorbing new information and in the process forming new memories and brain structures.
In late adolescence the body produces a lot more BDNF, so much more that it turns off the brain's attention center. This shutting down effortless learning and constant attention is very important; without it we would be forever swamped by new details finding it hard to choose between long term goals and short term distractions.
As scientists have shown, however, the adult brain isn't cut off from further growth and change. We can reactivate the the brain's plasticity by carrying out mental tasks that require focus and attention while inducing a sense of achievement or satisfaction. These conditions result in the growth of new nerve cells and plastic change.
Intense focus at a challenging task results in neurogenesis (new nerve cell growth) and neuroplasticity (rewiring of brain structure). If we activate these processes while training core brain functions (e.g., processing speed, memory, and problem-solving ability) we can strengthen and improve our mental ability.
The Three Steps to Cognitive Improvement
1. Focus
With mental focus and attention the nucleus basalis produces acetylcholine. Acetylcholine stimulates the brain's long term memory and retention.
2. Challenge
Tackling a mental challenge that yields a sense of satisfaction or reward causes the brain to produce a second substance crucial to plastic change called dopamine.
3. Targeted Mental Exercise
Acetylcholine and dopamine together stimulate new cell growth (neurogenesis), creating the right conditions for change in the brain's function and structure (neuroplasticity). By simultaneously training core cognitive functions the cell growth and plastic change strengthen and improve those core functions.
Practical Applications of Brain Training
While a host of activities (card games, puzzles, learning a new skill) can catalyze neural growth and help us stay in good mental shape, these incidental benefits tend to be less pointed and dramatic than we can achieve with a scientifically designed and tested brain training program.
Brain training aims to produce reliable and measurable changes in brain function: Learning specialists have begun using targeted training to address and even eradicate learning disabilities; Adults in their forties, fifties and beyond now use brain training programs to help reduce or prevent memory loss as well as delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms or dementia; An increasing number of school systems employ brain training so that children will learn more effectively; And across the world individuals are beginning to seize on the advantages for self-improvement promised by programs that can even increase our problem-solving ability.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for a consumer to know which brain training products are the right products. Some products billed as 'brain training' programs engage the user in teasers and games that don't have a true scientific foundation. Others may work but cost hundreds of dollars or require a big time commitment. (Some brain training programs are both highly effective and very afforable.)
Since committing to a program requires time and money it pays to check the scientific credentials of the training. What specifically is it designed to achieve? Has its efficacy been independently tested or proven? Does the vendor specify the degree of improvement you should expect? And does training follow a prescribed timeline with set duration and milestones?
It's perhaps equally important to remember that brain training requires something from us, too. Plastic change can't be had without diligence and stamina. To use the analogy of physical fitness, we can't expect to increase our brain power without breaking a mental sweat. If we are willing to make the investment, however, the rewards will be well worth the effort.
About the Author:
Oxford-trained scientist, author, and technologist, Martin G. Walker is a member of The British Neuroscience Association, Learning and The Brain, and MENSA. His company Mind Sparke publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and brain training as well as effective and affordable brain fitness software.
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2 comments:
Hi,
Brain training programs are of different types.
One is performance enhancement, other is the damage control, or recovery of lost function, and the third is prevention of cognitive decline. Other methods include daily experiences, educational level, commitments to life-long learning or social support networks.
Brain trainings, brain puzzles and hard brain teasers are key factors in enhancing a child's brain.
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