The Humnn Mind Is Amazing. If You Can Read This

Abstract

Imagine that you could brand yourself smarter simply past playing games. Wouldn't that be awesome? You spend a few hours at the computer every calendar week, and yous will be able to concentrate better, acquire faster, and think more. Your grades volition skyrocket, yous will finish school without any problem, and life will be perfect. Wouldn't it? If you search the internet, information technology is not difficult to find games and apps challenge to boost your brain, allowing you to employ its full potential. In this article, nosotros will hash out the science behind these so-called encephalon-training games. We volition argue that, in theory, it should be possible to make yourself smarter. However, the evidence that brain grooming will assistance you exercise so is mixed, at best. We volition speculate almost the side by side-generation brain-preparation programs and hash out alternatives for improving your thinking skills. Why not simply read a book?

Many kids dream of beingness smarter or more artistic. If you lot search the internet, you volition notice games and programs challenge to help you with just that: boosting your brainpower. Simply is it really possible to make your brain work ameliorate? And are these so-chosen brain-preparation games worth your valuable fourth dimension? After reading this commodity, you tin can decide for yourself!

Your Flexible Encephalon

Have you always thought well-nigh why some children excel in sports, whereas others are ameliorate at playing the guitar or performing mathematics calculations? Can you arraign your genes for not existence able to concentrate, or should you only try harder? For many years, scientists have tried to find out which parts of our talents and abilities are determined by our genes and which parts are influenced by the environment. Information technology turns out that at that place is no simple answer to this question, considering genes and the environment ever work together [1]. Although your genes may influence the upper limits of your performance and your chapters to learn, your environment determines how your abilities really develop. Thus, at that place is some built-in flexibility in the manner your brain develops. This helps yous to adjust to the environment that yous grow upward in. To explicate this idea, we would similar to introduce (fictional) John and Ron (Figure ane). John and Ron are identical twins, which means that they share 100% of their genes. Let us imagine that, for some reason, John and Ron are separated correct after birth and raised in separate families. John grows up in a very athletic family, whereas Ron grows up in a family unit that is addicted of reading and writing. Information technology turns out that, although John and Ron have the same "runner" and "writer" genes, their different family environments influence the way their abilities develop. Whereas, John grows up to be an avid runner, Ron becomes a writer when he is older.

• Figure one - Development is influenced by genes and the environment.
• (A) Imagine two boys, John and Ron. They are identical twins, which means that they have the exact same genes. For some reason, John and Ron abound upward in different families. John'southward family members are all avid soccer players and like to get for runs on the weekends. Ron's family unit members love to stay inside to read and write stories. When John and Ron are twelve, they meet each other. (B,C) Although they are amazed past some of their similarities, they also find that they accept some significant differences. John is a sports enthusiast, who plays soccer and is the best runner in his class. Ron loves to read and write and takes keen pride in getting good grades in schoolhouse. Thus, although John and Ron have the same genes, their environments determined to what extent their talents were expressed.

But what almost beingness smart or talented in school? Research has shown that excelling in school has a lot to exercise with what are called executive functions [two]. Executive functions are a set of abilities that aid you practise complex tasks, such as planning your schoolwork, completing assignments, and having control over your emotions and frustrations. One of the most important executive functions is called working memory . Working memory allows yous to agree data in mind and perform mental operations, for example, adding large numbers in your mind (Figure 2A). Another important executive role is inhibition , which helps you lot to resist distractions and temptations, for example, the temptation to eat the entire jar of cookies (Effigy 2B). A tertiary executive function is cognitive flexibility , which helps you to quickly shift your attention back and forth between different tasks, similar switching back and forth between your homework and your YouTube feed (Figure 2C). To measure executive functions, researchers have designed a number of games that can be played on the computer (Figures 2D–F). It turns out that children who do better at these games also practise better at school. Moreover, poorer executive functions have been associated with undesirable conditions, such equally mental health problems, obesity, and social issues [2]. Y'all might think that executive functions are hardwired in your brain, merely that is not entirely true. Just like any other power, executive functions are influenced by your genes and by your environment. That is good news, because it means that you lot have at least some control over the development of these functions. Childhood might even be the best time for boosting your brainpower. The aforementioned way that it is easier to shape a developing tree compared to a full-grown tree (Figure 3), it might be easier to train a developing brain than an developed brain [1, 3]. Finally, it is important to note that although children's brains are more malleable than mature brains, children might non be as efficient and strategic when processing new information. This may hamper training effects a picayune bit.

