Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog » Brain Science

About Memory, Part II – Podcast with Fiona McPherson

Jeff Cobb — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:28:17 +0000

This is the second installment of a Radio Free Learning podcast with Dr. Fiona McPherson, author of The Memory Key and curator of the About Memory Web site. In the first installment we discussed some of the keys to memory and why most memory courses don’t result in long-term memory improvement. In this second episode we discuss the brain training craze, how the brain changes as we age, and why effective note-taking (the topic of a recent book by Fiona) is so important.

Here’s the MP3 file link (17:29 minutes long) in case you do not see the audio player below (or click through to the original blog post).

Subscribe to the Radio Free Learning podcast:

I also encourage you to check out other posts on brain science and the human mind here on Mission to Learn.

Jeff

P.S. – Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missiontolearn

About Memory, Part I – Podcast with Fiona McPherson

Jeff Cobb — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:46:47 +0000

In this episode of the Radio Free Learning podcast, I talk with Dr. Fiona McPherson, author of The Memory Key and curator of the About Memory Web site. I came across Fiona’s work recently when I was writing 5 Key Paths to Improving Memory, and found her Web site to be one of the most thorough, well organized sites on memory out there. So, naturally, I contacted her to see if she would share some of her expertise with listeners here.

Our conversation lasted long enough that I decided to break it into two episodes. In this first one, we find out a little about Fiona’s background and what sparked her deep interest in memory. We then talk about some of the keys to memory and why most memory courses don’t result in long-term memory improvement. In the second episode (out later this week) we discuss topics like the brain training craze and why effective note-taking (the topic of a recent book by Fiona) is so important.

Here’s the MP3 file link (19:17 minutes long) in case you do not see the audio player below (or click through to the original blog post).

Subscribe to the Radio Free Learning podcast:

I also encourage you to check out other posts on brain science and the human mind here on Mission to Learn.

Jeff

P.S. – Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missiontolearn

Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head and other Assorted Edutweets

Jeff Cobb — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:08:08 +0000

Time for another installment of linky learning with assorted Edutweets from Mission to Learn. There are some really great ones this time around.

For readers who are new here, I periodically do a round-up of some of the items that have been going out over the Mission to Learn Twitter stream and try to package them up in some logical way to help make them easier to digest. I do this roughly every two weeks or so. Naturally, you can get all of this in real time if you follow Mission to Learn on Twitter!

Human Mind

47 Ways to Fine Tune Your Brain: http://bit.ly/10nFQS See also: 5 Key Paths to Improving Memory: http://bit.ly/4lIWtR

Media multi-taskers pay mental price http://bit.ly/16ko3N (via http://zenhabits.tumblr.com/ )

Memory improvement and learning skills. Pretty amazing site:http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mem/index.htm

A Short Collection of Powerful But Under Appreciated Learning Strategies: http://bit.ly/3mKoa6

How Simplicity Can Help Creativity, Briefly: http://bit.ly/6jeYE

Learning Trends & Insights

Very interesting – rethinklearningnow http://rethinklearningnow.com/ via Downes http://bit.ly/asV5d

On Zen Habits: Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head http://is.gd/2Ijnj

RT @joshkaufman: Essays on the theme “school is prison”: http://su.pr/6Cn8BP & http://su.pr/9TzHAp

The Importance and Challenges of Universal Media Literacy Education: http://bit.ly/iQhpe

What is the Future of Teaching? http://bit.ly/FM2GT

Can a School Library Be Replaced by E-Readers? Apparently, it Can. http://bit.ly/rClky

RT @live2learn: Being educated is more than a diploma or a degree. 12 Things Really Educated People Know http://bit.ly/1LjvEy

10 Wishes for True Student Success from @mayafrost – http://bit.ly/8IZTg

40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home: http://bit.ly/RUTiR

Learning Resources

16 Great Books to Change the World http://bit.ly/a9Iy7 (and 26 Games: http://bit.ly/jB97y )

Another winner from Zaid: The Best EDU Blogs on the Planet: http://bit.ly/FmJI8

RT @Larryferlazzo: The Best Places To Find New Educational Websiteshttp://bit.ly/u9XN1

RT @Larryferlazzo: Best Fun Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too — 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5cxbh2 This year’s list is coming up this month!

RT @Larryferlazzo: “Show Me” is a great site highlighting best games from British museums http://www.show.me.uk/games/games.html

Are you missing out on these two great values? http://bit.ly/16SxqG

RT @live2learn: Great learning resource! RT @dianadell Bet the Farm http://ow.ly/nC1N Make all key decisions as you run a farm for a year.

