Brains by aqila asmi

KEMAHIRAN BERFIKIR FCE 3204

NAME: NUR AQILA BT. ASMI TITLE: How the brain works and how its help in study LECTURER’S NAME: DR. HABIBAH JALIL

Table of content

Pages

1. Introduction………………………..………………………….3 i.

The brain‟s infinite capacity…………………………3-4

ii.

Foundation of brains works in Quran………………4-5

2. Neuron Structure……………………………………………..5 i.

Basic Neuron Types………………………………….6

3. Brain Parts…………………………………………………….7 4. Brains for Instinct……………………………………………..8 5. Lower Brain……………………………………………………9 6. Balancing Act………………………………………………….10 7. Higher Brains………………………………………………….10 8. Major Parts of the Cerebral Cortex………………………….10 9. Hard-wired……………………………………………………..11 i.

Parietal lobe…………………………………………...11

ii.

Frontal lobe…………………………………………….11

iii.

Occipital lobe…………………………………………..12

iv.

Temporal lobe………………………………………….12

10. Water on the Brain…………………………………………….13 11. How does brains helps in studies. …………………………..13-14 12. Neuro-connections determine your intelligence……………14-15 13. The Thinking Brain and the Reactive Brain…………………15 i.

RAS:The Gatekeeper…………………………………..16

ii.

The Limbic System: Your Emotional Core…………...17 a)

The Amygdala………………………………18

iii.

The Hippocampus……………………….……………..19

iv.

Dopamine: Feeling Good Helps You Learn…………20

14. Summary ………………………………….…………………….21

Introduction Brain is the most beautiful and magical creation. All species in kingdom animalia has brain to enable them controlled their body for the living. Brain has very special way on how it works. The brain performs an incredible number of tasks including the following: • • • •

It controls body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. It accepts a flood of information about the world around you from your various senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching). It handles your physical movement when walking, talking, standing or sitting. It lets you think, dream, reason and experience emotions.

All of these tasks are coordinated, controlled and regulated by an organ that is about the size of a small head of cauliflower. The specialty of brains triggered the studies on brain or known a neuroscience which started centuries ago. The brain’s infinite capacity To understand how powerful our brain truly is, we need to explore some of the findings researchers have made about the brain. From history that has been stated, the scientific research on "globules" and neurons is evidence of neuroscience practice since ancient Egyptian mummifications to 18th century. In mummification, the brain was removed and the heart was seated as the ancient believe heart is the key of intelligence. But in time, the believe was proved wrong. In the 18th century, the role of electricity in nerves was discovered by Luigini Galvani trough dissection of frog. After that, Richard Caton have found about an electrical phenomena of cerebral hemispheres of rabbits and monkeys in 1875. Years after that the development of brain studies becomes skyrocketing after the invention of the microscope and also the uses of silver chromate salt which reveal the structures of single neutron. As the studied was continue, in late 19th century another achievement yet interesting on brain studies was the neurons were electrically excitable and that their activity predictably affected the electrical state of adjacent neurons. 3

In 20th century, the brain studied was become an academic disciplines in its own right. After the works, experiments and discoveries in centuries ago, now we know basically how our brain works. The studies of the neuroscience is the outrages and very fascinating as we use our brain to study it and at the same time we practicing with our brain. Overall findings, now we know that our brain is made of billions of brain cells called neurons. Although extremely tiny, a single neuron has the processing power that is equivalent to a personal computer. The storage capacity of one neuron is also extremely huge as each cell contains our entire genetic blueprint necessary to recreate another human being just like us! We have an average one million million (1,000,000,000,000) neurons that make up our brain. In comparison, a honeybee that can build and maintain a honeycomb, calculate distances, collect nectar, produce honey, mate, care for its young and communicate to other bees has only 7000 neurons. This indicates that we have tremendous brain power comparison brain power by comparison. In fact, we have so many neurons that even if you have a couple of million less than another person, it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x;t make a difference at all. Foundation of brains works in Quran I would like to add an evidence about brains in the holy Quran. Researcher of holy Quran found that the explanation of scientist about neuroscience somehow have some missing dots. They questioning about if the neuron works fixed connection, why brains does not overheated? Imagine in our brain we have 100 trillion connection and in one second brains will receive and process billions of signal, why there ever happens to have short-circuit? And also why animals canâ&#x20AC;&#x;t think like human even though they have same functional brain as ours? There was theory from Quran 51:1-4 stated that brains working like wireless engine. "Az-zariyat" means stimulate waves for scanning active neuron. During scanning, all the datas will be collected by "zarwa" and stored at "Al-Hamilat". Al-hamilat 4