• Effigy ii - Executive functions and associated encephalon-grooming games.
• (A–C) Everyday activities that crave executive functions: working retentivity, when you are adding large numbers in your mind; inhibition, when you are trying non to consume too many cookies; and cerebral flexibility, when you shift your attending between your homework and your YouTube feed. Games are frequently used to exam and to train these executive functions. (D) In this working memory game, you have to hold several messages in mind and put them in alphabetical gild. (Eastward) In this inhibition game, you have to indicate the management that the middle fish swims, and ignore the fish swimming in the opposite direction. (F) In this cognitive flexibility game, you get back and forth betwixt a task where yous have to indicate the shape of the big figure (rectangle), and some other task where you have to indicate the shape of the small figures (squares).

• Figure 3 - Pruning a developing tree is easier than pruning a total-grown tree.
• Researchers have argued that children accept a greater capacity for learning and adapting to environmental circumstances than adults practice, because children'southward brains are still in development. In other words, the same style that it is easier to clip a developing tree compared to a full-grown tree, it might be easier to train a developing brain than an adult brain.

Training Your Brain

The internet is full of tips and tricks for optimizing your brain part, and numerous self-help books take been written about this topic. The advice includes getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and exercising. Just there is as well something called brain training. According to the companies that offering such training, you can "train your brain in minutes a day," and users report impressive changes, ranging from improving their concentration to getting better at bowling [4]. Brain training unremarkably refers to practicing the brain'due south executive functions. By performing complex mental tasks, your brain is working very difficult, hence the name brain training. Moreover, research has shown that the encephalon changes with training [3], however, this is less impressive than information technology may seem. Everything y'all exercise makes small changes in your brain, whether it is walking your dog, meeting friends, or reading this article. Thus, encephalon training is a footling bit of a misnomer. A more authentic proper name would be grooming of executive functions.

Just does brain training piece of work? Considering executive functions are closely related to intelligence, schoolhouse operation, and all sorts of other real-life outcomes, researchers have suggested that games that railroad train the encephalon's executive functions might besides lead to improvements in all these domains. In other words, because the everyday activities shown in Figures 2A–C require the same brain abilities as the games depicted in Figures 2d–F, you might improve in the everyday activities after grooming with the games. This is what researchers telephone call transfer . Over the past 20 or so years, numerous scientific studies have been conducted to test whether transfer actually happens [4]. Results indicate that brain-training programs oft improve performance on the tasks that are being trained. In other words, participants who practice reordering letters in working memory get improve at reordering letters in working retention. There is too expert prove that participants get better at closely related tasks, for example, reordering digits in working memory. However, based on current evidence, we cannot yet conclude that encephalon training improves more than singled-out tasks, such as performance on math or reading assignments [4]. Thus, although you might improve tremendously on the games that you are using for training, this does not necessarily mean that you lot volition notice whatsoever improvement in your daily life. Information technology is often the instance that the skills that you lot have learned utilize only to the specific games that you were playing. To accept more far-reaching effects, the next generation of brain-preparation programs might include a greater diversity of activities, integrated into real-life situations. For case, activities to railroad train your executive functions could be incorporated in complex video games or into school subjects.