100 Inspirational blogs for after college life: http://bit.ly/CT1dm

Nice, short video about the Big Bang: http://bit.ly/9u5zg

30 High-Value Tips and Resources for Learning on the Cheap: http://bit.ly/1DNJii

Language

7 Free, Focused Resources for Learning a Little Spanish Without Signing Up – http://bit.ly/1xYdEL

RT @AngelaMaiers: RT @englishraven Place to find very best English language teaching blogs and posts -http://3.ly/yhI

RT @Larryferlazzo: 9,000 categorized links accessible to English Language Learners http://bit.ly/lNYC6

Educational Web Apps & Tech Tools

10 Awesome Tools To Get More Out of Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/rHqTT

Not sure how I never came across this before: DailyLit: http://dailylit.com/

RT @AngelaMaiers: Every TED Talk Under the Sun from @openculture http://ow.ly/oAlQ THIS ROCKS!!! REALLY!!!! #learningmonitor

Looks like a pretty cool little tool for managing (learning?) goals: http://www.joesgoals.com/

RT @mitzilewis: RT @JimMacMillan Back to School: 15 Essential Web Tools for Students http://su.pr/15oMdw

Learning Habits & Skills

5 Powerful Reasons to Make Reflection a Daily Learning Habit, and How to Do It: http://bit.ly/w9vmy 7:10 AM Sep 9th from Seesmic

@edbatista Thanks for the tweet on 10 sites for sharpening critical thinking skills! http://bit.ly/4f3E9F

RT @tferriss: How to Become an Early Riser: http://su.pr/2DgJtP (and create some extra time for learning: http://bit.ly/3xhzm7 )

RT @learninglater: DO YOU KNOW…Learning Later is a way to discover new talents and resurrect old ones? http://www.learninglater.com

Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes: http://bit.ly/Bg6gb

Learning via self experimentation: http://bit.ly/JnJnj

RT @speakamerica: What is your curiosity quotient? http://bit.ly/13JzEt

15 Ways to Find an Hour a Day of Extra Time…for Focused Learning: http://bit.ly/wokHr

10 Bona Fide Best Sites for Sharpening your Critical Thinking Skills. Grateful for a bookmark if you like it: http://bit.ly/TwbzU

5 Key Paths to Improving Memory – Part II http://bit.ly/3xNSi8

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Jeff

P.S. – If you enjoy what you find here on Mission to Learn, I’d be truly grateful if you would subscribe by RSS feed or by e-mail.

5 Key Paths to Improving Memory, Part II

Jeff Cobb — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:38:38 +0000

This is the second part of a two-part “learn about” series on memory improvement. The first part covers sleep, physical exercise, and stress management. In this part, I take a look at diet and memory techniques.

Diet

As suggested in Part I of this series, habits that keep your body functioning well tend also to help your mind – and by extension, your memory. Diet is no exception. As with so many things related to diet, there is plenty of blather out there about what works and what doesn’t – and a supplements industry happy to sell you anything you are willing to buy. Definitely apply your critical thinking skills before ingesting anything that is supposed to help your brain.

One of the better sources I have found on diet and cognition is an article published in Nature in 2008 highlighting the research of Fernando Gomez-Pinilla. You can get the full text on Gomez-Pinilla’s Web site (scroll down). I highly recommend it, but here are a few highlights for the time challenged:

Food is like a drug in many ways – it contains specific substances that can impact how the brain functions;
Omega 3 fatty acids – found in fatty fish, like salmon, flax seed, and walnuts – appear to help the brain function properly and may even slow cognitive decline in the elderly;
On the other hand, saturated fats – found in dairy products, meat, and still too often in oily snack foods – can have a negative impact.
Flavenoids – found in cocoa, dark chocolate, green tea, citrus fruits, and wine – may also improve cognitive function, particularly in combination with regular exercise.
With respect to memory, Gomez-Pinllia specifically mentions B vitamins as having positive impact on memory in women and choline – found in egg yolks, soy, beef, chicken, veal, turkey liverm and lettuce – as potentially reducing memory impairment caused by seizures.

Gomez-Pinilla’s article features a great chart that summarizes the effects of different types of food on the brain. While doing research for this post, I also found that the Happy Healthy Long Life blog has included the chart in a great summary it offers of Gomez-Pinilla’s article. As the author notes, it’s worth printing out and putting on your fridge.

