Brain Training - Exploiting Brain Plasticity
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 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; as adults we need to discriminate between choices, stay focused, and avoid unproductive 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.
Known in the scientific community as neurogenesis and neuroplasticity the ability to rewire the brain provides the foundation for effective brain training. Effective brain training programs use mental exercises that demand focus and reward while training memory, processing speed, and problem-solving ability.
The Three Pillars of Brain Training
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
When we feel challenged and rewarded the brain secretes dopamine (the 'happy' chemical).
3. Exercise of Core Brain Functions
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.
Brain Training In Everyday Life
All kinds of mental tasks produce some degree of neural growth, helping us stay sharp - learning a new language, solving puzzles, taking up a new career. But such incidental change isn't as directed and effective as that produced by some of the brain training exercises that scientists have designed.
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.
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.)
Fortunately, a little due diligence on this front will pay dividends. First, check the scientific basis for the training exercises. It's a bad sign if the marketing material describes the science and benefits of the program in vague or general terms without spelling out what the training is designed to accomplish, and what specifically to expect in terms of improvement. And the vendor should tell you for how long and with what duration you should be training to achieve those gains.
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 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; as adults we need to discriminate between choices, stay focused, and avoid unproductive 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.
The Three Pillars of Brain Training
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
When we feel challenged and rewarded the brain secretes dopamine (the 'happy' chemical).
3. Exercise of Core Brain Functions
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.
Brain Training In Everyday Life
All kinds of mental tasks produce some degree of neural growth, helping us stay sharp - learning a new language, solving puzzles, taking up a new career. But such incidental change isn't as directed and effective as that produced by some of the brain training exercises that scientists have designed.
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.
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.)
Fortunately, a little due diligence on this front will pay dividends. First, check the scientific basis for the training exercises. It's a bad sign if the marketing material describes the science and benefits of the program in vague or general terms without spelling out what the training is designed to accomplish, and what specifically to expect in terms of improvement. And the vendor should tell you for how long and with what duration you should be training to achieve those gains.
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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