Your Encephalon on Books

We know that the things you do every day help shape your brain, and we also know that information technology should be possible to railroad train your brain. Still, researchers are all the same trying to find the best ways to railroad train the brain. Would yous be willing to spend your valuable time on a brain-grooming plan that might not have substantial furnishings? Or would you rather spend your time doing something fun, like playing sports or reading books? Interestingly, research has shown that physical activity is not only good for your body, but also for your encephalon. The effects of regular physical activity might even be more important for school performance than the effects of a brain-training program. Similarly, reading books appears to have more general effects on your thinking skills. Research suggests that regular reading helps brand yous smarter by building your vocabulary and increasing your background knowledge [v]. The absurd thing is that, with every new memory you create, new connections are congenital in your brain and existing connections are strengthened. The more than knowledge you take, the easier it becomes to larn even more than [5]!

Moreover, reading books might even train your thinking skills. Take y'all e'er noticed how the rest of the world seems to disappear when y'all are captivated in a story? This is possible considering your brain is difficult at work. When you read a book, you need to keep rail of dissimilar characters, their backgrounds, goals, and details about their personalities and behavior. Moreover, yous oft demand to read between the lines to understand what a book is almost. To practise these things, y'all utilize both your background knowledge and your executive functions. Without background cognition you would non understand the words that are used, and without your executive functions y'all could never create a full story in your listen. Research has shown that children get improve at these skills the more they read. Finally, likewise increasing your memory and comprehension abilities, reading might aid y'all to take the perspective of and understand with different characters, which is as well an important skill for real life [vi].

Conclusion

Even though your developing brain is super flexible, and it should exist possible to make yourself smarter, the bear witness that brain training will help you do so is mixed at best. Future brain-training programs will probably include multiple activities that are integrated into real-life situations. But do not look for new programs! If you lot want to exercise something today to optimize your encephalon functions, stay active, consume healthy foods, get enough sleep, and keep on learning new things by doing lots of reading. Congratulations, you lot are doing information technology right now!

Glossary

Executive Functions: ↑ Brain abilities that help you command your thoughts and behavior. Executive functions are also called cerebral control by some researchers.

Working Memory: ↑ The ability to hold information in mind for a short time, so you can piece of work with it.

Inhibition: ↑ The ability to resist distractions and temptations.

Cognitive Flexibility: ↑ The ability to switch back and forth between different tasks.

Transfer: ↑ Using skills that you lot learned in one situation to improve your performance in a dissimilar situation.

Disharmonize of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of whatever commercial or financial relationships that could exist construed equally a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Jacobs Foundation (DJ). We would similar to give thanks those who assisted in the translation of the articles in this Collection to brand them more accessible to kids exterior English-speaking countries, and for the Jacobs Foundation for providing the funds necessary to translate the articles. For this article, translation to Dutch was provided past the authors themselves.

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References

[i] ↑ Stiles, J. 2008. The Fundamentals of Brain Development: Integrating Nature and Nurture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[2] ↑ Diamond, A. 2013. Executive functions. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64:135–68. doi: ten.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750

[3] ↑ Jolles, D., and Crone, E. A. 2012. Training the developing brain: a neurocognitive perspective. Front. Hum. Neurosci. (2012) 6:76. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00076

[4] ↑ Simons, D. J., Boot, Due west. R., Charness, N., Gathercole, Southward. E., Chabris, C. F., Hambrick, D. Z., et al. 2016. Practice "encephalon-grooming" programs work? Psychol. Sci. Public Interest 17:103–86. doi: 10.1177/1529100616661983

[5] ↑ Cain, K., and Oakhill, J. 2011. Matthew effects in young readers: reading comprehension and reading experience aid vocabulary development. J. Learn. Disabil. 44:431–43. doi: 10.1177/0022219411410042

[vi] ↑ Kidd, D. C., and Castano, E. 2013. Reading literacy fiction improves theory of listen. Scientific discipline 342:377–80. doi: 10.1126/science.1239918

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Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/504843

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