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Growth Mindset Article

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13 views

Growth Mindset Article

Uploaded by

Claudio Cappello
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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You Can Grow Your Brain

New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle

Many people think of the brain as a mystery. We don’t often think about what
intelligence is or how it works. And when you do think about what
intelligence is, you might think that a person is born either smart, average, or
dumb—either a “math person” or not—and stays that way for life.

But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle—it changes and
gets stronger when you use it. Scientists have been able to show just how the
brain grows and gets stronger when you
learn.

Everyone knows that when you lift weights,


your muscles get bigger and you get stronger.
A person who can’t lift 20 pounds when they
start exercising can get strong enough to lift
100 pounds after working out for a long time.
That’s because muscles become larger and stronger with exercise. And when
you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That’s why
people say “Use it or lose it!”

But most people don’t know that when they practice and learn new things,
parts of their brain change and get larger, a lot like the muscles do. This is
true even for adults. So it’s not true that some people are stuck being “not
smart” or “not math people.” You can improve your abilities a lot, as long as
you practice and use good strategies.

Inside the outside layer of the brain—called the


cortex—are billions of tiny nerve cells, called
neurons. The nerve cells have branches
connecting them to other cells in a complicated
network. Communication between these brain
cells is what allows us to think and solve problems.

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When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually
multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the
more your brain cells grow.

Then, things that you once found very hard


or even impossible to do—like speaking a
foreign language or doing algebra—
become easier. The result is a stronger,
smarter brain.

How Do We Know That The Brain Can Grow Stronger?


Scientists started thinking the human brain could develop and change when
they studied adult animals’ brains. They found that animals who lived in a
challenging environment, with other animals and toys to play with, were
different from animals who lived alone in bare cages.

While the animals who lived alone just ate and slept all the time, the ones who
lived with different toys and other animals were always active. They spent a
lot of time figuring out how to use the toys and how to get along with other
animals.

These animals had more connections between the


nerve cells in their brains. The connections were
bigger and stronger, too. In fact, their whole
brains were about 10% heavier than the brains of
the animals who lived alone without toys.

The adult animals who were exercising their


brains by playing with toys and each other were
also “smarter” –they were better at solving
problems and learning new things.

Can Adults Grow Their Brains?


Scientists have recently shown that adults can grow the parts of their brains
that control their abilities—like the ability to do math or even to juggle.

In one study, scientists found a group of adults who were not jugglers. They
taught half how to practice juggling in the right way. These people practiced

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for a long time and got much better at juggling. The other half didn’t practice,
and didn’t get better.

Next, the scientists used a brain scanner to compare the brains of the two
groups of people. They found that the people who learned how to juggle
actually grew the parts of their brains that control juggling skills—the visual
and motor areas. Their brains had changed, so they actually had more ability.

This was surprising because these people


said before the study that they couldn’t
juggle—just like some people say they’re
“not good at math.” But when they learned
good strategies for practicing and kept
trying, they actually learned and grew
their brains. In Yellow: Parts of the brain that
grew when adults learned to
This can happen because learning causes juggle
permanent changes in the brain. The doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002669.g001

jugglers’ brain cells get larger and grow


new connections between them. These new, stronger connections make the
juggler’s brain stronger and smarter, just like a weightlifter’s toned muscles.

A Formula For Growing Your “Math Brain”:


Effort + Good Strategies + Help From Others

Scientists have also found that learning to juggle is a lot like getting better at
math. When people learn and practice new ways of doing algebra or statistics,
it can grow their brains—even if they haven’t done well in math in the past.

Strengthening the “math” part of your brains usually happens when you try
hard on challenging math problems. But it’s not just about effort. You also
need to learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way.

If you use a bad strategy, you may not learn—even if you try hard. A few
people study for math by doing the same set of easy problems and skipping
the hard ones, or just re-reading the textbook, because it feels easier. Yet
when it comes time to do the test, they don’t do well because they didn’t work
on problems that stretched their brains and taught them new things. When
this happens, they may even say “I’m just not smart at math.”

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But the truth is that everyone can become smarter at math if they practice in
the right way. If a weight lifter watched other people exercise all day long, he
wouldn’t get any stronger. And if someone tried to learn how to juggle by just
reading a book about juggling, they wouldn’t learn. You actually have to
practice the right way—and usually that means the hard way—to get better at
something. In fact, scientists have found that the brain grows more when you
learn something new, and less when you practice things you already know.

This means that it’s not just how much time and effort you put in to studying
math, but whether, when you study, you learn something new and hard. To
do that, you usually need to use the right strategies. People often learn those
good strategies from others, like teachers or students who do well. Luckily,
strategies are easy to learn if you get help.

The Truth About “Smart” and “Dumb”

People aren’t “smart” or “dumb” at math. At first, no one can read or solve
equations. But with practice, they can learn to do it. And the more a person
learns, the easier it gets to learn new things—because their brain “muscles”
have gotten stronger.

This is true even for adults who have struggled for a long time to learn
something. Dr. Wittenberg, a scientist from Wake Forest University, said “We
used to think adults can’t form new brain connections, but now we know that
isn’t true… The adult brain is like a muscle, and we need to exercise it.”

People who don’t know this can miss out on the chance to grow a stronger
brain. They may think they can’t do it, or that it’s too hard. It does take work
to learn, just like becoming stronger physically or becoming a better juggler
does. Sometimes it even hurts! But when you feel yourself get better and
stronger, you realize that all the work is worth it!

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References:

A similar version of this article was written by Lisa Blackwell and can be downloaded

from: www.brainology.us/websitemedia/youcangrowyourintelligence.pdf

Blackwell, L. A., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Theories of intelligence

and achievement across the junior high school transition: A longitudinal study and

an intervention. Child Development, 78, 246-263.

Driemeyer, J., Boyke, J., Gaser, C., Buchel, C., May, A. (2008). Changes in Gray Matter

Induced by Learning—Revisited. PLoS One, 3, e2669.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002669.

Nordqvist, C. (2004, Feb 1). “Juggling makes your brain bigger – New Study.” Retrieved

from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/5615.php

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