Question

how can you use brain plasticity and neurogenesis to improve learning. Give examples.

Answer 1

Brain plasticity also termed as neuroplasticity is defined as ability of the nervous system to alter its structure and function about a period of time with response to environmental changes. This allows neurons to regenerate anatomically and functionally to form new synaptic networks and finally restructures itself.

It is also reported that the brain certainly not stops altering as long as person carry on to acquire new things. For example, Art lessons improve brain plasticity, and fluid intelligence and Dancing encourages the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that stimulates the growth, maintenance, and plasticity of neurons required for learning and memory.

Brain plasticity can be witnessed in the brains of bilinguals such as for example learning a second language. The left inferior cortex is larger in bilingual brains compared to monolingual brains. This enhances the learning ability skills. Physical exercise can also increases neuroplasticity. Moreover, long-term or short-term learning of meditation outcomes in various levels of brain activities that are associated with attention, anxiety, depression, fear, anger.

Neurogenesis is denotes the birth and proliferation and spread of new neurons in the brain system. Neurogenesis occurs in subventricular zone which forms the lining of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone and forms part of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This hippocampus is essential for learning and memory. Daily exercise encourages neurogenesis, leading to improved spatial memory and improvements and control the behavior. For example, it is unlikely that the assembly of new neural cells will have an instant effect on learning process because the cells need time for their differentiate into neurons and gets incorporated into the existing neural network. Many factors are known to affect neurogenesis that can alter various aspects of brain structure and function like dendritic architecture, synapse number, and synaptic plasticity. Thus, these changes are likely to be tangled in hippocampal-dependent learning and is problematic to understand the correlations among new neurons and learning skills.