Memory Techniques

In the world of blogging, experts will always tell you that content comes first if you want to attract an audience. Techniques like search engine optimization are secondary – they don’t matter very much if you don’t have a solid base of good content. I think a similar logic applies to memory techniques and all of the brain training hype that is out there these days. They may help, but you should concentrate first on maintaining a healthy, well-rested brain by following the first four paths described in this series.

So, assuming you’ve got a healthy, well-rested brain and are looking to turbo charge it, what are some techniques you can use? Here are three that seem to show up again and again:

Rehearsal

Back in the days of old when I taught Russian, we would always tell the students that “Repetition is the mother of learning.” The old joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall (punchline: Practice!) is cut from similar logic. Simply going over something again and again – whether the something is a vocabulary list or Bethoven’s 9th – greatly increases the chances that you will retain it in memory. Naturally, this approach requires time and work, and as a result, often gets pushed aside for supposedly quicker fixes that are rarely as effective.

Use of multiple senses

If we hear something, we may remember it. If we hear it, see it (whether in reality or through use of our imagination), and write it down, our chances of remembering it jump dramatically. It’s well worth both taking notes and revisiting those notes both because this is a form of repetition (see above) and because these activities engage multiple senses. Even if you tend to never review your notes – or you always leave that shopping list sitting on the kitchen counter – the simple act of searching through the fridge and cabinets and then writing items down makes you more likely to remember them when you get to the store.

Mnemonics

When I took my first guitar lessons as a kid, I can remember that the teacher’s technique for helping students remember the six strings on the guitar didn’t go over all that well with Southern Baptists. I can also clearly remember his technique – and the strings – to this day: Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter – E-B-G-D-A-E, from the bottom up.

That’s a classic mnemonic device. The teacher used the notes associated with each string to create an acrostic that was much easier to remember than the letters by themselves. “Mnemonic device” is simply another (and much more Greek) way of saying “memory aid.” At the core of all mnemonic devices is the concept of associating one object or idea with another. Weaving vocabulary words into a simple rhyme, story, or song is one example. Visualizing a rose to help you remember the name of a woman named “Rose” is another.

I won’t try to cover all of the possibilities for mnemonic devices here. A simple Google search turns up many great resources, and you may want to check out 9 Types of Mnemonics for Better Memory as well as Fiona McPherson’s writings about mnemonics at About Memory. Here, however, are a few classics American readers may recognize (I welcome examples from other countries in the comments!):

“I” before “e” except after “c”
or when sounding like “a”
in neighbor and weigh

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Albania, Albania… Coach makes up a song to help he and Sam study in this classic Cheers episode.

Conjunction Junction, what’s your … If you are of a certain age, you almost certainly know how to finish that sentence. Here’s the classic Schoolhouse Rock segment that taught so many of us about “hookin’ up words, and phrases, and clauses.” This is a bit elaborate as far as mnemonics goes, but it was a fun one to dig up.

That’s it for my little “learn about” venture into the world of memory. It is an area where I hope to continue building knowledge. And, of course, I hope to practice better what I preach with respect to improving my own memory.

How about you? What have you found useful for maintaining and improving your memory? What are some resources other readers might appreciate knowing about? Please comment and share!

Jeff

P.S. – If you liked this post, please consider bookmarking it – and you might also enjoy 25+ Sites and Tools to Exercise Your Brain

Are You in the Flow? 7 Key Signs

Jeff Cobb — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:59:34 +0000

I think – or at least I hope – that most people have experienced the feeling of being so deeply engaged in something they love doing that everything else seems to disappear. Maybe you start reading a book, or writing something, or playing a musical instrument, and suddenly hours have gone by before you know it.

Ever wonder what causes you to reach such a state? I recommend the video below from psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi’s TED talk on “flow” – the state of mind we enter when we are fully engaged in an activity we find intrinsically rewarding. It runs a little under 20 minutes long and is well worth viewing. (Click through to the post if you don’t see the video below.) Or, if your time is limited, skip down to the 7 Key Signs of “Flow” below.

From the video, here’s a poet’s description of what the experience of “flow” feels like:

It’s like opening a door that’s floating in the middle of nowhere and all you have to do is go and turn the handle and open it and let yourself sink into it. You can’t particularly force yourself through it. You just have to float. If there’s any gravitational pull, it’s from the outside world trying to keep you back from the door.