act as saved data which it can play with the data that have been collected. Does this enable human to think, daydreaming etc. The difference between human and animal was that animal does not have this engine. Animal brain only can think in single flow, by using neuron and electrochemical. Animal brain doesn‟t has the scanner for collecting the data therefore they can‟t play with the save data in contras human brain can repeat the data such as an image. We can replay, rewind, stop or change the image. Because of that, animals brains works in impulsive way followed their instinct that had be programmed. They also can‟t think the impact and risk as they only followed their instinct. Now we have known about the history of brain. I would like to proceed by introducing parts of the brain. Neuron Structure Our brain is made of approximately 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons. Neurons have the amazing ability to gather and transmit electrochemical signals -- think of them like the gates and wires in a computer. Neurons share the same characteristics and have the same makeup as other cells, but the electrochemical aspect lets them transmit signals over long distances (up to several feet or a few meters) and send messages to each other. Neurons have three basic parts: •Cell body or soma. -

This main part has all of the necessary components of the cell, such as the nucleus (which contains DNA), endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes (for building proteins) and mitochondria (for making energy). If the cell body dies, the neuron dies.

â&#x20AC;˘Axon. -

This long, cablelike projection of the cell carries the electrochemical message (nerve impulse or action potential) along the length of the cell. Depending upon the type of neuron, axons can be covered with a thin layer of myelin sheath, like an insulated electrical wire. Myelin is made of fat and protein, and it helps to speed transmission of a nerve impulse down a long axon. Myelinated neurons are typically found in the peripheral nerves (sensory and motor neurons), while non-myelinated neurons are found in the brain and spinal cord.

â&#x20AC;˘Dendrites or nerve endings. -

These small, branchlike projections of the cell make connections to other cells and allow the neuron to talk with other cells or perceive the environment. Dendrites can be located on one or both ends of a cell.

Basic Neuron Types Neurons come in many sizes. For example, a single sensory neuron from your fingertip has an axon that extends the length of your arm, while neurons within the brain may extend only a few millimeters. They also have different shapes depending on their functions. Motor neurons that control muscle contractions have a cell body on one end, a long axon in the middle and dendrites on the other end. Sensory neurons have dendrites on both ends, connected by a long axon with a cell body in the middle. Interneurons, or associative neurons, carry information between motor and sensory neurons. These fundamental members of the nervous system also vary with respect to their functions. Sensory neurons -

Carry signals from the outer parts of your body (periphery) into the central nervous system.

Motor neurons (motoneurons) -

Carry signals from the central nervous system to the outer parts (muscles, skin, glands) of your body. 6

Interneurons -

Connect various neurons within the brain and spinal cord.

The simplest type of neural pathway is a monosynaptic (single connection) reflex pathway, like the knee-jerk reflex. When the doctor taps the right spot on your knee with a rubber hammer, receptors send a signal into the spinal cord through a sensory neuron. The sensory neuron passes the message to a motor neuron that controls your leg muscles. Nerve impulses travel down the motor neuron and stimulate the appropriate leg muscle to contract. The response is a muscular jerk that happens quickly and does not involve your brain. Humans have lots of hardwired reflexes like this, but as tasks become more complex, the pathway circuitry gets more complicated and the brain gets involved.

Brain Parts The simplest possible creatures have incredibly basic nervous systems made up of nothing but reflex pathways. For example, flatworms and invertebrates don't have centralized brains. They have loose associations of neurons arranged in straightforward reflex pathways. Flatworms have neural nets, or individual neurons linked together that form a net around the entire animal. Most invertebrates (such as the lobster) have modest "brains" that consist of localized collections of neuronal cell bodies called ganglia. Each ganglion controls sensory and motor functions in its segment through reflex pathways, and the ganglia are linked together to form a simple nervous system. As nervous systems evolved, chains of ganglia evolved into more centralized simple brains. Brains evolved from ganglia of invertebrates. Regardless of the animal, brains have the following parts:

•The brain stem -

Which consists of the medulla (an enlarged portion of the upper spinal cord), pons and midbrain (lower animals have only a medulla). The brain stem controls the reflexes and automatic functions (heart rate, blood pressure), limb movements and visceral functions (digestion, urination).

