For the IA Academic Event, I attended one that was hosted by my floor RAs on October 24th in Smith-Steeb to help us prepare for midterms. We watched a TEDx called, “After watching this, your brain will not be the same” by Lara Boyd. She begins the video by talking about the evolution of the brain and our understanding of it. Boyd focuses most of her video on how the brain functions and how we retain knowledge.
Until about 25 years ago it was believed that the only changes that happen to the brain after puberty are negative. Studies, however; began to show the amount of reorganization in the adult brain that positively impact one’s life. Changes are not limited by age, in fact they happen nonstop. Neuroplasticity is the key to all the changes that happen. Brian functions are triggered through chemical signaling through neurons which supports short term memory and short term improvement. Additionally, the brain can change the connections between neurons which changes the physical structure altering long term memory and improvement. Boyd gives an example to help explain each of these changes. She describes a situation where one is first learning how to play the piano, and with each additional practice session, he or she seems to be getting better and better, until that person then thinks, “they finally got it.” Until they come back the next day and all the improvements from the day before are lost. Boyd explains the science behind why this happens. She said that in the short term, your brain can increase the chemical signaling between your neurons, but in the long run your brain is not able to change as fast. Because long run changes take time, what one accomplishes/does in the short term is not learning, understanding something in the long term supports short term learning.
The last way that your brain can change to support learning is to alter its function. As you use a certain region of the brain it becomes more excitable and is easier to use again in the future. Then, as your brain has these areas that increase their excitability the brain then changes how and when they are activated. This correlates to learning, because whole networks of brain activity are shifting and changing. Neuroplasticity is supported by chemical, structural, and functional changes which occur across the entirety of the brain and often at the same time.
Boyd then explores what limits and facilitates neuroplasticity. She focuses on the relationship between neuroplasticity and strokes. It is incredibly difficult to develop the brain after a stroke, the net result of this is the leading cause of mental disability of adults in the world. The best driver of neuroplastic change in one’s brain is behavior. The issue with this is that the amount of practice needed is both large and expensive. In addition to the time commitment and expense associated with neuroplasticity, is that the patterns of neuroplasticity are highly variable between people. One of the main points that Boyd makes is that there is no drug that will make you learn better than practice, the best way to succeed in learning is by putting in the work. Her research has shown that increased struggle and difficulty has led to more learning and greater structural change within the brain.
Overall Boyd’s video was both educational and informative because she explained the ways in which people learn and how our brains process and retain information. Some of the discussion was focused on brain therapy after suffering from a stroke; however, I found the changes that the brain undergoes to be the most interesting part of the discussion. After watching the video, I can now apply her understanding of knowledge retention to my studies. By trying to cram information I am only putting myself at a disadvantage, because the best way to learn is through repetition and practice which are both long term ways of studying. This long-term method has a direct correlation to her discussion of structural changes within the brain and how these changes have the most impact on the way one learns.