My four-year old son picks up new words and puts them to use as if they were so many pieces of Lego. Over the course of a dozen or so years, children build up a vocabulary of tens of thousands of words. A child's ability to absorb and master new information is a constant marvel. By contrast, adults would appear to be relative dullards. But the explanation for the difference between the growing brain and the adult brain yields the secret to the lifelong ability to maintain and improve brain function.
During the critical period of childhood learning, a child's brain secretes large quantities of a protein known as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). This process triggers the nucleus basalis (the brain's attention governor), keeping the brain constantly ready to absorb new memories and skills. Children pay attention to everything... well, almost everything.
But once we reach our late teens our bodies begin to produce a lot more BDNF, a trigger that shuts down the brain's attention center. While it may seem odd that our bodies put an end to effortless learning, from an evolutionary perspective it makes good sense; having an always on brain as an adult would make it difficult to discriminate between choices and avoid unproductive distractions.
As scientists have shown, however, the adult brain isn't hopelessly cut off from further growth and change. We can reactivate the absorption of new information by engaging in mental tasks that requires focus and attention. When these mental tasks also induce a sense of achievement or satisfaction, we can create the conditions for the growth of new nerve cells and plastic change.
When we tackle novel and rewarding activities with intense focus, our brains begin grow new nerve cells and restructure themselves to adapt to the new stimulus. The key to effective brain training is to create conditions that require attention and reward that attention while strengthening core brain functions such as memory, processing speed, focus, and overall processing capacity (problem-solving ability).
The Three Steps to Cognitive Improvement
1. Attention
To activate the nucleus basalis we must exert considerable focus and attention. This stimulates the nucleus basalis to produce acetylcholine, which in turn instructs the brain to fix the memories being formed.
2. Reward
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 Training
Through the release of acetylcholine and dopamine, focus and mental challenge bring about the production of new neural nerve cells and changes in the brain's neural infrastructure. Cell growth and plastic change provide the capability for strengthening and improving core brain functions such as problem-solving ability, memory, and processing speed.
Brain Training In Practice
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.
The right brain training software can strengthen core brain functions in a highly efficient, measurable and predictable way. This brings a slew of possibilities: Brain training is being used today for correcting learning dysfunctions, reversing the adverse effects of aging, helping to delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms or dementia, improving academic success, and for plain old self-improvement. Some training programs can even produce measurable increases in fluid intelligence or problem-solving ability - until recently believed to be impossible.
Although brain training is relatively new, there is no shortage of products on the market, and no guarantee that they will achieve the desired results. This presents us with the challenge of first identifying which product is right for us. They range in cost from less than fifty dollars to several hundred dollars, and the variance in efficacy is, if anything, even greater.
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. - 16039
During the critical period of childhood learning, a child's brain secretes large quantities of a protein known as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). This process triggers the nucleus basalis (the brain's attention governor), keeping the brain constantly ready to absorb new memories and skills. Children pay attention to everything... well, almost everything.
But once we reach our late teens our bodies begin to produce a lot more BDNF, a trigger that shuts down the brain's attention center. While it may seem odd that our bodies put an end to effortless learning, from an evolutionary perspective it makes good sense; having an always on brain as an adult would make it difficult to discriminate between choices and avoid unproductive distractions.
As scientists have shown, however, the adult brain isn't hopelessly cut off from further growth and change. We can reactivate the absorption of new information by engaging in mental tasks that requires focus and attention. When these mental tasks also induce a sense of achievement or satisfaction, we can create the conditions for the growth of new nerve cells and plastic change.
When we tackle novel and rewarding activities with intense focus, our brains begin grow new nerve cells and restructure themselves to adapt to the new stimulus. The key to effective brain training is to create conditions that require attention and reward that attention while strengthening core brain functions such as memory, processing speed, focus, and overall processing capacity (problem-solving ability).
The Three Steps to Cognitive Improvement
1. Attention
To activate the nucleus basalis we must exert considerable focus and attention. This stimulates the nucleus basalis to produce acetylcholine, which in turn instructs the brain to fix the memories being formed.
2. Reward
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 Training
Through the release of acetylcholine and dopamine, focus and mental challenge bring about the production of new neural nerve cells and changes in the brain's neural infrastructure. Cell growth and plastic change provide the capability for strengthening and improving core brain functions such as problem-solving ability, memory, and processing speed.
Brain Training In Practice
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.
The right brain training software can strengthen core brain functions in a highly efficient, measurable and predictable way. This brings a slew of possibilities: Brain training is being used today for correcting learning dysfunctions, reversing the adverse effects of aging, helping to delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms or dementia, improving academic success, and for plain old self-improvement. Some training programs can even produce measurable increases in fluid intelligence or problem-solving ability - until recently believed to be impossible.
Although brain training is relatively new, there is no shortage of products on the market, and no guarantee that they will achieve the desired results. This presents us with the challenge of first identifying which product is right for us. They range in cost from less than fifty dollars to several hundred dollars, and the variance in efficacy is, if anything, even greater.
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. - 16039
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 Evolve Software publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and brain training as well as effective and affordable brain training software under the brand name Mind Sparke.