•The cerebellum -

Integrates information from the vestibular system that indicates position and movement and uses this data to coordinate limb movements.

•The hypothalamus and pituitary gland -

Are responsible for visceral functions, body temperature and behavioral responses such as feeding, drinking, sexual response, aggression and pleasure.

•The cerebrum (also called the cerebral cortex or just the cortex) -

Consists of the cortex, large fiber tracts (corpus callosum) and some deeper structures (basal ganglia, amygdala and hippocampus). It integrates info from all of the sense organs, initiates motor functions, controls emotions and holds memory and thought processes (emotional expression and thinking are more prevalent in higher mammals).

Brains for Instinct Lower animals, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds, don't do much "thinking," but instead concern themselves with the everyday business of gathering food, eating, drinking, sleeping, reproducing and defending themselves. These are instinctual processes [source: National Geographic]. Therefore, their brains are organized along the major centers that control these functions. We humans perform these functions as well, and so have a "reptilian" brain built into us. That means we have the same parts of the brain found in reptiles, namely the brain stem and the cerebellum

Lower Brain The basic lower brain consists of the spinal cord, brain stem and diencephalon (the cerebellum and cortex are also present, but will be discussed in later sections). In turn, the brain stem comprises the medulla, pons, midbrain, hypothalamus and thalamus [source: Health Pages]. Within each of these structures are centers of neuronal cell bodies, called nuclei, which are specialized for particular functions (breathing, heart-rate regulation, sleep): •Medulla -

The medulla contains nuclei for regulating blood pressure and breathing, as well as nuclei for relaying information from the sense organs that comes in from the cranial nerves. It's also the most ancient part of the brain.

•Pons -

The pons contains nuclei that relay movement and position information from the cerebellum to the cortex. It also contains nuclei that are involved in breathing, taste and sleep, and physically connects medulla to the midbrain.

•Midbrain -

The midbrain contains nuclei that link the various sections of the brain involved in motor functions (cerebellum, basal ganglia, cerebral cortex), eye movements and auditory control. One portion, called the substantia nigra, is involved in voluntary movements; when it does not function, you have the tremored movements of Parkinson's disease.

•Thalamus -

The thalamus relays incoming sensory pathways to appropriate areas of the cortex, determines which sensory information actually reaches consciousness and participates in motor-information exchange between the cerebellum, basal ganglia and cortex.

•Hypothalamus -

The hypothalamus contains nuclei that control hormonal secretions from the pituitary gland. These centers govern sexual reproduction, eating, drinking, growth, and maternal behavior such as lactation (milk-production in mammals). 9

The hypothalamus is also involved in almost all aspects of behavior, including your biological "clock," which is linked to the daily light-dark cycle (circadian rhythms). Balancing Act The cerebellum, also known as the "little brain" because it's folded into many lobes, lies above and behind the pons. As the second biggest area of the brain, it receives sensory input from the spinal cord, motor input from the cortex and basal ganglia, and position information from the vestibular system. The "little brain" then integrates this information and influences outgoing motor pathways from the brain to coordinate movements. To demonstrate this, reach out and touch a point in front of you, such as the computer monitor -- your hand makes one smooth motion. If your cerebellum were damaged, that same motion would be very jerky, as your cortex initiated a series of small muscle contractions to home in on the target point. The cerebellum may also be involved in language (fine muscle contractions of the lips and larynx), as well as other cognitive functions. Higher Brains The cerebrum is the largest part of the human brain. It contains all of the centers that receive and interpret sensory information, initiate movement, analyze information, reason and experience emotions. The centers for these tasks are located in different parts of the cerebral cortex, which is the outside layer of the cerebellum and is comprised of gray matter. The inside is made up of white matter. Major Parts of the Cerebral Cortexâ&#x20AC;¨ The cortex dominates the exterior surface of the brain. The surface area of the brain is about 233 to 465 square inches (1,500 to 2,000 cm2), which is about the size of one to two pages of a newspaper. To fit this surface area within the skull, the cortex is folded, forming folds (gyri) and grooves (sulci). Several large sulci divide the cerebral cortex into various lobes: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe. Each lobe has a different function. 10

