Brainpower
Our brains are slimy and wobbly and smell of blue cheese. But the brain is the most important part of the body. The brain is like a muscle. The brain changes and grows stronger when you exercise it with challenges. When you grow your brain stronger, hard things become easier.
"Angular gyrus animation" by Polygon data were generated by Database Center for Life Science(DBCLS)[2].
- Polygon data are from BodyParts3D[1]. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.1 jp via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angular_gyrus_animation.gif#mediaviewer/File:Angular_gyrus_animation.gif
- Polygon data are from BodyParts3D[1]. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.1 jp via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angular_gyrus_animation.gif#mediaviewer/File:Angular_gyrus_animation.gif
How do we think, feel or do things?
Inside the brain are billions of tiny neurons and each neuron is connected to other neurons. In fact, just one neuron can be connected to a thousand other neurons.
Neurons have an important job. Neurons carry signals and pass them to other neurons. These signals are what cause you to feel, think or do something. Inside your brain these signals are carried by electricity.
Neurons have an important job. Neurons carry signals and pass them to other neurons. These signals are what cause you to feel, think or do something. Inside your brain these signals are carried by electricity.
What do neurons look like?
A neuron looks like a tiny octopus but it has many more tentacles. Some neurons can have thousands of tentacles. The tentacles connect one neuron to other neurons.
The tips of the tentacles are very close to other neurons. When the signal carried by the flow of electricity (electrical pulse) gets to the the tip of a tentacle, the signal can jump across the gap and pass onto another neuron.
What happens when we try to learn something that's difficult?
When you start to learn something new that's difficult, we say this is a challenge. Learning the times tables or learning how to ski are examples of challenges. It's is even a challenge when you don't use instructions to build Lego planes that are strong and look good.
When you challenge yourself, the neurons in your brain need to make new connections. Soon after you start learning when it is still difficult, your neurons will make new connections but they will still be weak. Over time as you keep practising what you are learning, the new connections become stronger. Eventually they become so strong that the challenge becomes easy. This is what is meant when we say your brain is growing stronger.
How do we know the brain can grow stronger?
Scientists started thinking that our brains could change when they studied animals' brains. They put animals in two groups.
- Animals that had challenges - They had other animals and toys to play with.
- Animals that were not challenged - They lived alone and without toys.
The animals that were not challenged just ate and slept all the time. The animals that were challenged spent a lot of time exercising their brains by learning how to use the toys and how to get along with the other animals.
After the animals had been in their separate groups for long enough, the scientists gave the animals the same new challenges. They had to solve problems and learn new things. The scientists found out that one group of animals was much better than the other group.
The better group was the animals who had done old challenges of playing with toys and each other. These animals had become better at solving problems and better at learning new things because they had exercised their brains with the old challenges.
The better group was the animals who had done old challenges of playing with toys and each other. These animals had become better at solving problems and better at learning new things because they had exercised their brains with the old challenges.
Babies' brains
When babies are born they cannot talk or understand language. But somehow, almost all babies learn to speak their parents' language after a few years. They do this because they are always challenging themselves.
Every day and all day they are listening hard. This is exercising their brains because they must try to make sense of the sounds they hear and try to understand what they mean.
Every day and all day they are listening hard. This is exercising their brains because they must try to make sense of the sounds they hear and try to understand what they mean.
By the time they are three years old, most children have learned to say whole sentences almost perfectly.
This challenge to learn their new language has caused their brains to grow stronger: the neurons have grown new and stronger connections with each other.
This challenge to learn their new language has caused their brains to grow stronger: the neurons have grown new and stronger connections with each other.
The most important things to remember
- Signals that travel between neurons are what cause you to feel, think or do something.
- Neurons are connected but there's a tiny gap for a signal to jump across.
- New connections form when you start doing a challenge.
- A challenge is something that is hard to do.
- The more you practise the stronger the new connections become.
- Stronger new connections mean your brain is stronger, and hard things become easier.
What's different about London taxi drivers' brains?
London's taxi drivers must learn a lot before they can drive a black cab. They need to learn how to get to anywhere in London in a six-mile circle without using a map. So they need to have a map of London streets in the heads.
Just like anyone learning and practising something new, they have grown strong new connections between their neurons.
But also their learning has caused a special part of the brain to grow bigger. The special part is called the hippocampus. Scientists think it is the part of the brain that we use when we want to navigate without a map. |