7 Key Signs of “Flow”

Czikszentmihalyi has done years of research on what leads to this sort of state and how it feels. Here are seven key characteristics of “flow” that he enumerates in the video:

Completely involved in what we are doing – focused, concentrated
A sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality
A great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing it
Knowing that the activity is doable – that our skills are adequate to the task
A sense of serenity – no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of ego
Timelessness – thoroughly focused on the present. Hours seem to pass by in minutes
Intrinsic motivation –whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

Not surprisingly, learning is often the key to achieving “flow.” When we are “aroused” to meet a challenge, we feel compelled to acquire the necessary knowledge, practice the necessary skills. To seek flow is to continually engage in learning. For me, this happens most often when I can cut through other distractions and really concentrate on writing.

How about you? I welcome any insights or experiences you are willing to share about your efforts to achieve “flow.”

Jeff Cobb
Mission to Learn

P.S. – If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I’d really appreciate it if you would consider subscribing to the RSS feed or using the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

No related posts.

5 Key Paths to Improving Memory, Part I

Jeff Cobb — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:23:56 +0000

Ever wish you were just a little bit better at remembering the things you would really like to learn?

You can find plenty of memory improvement tips out there, and a whole industry has grown up around the concept of “brain training,” but figuring out what’s worthwhile and what’s not can be an extremely confusing process. I won’t claim to be an expert, but I decided to go “learn about” in an effort to cut through all the confusion and come up with some practical wisdom to put to work in my own life. Having now sifted through a wide range of writings on the topic, it seems to me that improving your memory boils down to five key areas.

Here are the first three: sleep, physical exercise, and stress management. The next two - diet and memory techniques – are covered in part two of this series.

Sleep

If you are like me, you know from practical experience that your memory doesn’t tend to function as well when you are sleep-deprived. As it happens, a wide range of scientific studies support the idea that sleep is necessary for helping to “consolidate” memory, or at least certain types of memory. (See About Memory for a good list of studies.) A recent MIT study brought us a significant step closer to understanding the sleep-memory connection by showing that “mice prevented from “replaying” their waking experiences while asleep do not remember them as well as mice who are able to perform this function.”

The bottom line: Sleep is important; get enough of it if you want to make sure your memory is functioning properly.

Of course, that begs the question: what is enough? Unfortunately there is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to that question. The safest bet seems to be to aim for at least the standard 7-8 hours a night recommended for most adults and to pay enough attention to how you feel and act based on that amount of sleep to adjust up or down as needed. For more information on sleep needs from infants up to adults, I recommend an article on sleep requirements from Parenting Science.

Physical Exercise

Physical exercise is a somewhat grayer area than sleep when it comes to memory, but there seems to be a reasonable body of evidence suggesting that physical fitness and cognitive fitness are linked. At a minimum, a short-term effect of exercise, and in particular aerobic exercise that is continued over a period of at least 30 minutes, is an increase in blood flow and corresponding oxygen supply to the brain. This can help boost cognitive function, including memory. A regular exercise habit can help to improve circulation in general and also ward off stress and depression – two established enemies of optimal cognitive function.

Research also suggests that physical exercise may directly benefit the hippocampus – an area of the brain that is essential to memory. A recent study, for example, showed that “elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.” As one of the lead researchers on the study puts it, “Basically, if you stay fit, you retain key regions of your brain involved in learning and memory.”

So how much exercise should the average person be getting? There’s plenty of debate on the topic, but one reasonable starting point is the Center for Disease Control’s “How much physical activity do you need?”

Stress Management

As noted above, stress is known to have an impact on cognitive function, and this includes memory. For starters, stress can interfere with sleep, which we have already identified as important to memory. But stress also impacts the brain more directly in both positive and negative ways.

On the positive side, when we are presented with problems or challenges, our bodies are stimulated to produce norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that is essential to memory. This can be a good thing when studying for a test or preparing for some other challenge. But too much stress over too long a period takes its toll. The work of neurologist Robert Sapolsky and a range of other researchers have shown that chronic stress can, over time, lead to degeneration of the hippocampus, thus interfering with our capability to process and store memories. (see Memory and Stress).

So what are some approaches to managing stress? Getting enough sleep and exercising regularly are an excellent starting point – and these come with the memory benefits already noted. Additionally, there is some evidence that meditation and other well-known relaxation techniques may have a direct impact on the hippocampus – at least in the elderly. At a minimum, long-term practice of meditation or other relaxation techniques helps ward off chronic stress, an established enemy of memory. If you don’t feel like meditation is right for you, you might consider the simple breathing exercises advocated by alternative health practitioner Andrew Weil.