When viewed from above, a large groove (interhemispheric fissure) separates the brain into left and right halves. The halves talk to each other through a tract of white-matter fibers called the corpus callosum. Also, the right and left temporal lobes communicate through another tract of fibers near the rear of the brain called the anterior commissure. If you look at a cutaway view of the brain, you see that the cortical area above the corpus callosum is divided by a groove. This groove is called the cingulate sulcus. The area between that groove and the corpus callosum is called the cingulate gyrus, also referred to as the limbic system or limbic lobe. Deep within the cerebrum are the basal ganglia, amygdala and hippocampus. Hard-wired The brain is hard-wired with connections; much like a skyscraper or airplane is hardwired with electrical wiring. In the case of the brain, the connections are made by neurons that link the sensory inputs and motor outputs with centers in the various lobes of the cerebral cortex. There are also linkages between these cortical centers and other parts of the brain. Several areas of the cerebral cortex have specialized functions: Parietal lobe -

The parietal lobe receives and processes all somatosensory input from the body (touch, pain).

Fibers from the spinal cord are distributed by the thalamus to various parts of the parietal lobe.

The connections form a map of the body's surface on the parietal lobe. This map is called a homunculus.

The rear of the parietal lobe (next to the temporal lobe) has a section called Wernicke's area, which is important for understanding the sensory (auditory and visual) information associated with language. Damage to this area of the brain produces what is called sensory aphasia, in which patients cannot understand language but can still produce sounds.

Frontal lobe -

The frontal lobe is involved in motor skills (including speech) and cognitive functions.

The motor center of the brain (pre-central gyrus) is located in the rear of the frontal lobe, just in front of the parietal lobe. It receives connections from the somatosensory portion in the parietal lobe and processes and initiates motor functions. Like the homunculus in the parietal lobe, the pre-central gyrus has a motor map of the brain .

An area on the left side of the frontal lobe, called Broca's area, processes language by controlling the muscles that make sounds (mouth, lips and larynx). Damage to this area results in motor aphasia, in which patients can understand language but cannot produce meaningful or appropriate sounds.

Remaining areas of the frontal lobe perform associative processes (thought, learning, memory).

Occipital lobe -

The occipital lobe receives and processes visual information directly from the eyes and relates this information to the parietal lobe (Wernicke's area) and motor cortex (frontal lobe). One of the things it must do is interpret the upside-down images of the world that are projected onto the retina by the lens of the eye.

Temporal lobe -

The temporal lobe processes auditory information from the ears and relates it to Wernicke's area of the parietal lobe and the motor cortex of the frontal lobe.

Basal ganglia: Also located within the temporal lobe, the basal ganglia work with the cerebellum to coordinate fine motions, such as fingertip movements. Limbic system: Located deep within the temporal lobe, the limbic system is important in emotional behavior and controlling movements of visceral muscles (muscles of the digestive tract and body cavities). The limbic system is comprised of the cingulate gyrus, corpus callosum, mammillary body, olfactory tract, amygdala and hippocampus. Hippocampus: The hippocampus is located within the temporal lobe and is important for short-term memory. 12

Amygdala: The amygdala is located within the temporal lobe and controls social and sexual behavior and other emotions. Insula: The insula influences automatic functions of the brainstem. For example, when you hold your breath, impulses from your insula suppress the medulla's breathing centers. The insula also processes taste information, and separates the temporal and frontal lobes. Water on the Brain Your brain and spinal cord are covered by a series of tough membranes called meninges, which protect these organs from rubbing against the bones of the skull and spine. For further protection, the brain and spinal cord "float" in a sea of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull and spine. This cushioning fluid is produced by the choroid plexus tissue, which is located within the brain, and flows through a series of cavities (ventricles) out of the brain and down along the spinal cord. The cerebrospinal fluid is kept separate from the blood supply by the blood-brain barrier. As you can see, your brain is a complex, highly organized organ that governs everything you do. Now that you are familiar with the anatomy of the brain. How does brains helps in studies. After we known the functional of brains part, let‟s get to know does it work. We often hear people complain that they are not smart as other people. They say they have a slower brain, a less creative brain or one that just cannot absorb anything. „if I was smarter, I would do a lot better in school‟ is one common excuses we hear. Well a person‟s intelligence can be trained and anyone can become more intelligent. Lets hears a story about intelligeness. How Edith was trained to be gifted..!

