Learning

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Think of the very first time you did something bad. Chances are you were told off for it. When humans and other animals experience something completely new, they develop a new way of responding.

Your Experiences change how you behave, this is called Learning.

Learning

So what happens when we learn?

All the neurons in your brain connect to another neuron or gland. When a neuron fires, the signal travels along a pathway. Following the right pathway will trigger a memory, move a muscle or stimulate a gland.

The first time a neuron fires, the signal travels along a specific pathway.

New experiences create new neural pathways.

Through constant use, or if the stimulus is particularly strong (like a traumatic experience or a life changing event), the impulses between these neurons becomes more rapid. More rapid and frequent firings, means a strong connection.

As a results the response produced become easier and easier.

When your an infant, neural pathways develop and grow very quickly. As you age, the ability to develop these new pathways decreases.

However you can still develop new pathways, meaning you can still learn new things in your old age. It just takes longer.

This ability to re-shape the neurons in your brain is referred to as Neural Plasticity.

Guaranteed the first time you tried something you probably weren’t that great at it. However through constant training and repetition you became much better.

Why?

The more times you use specific neurons, the stronger the connections between them become. Remember everything in your body requires neurons to work, from accessing a memory to writing a letter.

Observe the cup stacker to the right. Guaranteed when he first tried he wasn’t this good, however through constant practise, he was able to achieve amazing times.

Even visualising the muscle movements can help. When you visualise your self kicking a ball or performing a specific dance routine, the neurons to those muscles begin to fire.

This strengthens the pathways and makes performing the movement a lot easier.

We’ve all probably heard of Tarzan. A child who was abandon in the jungle and raised by apes. Raised by apes he became more ape than human.

Although this is just a fairy tail, there are actually very similar cases in the real world.

In 1799, in the south of France, a small boy was found in the forest. Acting more animal than human, it was suspected that he was abandoned in the forest as a baby.

Named Victor by the doctor who tried to help him, he never gained control of the language, only making grunts and howls.

He was roughly 12, by the time he was found, and by the time he was taught a human language, it was past the point where it was easy to learn.

Say:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where are the pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

After a few repetitions, why does it become easier? (Use the terms, learning, neural pathways, repetitions and neural firing).