If you are getting the sense that promoting and maintaining good memory is largely a matter of good lifestyle choices and habits, you are right. Stay tuned for more on that as well as some practical memory techniques in part two of this series.

Go to part two of this series >>

Jeff Cobb
Mission to Learn

[tweetmeme]

P.S. – If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I’d be grateful if you would consider subscribing to the RSS feed or subscribing by e-mail.

25+ Sites and Tools to Exercise Your Brain

Jeff Cobb — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:52:07 +0000

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer.

Finding ways to stretch and exercise your brain is important for a long happy life. Fortunately, the Internet is flush with games, tools, and web apps that will boost your mental power and leave your brain sweating. Here are 25 sites to try today:

Brain Games

BrainBashers – BrainBashers are a collection of brain teasers, riddles, games, puzzles, and optical illusions. This impressive brain game site updates games and puzzles regularly.

BrainDen.com – This brain teaser site provides a variety of games and trivia to challenge your mind. BrainDen.com offers jokes, puzzles, trivia, riddles, games, and optical illusions–all designed to exercise your brain.

Sharp Brains – Sharp Brains provides 50 top brain teasers and games everyone will enjoy. These games help to work your language, logic, math, memory, and attention skills.

Braingle – With over 17,000 user-rated brain games, Braingle is the perfect place to boost your brain power. As an added bonus, this site also offers exercises to increase memory, vocabulary, creativity, and stress management.

Brain Metrix – Brain Metrix is designed to build brain fitness. The site can increase your memory, reflex, and concentration through a collection of activities.

Brain Teaser Central – Brain Teaser Central is a good place to stretch your brain with logic, math, illusions, games, puzzles, trivia, and more.

Fit Brains – Fit Brains is a site with fun, free games that exercise five key cognitive brain areas: memory, executive, visual-spatial, concentration, and language.

Brain Teasers Network – With daily brain teasers and an assortment of popular and challenging games, Brain Teaser Network is a handy site for building mental capacity.

Oxbrain – Oxbrain offers lateral thinking puzzles and crossword puzzles. These custom-made crossword puzzles are entertaining and educational.

Playwithyourmind.com – This site contains over 100 original brain games & exercises including a brain fitness program, a memory workout, and daily competitions.(Added from comments to the original post)

Thinks.com – Thinks.com offers several fun games to challenge your brain, including crosswords, word searches, jigsaw puzzles, chess, and brain teasers.

Brain Boosting Techniques

Speed Reading – Speed reading is a great way to boost your brain power for sales, education, and careers. This free speed reading course builds memory and comprehension.

Increase Brain Power – Increase Brain Power offers five simple and easy-to-use techniques for increasing your comprehension and memory.

About.com – This site features 10 useful strategies for improving your memory. These techniques are simple to incorporate into everyday life.

Illumine Training – Illumine Training offers workshops to increase creativity, mental agility, and concentration. The workshop on mind mapping is an excellent way to expand your mind and organize ideas.

Fun-with-words.com – This mnemonics page from Fun-with-words.com offers three different mnemonics to retain important information like words, numbers, and names.

Web Apps

Flash Card Machine – Flash cards are a super way to study and retain important information. Flash Card Machine features a free web app for creating and sharing your own flash cards.

OuTWIT me – This free Twitter app contains games for improving and exercising your mind. OuTWIT me features games like Code cracker, Tweet word, Tweet quiz, and Story teller.

Imagination Cubed – Looking for a way to exercise your creative side? Check out this free app from GE. It allows you to illustrate and share your ideas with free drawing tools.

Mindmeister – Mindmeister is a brainstorming app that increases your brain power through creative thinking. The app allows you to organize and visualize your ideas through mind mapping.

Twivia – Twivia is a Twitter app that exercises your memory through daily trivia questions.

Misc Tools

LibriVox – Books are an excellent way to keep your brain fit and active. LibriVox offers lots of free audio books to keep your mind moving.

Visuwords – Visuwords creates a visual neural network to demonstrate how words associate with one another–a great way to exercise your memory and build your vocabulary.

Creative Writing Prompts – Creative writing makes connections with your thoughts, ideas, and the world around you. This site of writing prompts will give your creative side a major workout.

