Learn how your brain learns

Knowing how the brain functions can help you perform better in life and design better learning resources. There’s a difference between knowing how or why something works and why you're learning about brain learns

Learning to learn. As the saying goes, give a man a fish vs teach a man to fish.

It’s like getting to the root, deep into the operating system of learning itself. For many years, people thought the brain, or intelligence, was hardwired and mostly inherited, with a fixed number of neurons. But all of that changed when it became feasible to monitor the brain and see how it responded to what it saw and what it was asked to accomplish. This demonstrated that the brain may produce new cells not only in childhood but also in adulthood.

This is not to say that some people aren't "brighter" than others; it's estimated that 50%/60% of IQ is genetic, but that assumes your brain can't change.

Think of your brain as being more elastic than you, well, think.

Understanding how the brain works can help you rewire it. Evidence supports the assumption that students who are conscious of how they learn will reflect on their actions. This naturally promotes the growth of additional cells. Although there is still much we don't know about the brain, let’s try to unpack some of the mysteries surrounding learning.

What Happens In Your Brain While Learning Takes Place?

The brain is largely made up of approximately 85 billion neurons, which is greater than the number of stars visible in the night sky with the naked eye. A neuron is a cell that works as a messenger, conveying information to other neurons in the form of nerve impulses (similar to electrical signals). When a person writes, for example, some neurons in your brain convey the message "move fingers" to other neurons, and this message then travels through the nerves (like cables) to the fingers. The electrical signals that travel from one neuron to the next are thus responsible for everything a person does: write, think, see, jump, talk, compute, and so on. Each neuron can communicate with up to 10,000 other neurons, resulting in a massive number of connections in the brain that resemble a dense spider web.

When a person learns, the brain undergoes significant changes, including the formation of new connections between neurons. This is known as neuroplasticity. This is the ability of the brain to alter, that is, to form, strengthen, weaken, or break down connections between neurons. These connections become stronger as you practise. Messages (nerve impulses) are sent faster and more efficiently as your connections improve. That is how you improve at anything you learn, whether it is football, reading, sketching, or anything else. We can compare the connections between your neurons to forest paths. It's tough to walk through a forest without a trail since you have to condense and push the plants and branches out of the way to cut your way through. However, the more you use the same track, the easier it becomes. When you stop using the trail, the foliage grows back and the trail eventually disappears. This is quite similar to what happens in your brain when you stop doing something—when you stop doing something, the connections between your neurons weaken and can eventually be disassembled or eliminated. That is why, if you have not read during the holidays, it may appear tough to resume reading when school starts again. However, certain neural networks might become so powerful that the traces or connections never totally dissipate.

The fact that learning rewires your neurons demonstrates how dynamic (plastic) your brain is—that it evolves rather than remaining fixed. Repeatedly practising or rehearsing activates your neurons and causes you to learn. These changes begin as soon as a newborn is conceived and continue throughout a person's life. So, how can you help your neurons build and strengthen their connections?