Neuroplasticity II Flashcards
In terms of neuroplasticity, what is a “critical period”?
After early neural development, where the basic structure of the brain is established, the neuronal clusters and their connections need to be refined. This happens for different functions in different post-natal periods, which we call critical periods (Knudsen, 2004). A critical period is a timeframe in which a certain part or network in the brain is more sensitive to adapt in response to a specific type of outside stimuli.
What is “experience-based neuroplasticity”?
Once the basic structure of the brain (neuronal clusters and their connections) is established, this is refined through experiences. Neuroplasticity is most present during early development, but it continues through life. Any learning we do as adults is a result of neuroplasticity. When we learn a new task the brain changes and brain regions that are important for that skill enlarge in size (Draganski et al., 2004).
What are some tips for improving neuroplasticity?
- Make sure you sleep and eat healthily
- Before you start your work, or maybe before you start something that you know will be cognitively challenging, do a session of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. This will allow you to optimally focus and prep your brain to learn and solidify new information
- To keep your brain active, find a new activity that activates your motor, mental and social systems, all at the same time (think of a group or team exercise or playing an instrument in a band). As a bonus – this should be fun, which helps with habit formation as well as neuroplasticity through activating the dopaminergic systems.
- Improve your emotional regulation to decrease stress and manage stressful experiences. In the emotional intelligence module, we discussed mindfulness, which is a great way to do this. Meditation has been shown to result in lasting structural changes in the brain (Tang, Lu, Fan, Yang, & Posner, 2012).
- Finally, stay curious and active throughout life, set (and work towards) goals that challenge you and maintain a growth mindset: we are never too old to learn something new or to achieve our dreams.
How do experts practice?
Deliberate practice gives the biggest improvement in neuroplasticity.
- They set a goal.
- They stretch themselves.
- They focus on achieving their goal.
- They seek feedback.
- They do it all over again, and again, and again.
- They set a new stretch goal.
What are the four elements of FEEDing your brain?
Focus, Effort, Effortlessness, Decide.
Pay attention to the current moment, make a deliberate effort to change/improve your behaviour, keep doing this until it becomes subconscious, decide to stay in practice.
What is “mental practice”?
Interestingly, mental imagery or mental practice can lead to both physical as well as neural improvements as well (Avanzino et al., 2015).
Bringing forth mental images and observing the desired action activates some of the same brain regions as that physically performing the movements does. It is as if we internally replicate the motion in our brain (Clark, Tremblay, & Ste-Marie, 2004).
This process also activates similar neuroplasticity pathways that lead to, for example, long-term potentiation (the strengthening of the involved synapses)(Avanzino et al., 2015).
Many professional athletes and musicians use imagery to prepare for optimal execution during
competition or performance
How does deliberate practice differ from flow?
- Deliberate practice is carefully planned. Flow is spontaneous.
- Deliberate practice requires working where challenges exceed skill. Flow is most experienced when challenge and skill are in balance.
- Deliberate practice is effortful. Flow is effortless.
- Deliberate practise is a behaviour. Deliberate practice is what experts do. Flow is an experience. Flow is what experts feel.
- Deliberate practice is about negative feedback – what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Flow is about positive feedback – because the level of challenge is exactly right for your current skill level, you notice that everything feels right.
- Deliberate practice is needed to improve your skills. Deliberate practice is a problem-solving mode, trying to get you closer to your goal. Flow is not about improving. Flow is not about problem-solving, it is about doing something you are good at.
Why is it important to fail/make mistakes while learning?
In our learning, we are often very mistake-averse. This is because engaging with mistakes is difficult. But this difficulty can be desirable for learning (Metcalfe, 2017). We can make learning and training more challenging by allowing false starts and errors. If we follow this up with feedback, discussion, and correction, the evidence suggests that this may ultimately lead to a
better and more fl exible transfer of skills.
The discussion on deliberate practice emphasises feedback. This is because when we make mistakes, corrective feedback is crucial. It is not enough to simply know whether we are right or wrong. We need to appreciate what went wrong, what should have happened and why. When such feedback is given, mistakes have been shown to improve performance (Metcalfe, 2017).
