Neuroplasticity

Black and white photograph of a network of cubes

Discuss your understanding about neuroplasticity and growth mindset and how they influence your learning

The topic of neuroplasticity is a fascinating one. One of the most engaging and informative sources on this topic that I have found is Dr. Andrew Huberman, a Stanford University Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology and the Laboratory Director at Stanford's Huberman Lab. In the two videos below Dr. Huberman discusses neuroplasticity and learning.

Neuroplasticity is how our brain (and nervous system) learns and acquires new capabilities. It is our brain and nervous system's ability to change itself. For example:

Understanding the principles of neuroplasticity can benefit people by helping them learn better. According to Dr. Huberman, awareness of this is especially important after the age of about 25.

Dr. Huberman explains that early in development your nervous system is connected very broadly in ways that make it hard to do anything well. From birth until about age 25, those connections get refined, mainly through the removal of connections that don't serve us, and through the incredible strengthening of connections that relate to either powerful experiences or that allow us to do things like walk and talk and do math, etc.

Under 25s can learn through almost passive experience – they don't need to focus much to learn new things. They go from no language to being able to speak many words and sentences including words they've never heard before. The regions of the brain involved in speech and languages are primed to learn and create new combinations.

After age 25, if we want to change these connections, we have to engage in some very specific processes, which are gated, meaning you can't just decide to change your brain. You actually have to go through a series of steps to change your internal state in ways that will allow you to change your brain.

In under 25s, there is a lot of space between the neurons and chemicals "sloshing around" that make it more plastic. Whereas over 25, the extra-cellular space is filled up by the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) and the glial cells, like pouring concrete between rocks, making change in connections harder.

For over 25s, the first step in neural plasticity is recognising that you want to change something. You have to be deliberate and know exactly what it is that YouTube want to change or at least know that you want to change something about some specific experience. You should call it to your consciousness. Be it a cognitive, emotional or motor skill, first recognise what that thing is. The brain has self-recognition mechanisms – they are neurochemicals. Neurochemicals stamp down particular behaviours and thoughts and emotional patterns and tell the rest of the nervous system, this is something to pay attention to because this is in the direction of the change that I want to make. There are specific chemicals that when we are consciously aware of a change we want to make. The trigger for plasticity occurs during high focus, high alertness states (both alertness and focus are required for the right neurochemcials).

The videos are long, but the content is fascinating and worth a watch.

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset is the work of Dr. Carol Dweck. It compares fixed mindsets to growth mindsets. A fixed mindset is the belief that you are born with your abilities and a growth mindset is the belief that you can learn any abilities through effort.

There is some debate about Dr. Dweck's research and its critics say it can be difficult to replicate. Regardless, it seems to stand as common sense that a growth mindset will be better for learning. This is because if I have no confidence in my ability to improve, I won't try hard, and as a consequence, I won't rise to the full level of my potential (whether that potential is fixed or not).

The resource on this topic that I found most interesting was the original book by Carol Dweck Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, which I read some years ago.