How Brains 🧠 Learn

• Planted  🌱 01 December 2021…
• learning,
• books

The New Science of Learning (2^nd Ed.) looks at understanding how to learn in harmony with your brain. It describes what's known about learning and learning how to learn. Using neuroscience to explain memory retrieval strategies and how sleep, exercise, memory and mindset in combination with brain function affect learning.

Long-term Potentiation 🫵

In neuroscience, long-term potentiation is a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of activity that produce a long-lasting increase in synaptic signal transmission between two neurons.

Every time a newly acquired info/skill is used, connections between brain cells become stronger and recall is enhanced — like a new trail more established by more use.

Practice must occur over extended periods of time aka the distributed practice effect.

Learned material requires less energy and allows you to think about and learn even more complex material.

Learning Requirements 🫵

• Nutrition · Hydration · Sleep · Exercise
• Brain uses 25–30% of body’s energy — from glucose.

Learning refers to information that’s available @ a later time from distributed practice over time e.g., learn music scales in the beginning bc that knowledge and skill transfers later — transferrence.

New material is harder to learn because of a lack prior (similar or foundational) knowledge — connections fill in the knowledge gaps.

Do the work === Do the learning (17).

Transference of information learning — from hippocampus (fast learning low capacity short term memory) to neo/pref-frontal cortex — hard drive — slower learning but higher capacity occurs during sleep.

Motor skills and newer info/cocab occurs earlier in sleep — slow wave NREM deep sleep and bodily repair.

Later REM sleep can consolidate, make new connections memories and new insights — clears hippocampus for next days learning - wring out the sponge.

In REM sleep memories are consolidated not interrupted like during the day. You must want to remember to retain info!

Sleep Affects 3 Stages Of Memory Processing (27) 🫵

• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval

Stages of Sleep 🫵

• N1 transitions: Non-REM first 5 min easily awakened
• N2: Light sleep 10–25 min
• N3: Deep sleep groggy if awakened, after 70–90 min, dreams

Naps 🫵

• Have breaks between classes — eyes closed quiet focus
• 8 hours after waking up for 90 min or …
• Less than 20 min is OK as you don't enter deep sleep.
• Sleep is part of glymphatic brain waste removal.

Read book or review new material before bed as screen blue light reduces melatonin — 20 minutes and set next day's todo list.

Learning & Movement 🫵

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein in nerve cells when active — fertiliser for brain cells and growing new neurons — make learning easier.

Exercise enhances production of learning neurochemicals — serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine — the basis of productivity (57) — restore brain function in ageing.

Gym it 4 hours after learning something new to enhance memory!

Learning is Multi-Sensory 🫵

• Annotate readings eg pen adds dimension.
• Pattern recognition C E G, C E G
• Translating into your own words; demonstrating understanding …
• ie., if you can't translate you don't understand.
• Smell, patterns, images, focus maps, annotations help.

Brains Seek Patterns 🫵

• Phone numbers, chess etc.
• Combine new info with what's already known.

Each time learning new material, we first try to assimilate (find existing patterns) or accommodate (create new).

Chunking makes use of patterns — combining bits of info into wholes — it's how we recognise/group letters into words (patterns).

When Learning 🫵

• Consider similarities/patterns to what you already know.
• Figure-ground — visually (i.e., most important) seek focal point.
• Proximity and cause-effect.
• Recoding — put into own words.
• Use egs., if you don't understand to save time — get through more.
• Scan for patterns first.
• Read Introduction last.
• Use TOCs, headings, first sentences etc., doesn't have to be start-finish.

Distributed Learning & Practice 🫵

• Repetition is key
• Memory consolidation — new proteins strengthen memories during sleep
• Brain waves store new info in neo-cortex when sleeping
• Practice to make them long-term
• Move from hippocampus to pre-frontal cortex — hard drive
• Sleep tf assists pres and post learning

Final two hours of sleep 5-7 or 6-8 etc., are crucial — REM sleep repeats things from during the day.

Sleep spindles clear space/pathways for new learning via electrical impulses.

Learning Behaviours 🫵

• Exciting material is more interesting — remember the KO
• Think about new info in detail — senses/emotional context
• Neural pathways to take in and store are the same ie., pay attention
• Replicate environment where you learnt eg., study in exam room
• Read chapter summaries first
• Break between different subjects
• Break after learning new material, to process

Over learning cements in memory but too much can block different topics tf have breaks.

Distributed Practice 🫵

• Long term memory
• Daily review for even short periods
• Say it out loud to cocentrate/write

Improvement 🫵

• Back to back classes makes learning different topics harder so breaks!
• Exercise is good for short-term memory
• Better after learning for later recall
• Saying/thinking it's boring makes harder
• Elaboration gives more impact — sing/notes
• Flash cards, self quizzes, concept maps (connections/relationships)
• Elaboration has greater impact — rewrite/recode into own words
• Make it emotional/personal — connect to other memories

More sensory pathways/personal connections (sight/sound/location etc.,) equals more memory pathways.

Sport 🫵

In sport, mastory of basics frees brain up for more complex movements.

View of field of play needs even distribution so defences overload one side.

Success 🫵

• Mastery of basics automates tf overcomes pressure moments.
• Effort and practice make expertise.
• Self regulate your learning.
• Learn in harmony with your brain.
• Learning comes via effort & strategies not intelligence.
• Review strategies that led to failure — focus on how to improve.
• Practice until you can't get it wrong ie., overlearn.
• Read pre-performance routines of masters.
• Practice is perfection over time.
• Memory recall improves each time it's accessed.
• Sleep, water, food, energy, exercise are the basics of physical life.

Attention! 🫵

• Learning requires effort.
• Multitasking is task shifting which damages alertness and fatigues.
• Multitasking is really just managing priorities.
• To be effective …
• Write out what you want to achieve for each session.
• Break things up into 25 minute slots.
• When starting, knowing something about a subject assists concentration.

NB: The latest 3^rd Ed., introduces new aspects of brain function and how they impact learning and addresses challenges with online learning.

• ↜ Previous: How to Do 🤸‍♀️ Things
• ↝ Next: Darkness & Despair for Mother 🇷🇺 Russia