Growing brain- The formation of brain cells
Formation of the brain begins as early as 3 weeks after conception, which means the growth of the brain is a continuous process. Almost all the neurons that a person’s brain ever has would be present at the time of birth. As the infant grows, the brain continues to grow a couple of years. By the age of 2, the brain is almost 80% of the size of the adult’s brain. A child’s brain is most impressionable, which means open to learning when compared to an adult’s brain.
Developing brain- Skills and knowledge
If the brain had to grow as we learn everyday, then the topmost scientists would have an enormously huge brain. That’s definitely not possible. When we refer to the growth of the brain beyond the initial years after birth, then we mean the development of the brain in terms of acquiring more knowledge and not growing in size every day.
Learning impacts brain development
Of Course learning has an impact on the development of the brain. Learning is an experience and the brain is activity dependent. The brain is connected by neural circuits which functions amazingly. Every experience excites certain circuits in the brain, leading to the strengthening of those areas. Also the circuits that are not frequently excited wears off in a course of time, which is identified as pruning. Learning impacts the development of the brain in terms of building the knowledge database.
Increased connectivity among neurons
There are different pathways of neurons for different activities. There are also multiple pathways, for example, frequent and stronger thoughts. This increased connectivity among the neurons helps a person to be agile mentally even during old age. There are various studies talking about the stronger and weaker connections of the neurons in the brain. The underlying fact is that increased connectivity among the neurons with greater pathways, is always better.
Brain at work while we sleep
It is a fact that the brain does not stop working while we sleep. The brain works actively while we sleep. The primary activities being the storage of memory and information gathered from the previous day. This justifies why a person with a poor night’s sleep the day before examination could do poorly during examination. It hurts the ability to remember new things.
Intelligence vs Brain Size
The size of the human brain is not a measure of intelligence. The learning which helps in the development of the brain also helps a person to be intelligent. Animals like elephants and whales tend to have bigger brains as they have to command a huge body. That does not mean the animals are more intelligent than humans.
Learning can increase your knowledge and not the size of your brain in reality. Be active always and do involve yourself in varied activities to keep your brain connections active. Activity dependent human brains need more excited neurons. Fire them and wire them appropriately!