Brain Training - The Science of Learning
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Watch and learn: When we’re trying to learn a new skill things tend to go a lot more smoothly if we start by watching a demonstration. The act of observing complex muscle movements prepares us for the task of executing them.
That we can learn by watching seems to be common sense until we consider what’s actually going on in our brains to make this happen. Working with Macaque monkeys an Italian group led by Giacomo Rizzolatti studied neurons dedicated to hand control. Rizzolatti’s work led to the surprising finding that some of the neurons responded in the same way when monkeys saw a person pick up a piece of food as when they were doing it themselves. Researchers have since conducted studies showing that the same process seems to be at work in people - just watching others tackling a complex task improves our ability to execute that task ourselves.
The working of mirror neurons gives us a peek at the brain’s use of entirely conceptual means of practice and rehearsal. Other studies have blurred the line between thought and action. In one such study scientists set two groups of participants the task of learning to play a melody on a piano. The first group practiced the melody for a set time period each day. The second group also practiced the melody, but without placing a finger on the keyboard. The group that relied solely on mental practice improved almost as much as the group that practiced at the keyboard. And, after a couple of physical rehearsals, there was no difference between the two.
The brain’s ability to operate in a virtual reality mode is wonderfully powerful and intriguing. If we can use the power of mental force to control muscle memory, the consequences for our cognitive abilities must be even more extensive. Legendary pianist Glen Gould, for instance, often rehearsed a piece of music just by reading the score.
Scientists now know that far from being consigned to an inevitable, slow decline the adult brain can grow and change with appropriate mental exercise. If we apply focus and concentration to a novel and challenging mental task, we can even improve our fluid intelligence and general problem-solving ability.
In 2008, a team from the Universities of Michigan and Bern devised a demanding training method that would improve a person’s visual and aural working-memory, proposing that this would produce a gain in fluid intelligence. After only nineteen days the participants recorded gains in working-memory and fluid intelligence over more than 40% (over and above the scores of those in a control group).
Whatever age you are, you can take advantage of these remarkable findings by learning some new tricks. Who knows, you may even end up smarter.
|
|
|
|
 |
