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I’ve been involved in developing behavioral assessments for about 20 years now, and my research has taught me a great deal about how the brain works and how learning actually happens, physically, in the brain. In many ways, the human brain is similar to a computer. Think of the brain as the hardware, in which millions of neurons, or brain cells, are interconnected in a complex way, like the wiring on a computer chip. Data enters the brain, where it may be stored and accessed. Short-term memory is similar to RAM, and long-term memory is similar to a computer’s hard drive. You can program your brain to process data, and, like a computer, the better the data and the better the programs, the more useful the output. But that’s where the similarity ends. The “wiring” of the brain consists of human tissue: instead of a motherboard and microchips, the brain is an unimaginably complex network of neurons, or brain cells. And the “charge” that flows through these neurons is chemical, not electrical. When the brain learns a skill or behavior pattern, physical growth of the involved brain cells takes place. Repeated behavior stimulates tiny filaments on the end of the brain cells, called dendrites, to physically grow until they reach and connect with other neurons. This process takes time, but in the end it creates a series of neurons connected together—a neural pathway. This new pathway is a real, physical thing in the brain. The purpose of the pathway is to execute a particular behavior pattern efficiently. This pattern could be any behavior pattern: a way of analyzing information, a way of learning, a way of solving problems, a way of communicating, a way of relating to others, a way of responding, or a skill. This physical connecting of a neural pathway in the brain is what happens in skill development. Once again, what stimulates the growth is repeated behavior. Repetition of the behavior drives the continued physical growth of the dendrites until the connections are made. Eventually, the new neural pathway is in place. All the neurons involved in executing the desired behavior are linked and functioning efficiently. Instead of having to concentrate and force diverse areas of the brain to make the behavior happen, the new neural pathway becomes a shortcut, a kind of superhighway in the brain that activates the specialized neurons involved in the skill. Before, at the beginning of the learning process, performing the skill felt awkward, difficult and frustrating. But now, after the neural pathway has been physically connected in the brain, the behavior pattern is second nature, easy and automatic. At this point it can be said that the skill has been learned. The skill is not only easy now, it’s permanently imbedded in the neurons. Once a series of neurons is physically connected, the neurons don’t disconnect. That’s why sometimes can’t get a song out of your head. That’s why once you learn to ride a bicycle, the ability always quickly comes back to you, no matter how long it’s been since you’ve done it. Unlike a computer, the brain doesn’t have a delete key.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
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