Popling – Popling is a desktop app for people who want to learn without studying. It regularly displays small windows with questions on your computer screen so that you can learn languages, chemistry, geography, and more without really trying.

WebMD – Exercise is the best way to keep your body and mind healthy. WebMD illustrates how exercise can make you think clearly and perform better.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes for OnlineCollege.org an online college resource.

P.S. – If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

Is Your Brain in a Box?

Jeff Cobb — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:00:48 +0000

Are you just not the creative type? Is it simply impossible for you to learn a new language? Is all this social media stuff just for the kids? If you answer yes to any of these questions—or know people who do—read on.

I’ve been digging into learning styles and “learning to learn” lately, and in the process keep bumping into three bits of conventional wisdom about the human brain that, in fact, are not as clear cut as people often think they are. I highlight them here not because there is no truth to them, but because people have a tendency to give them far too much weight, and in doing so, erect barriers to their own learning. Here they are:

Left Brain vs. Right Brain Thinking

You know how it goes: The left brain is logical and analytical; the right brain is spatially-oriented and creative. Careers and fortunes have been made off of this one, and people tend to get passionate about it. But the real story is much more complex. While there are clearly differences in how the hemispheres of the brain process sensations, neither side is “specialized” to the degree that more popularized left brain/right brain theories suggest. A normal brain acts in an integrated fashion whether it is focused on painting a masterpiece or analyzing a profit and loss statement.

Granted, you may not be the next Picasso, but it is highly unlikely your artistic shortcomings stem from the fact that one side of your brain is dominating the other. A variety of other factors have a role, and the simple fact is, just about anybody can draw, paint, or perform any number of other creative acts reasonably well with a bit of training, discipline, and a sincere will to learn.

Just do a search on “left brain right brain myth” and you will find plenty to read, but I also came across this succinct list posted by Gary Platt on the TrainingZone UK site (the original list contains additional links, but I eliminated three that appear not to function any more):

If you’d still like to have some fun testing out your right brain/left brain and general thinking preferences, I suggest:

There is a “Critical Period” for Learning

I have felt the burden of this one as someone who took up the study of various languages and musical instruments relatively late in life. The idea is that there is a window early in life when a person is much more capable of learning certain things—second languages, including music, tend to be highest on the list—and that the window more or less closes at some point, usually around the onset of puberty.

Well, as with the right brain/left brain phenomenon, the truth is significantly more complex. Few who study such things dispute the idea that younger brains have certain distinct advantages in mastering complex systems like languages. The question is what happens to these advantages as people get older. Does the “window” really close at some point as we all turn into proverbial old dogs who can’t learn new tricks?

In certain limited ways, yes. For instance, we don’t tend to pick up the phonological aspects of a language nearly as easily as we get older. This means most of us butcher the accents of new languages we pick up as adults. But we can still master grammar and acquire new vocabulary. And how well we can do these things depends on a variety of factors ranging from personality to motivation to a range of environmental factors. In short, our ability to learn a new language does not cut off at a certain age. Perhaps more importantly, there is little, if any, evidence to support the idea that our ability to learn things besides languages cuts off or even declines all that substantially as we age.

Let’s face it: If you are really interested in learning, the “critical period” is now.

Old Brains Don’t Change

Notions of brain “plasticity”—i.e., the ability of the brain physically to change and grow over time—are closely related to the “critical period” theory above. It used to be believed that the neural connections in our brains, or at least in certain parts of our brains, became fixed as we aged and then eventually began to erode. We now know that the brain can continue re-wiring itself and changing well into old age and that in certain areas of the brain—the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus—the brain actually has the ability to generate new cells throughout adulthood.

Experience alone drives much of the reorganization of neural connections that occur over time. We adapt to new environments (the social Web, for example) and build up new connections to meet the challenges that we encounter in our everyday life and work activities. But an active focus on learning can accelerate and augment this process. Some research even indicates that a consistent focus on cognitive activity helps to generate a “brain reserve” that can help defend against age and disease-related damage. Of course, this is an idea attractive to so many people that a whole industry is growing up around it, so keep a few grains of salt on hand if you head out onto the Web for more information in this area.

As with critical period theory, the brain’s ability to change and grow throughout life doesn’t mean that the young—particularly the very young—do not possess a biological advantage when it comes to raw learning capacity. But neither do the young bring the experience and judgment to the game that we older learners possess. Part of the challenge for older learners is not to let oversimplified conventional wisdom cloud our judgment and box us in. The brain enables a great deal, if we let it.

JTC

P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.