An experiment done by Aaron Stern in 1952 on his daughter Edith proves that intelligence can be trained and that anyone, given the right learning environment and strategies, can be a genius. What Aaron Stern did was he gave his daughter the most stimulating environment he could think of. From the time she was born, he would play classical music to her, speak to her only in adult language (no baby talk) and teach her a lot of new words everyday using picture cards. The result of all his effort? At the age one, Edith could already speak complete sentences. At the age of five, Edith had finished reading entire volume of Encyclopedia Britannica. At the age of six, she was reading six books a day and the New York Times. At the age of 12, she had entered college and at the age of 15, was teaching higher mathematics at the Michigan State University! The goods news here we actually do not have start at a very young age to train our brain. We can start the training at any age. But how is it possible to increase our intelligence? Neuro-connections determine your intelligence If all of us have basically the same number of neurons, than what really sets students apart in term of intelligence? What makes one student smarter than another? The answer is the number of connections there between our neurons. These connections are called neuro-connections. Twenty week after conception, our brainâ&#x20AC;&#x;s neurons begin making thousand connections with one another. These connections determine our range of behaviors and therefore, our intelligence. They are like the â&#x20AC;&#x17E;thought wiresâ&#x20AC;&#x; in a robots brain. If you are really good in solving math problems, you have probably develop very rich neuro-connections that allow you to analyse, process and solve math problems. However, with this same set of connections, you may not be able to draw very well. Another may be brilliant at drawing because he has the necessary thought connections that allow him to conceptualise and render the drawings. The more neuro-connections we have, the more intelligent we are in a particular area. Then, the most important question is what affects the number of neuron-connections we have? This is determined by how much you used your brain. Everytime you see, hear or do something new or every time you think, you brain gets 14

stimulated. This is when your brain starts making more connections, making you more and more intelligent. According to Dr. Judy Willis; There are filters in your brain protect it from becoming overloaded. These filters control the information flow so that only approximately 2,000 bits of information per second enter the brain. The Thinking Brain and the Reactive Brain Once sensory information enters the brain, itâ&#x20AC;&#x;s routed to one of two areas: (1) The prefrontal cortex- (thinking brain), -

which can consciously process and reflect on information; or

(2) The lower, automatic brain- (reactive brain) -

which reacts to information instinctively rather than through thinking.

The prefrontal cortex is actually only 17 percent of your brain; the rest makes up the reactive brain. When you are calm, you can control what information makes it into your brain. By calming, you can control which sensory data from your environment your brain lets in or keeps out and influence which information gets admitted to prefrontal cortex. When you are not stress out, your interest will be high and the most valuable information tends to pass into your thinking brain. When you are anxious, sad , angry, frustrated and bored brain filters conduct sensory information from the world around you into your reactive brain. These reactive brain systems do one of three things with the information: ignore it; fight against it as a negative experience (sending signals that may cause you to act inappropriately); or avoid it (causing you to daydream). If information gets routed to this reactive brain, itâ&#x20AC;&#x;s unlikely your brain will truly process the information or remember it.

Three major brain elements help control what information your brain takes in: the reticular activating system, the limbic system, and the transmitter dopamine. Let‟s look at how you can help each one work in your favor. RAS:The Gatekeeper The first filter that data passes through when entering your brain is the reticular activating system (RAS). Located at the lower back of your brain (your brain stem), the RAS receives input from sensory nerves that come from nerve endings in your eyes, ears, mouth, face, skin, muscles, and internal organs and meet at the top of your spinal cord. These sensory messages must pass through the RAS to gain entry to your higher, thinking brain. You will learn more successfully if you keep the RAS filter open to the flow of information you want to enter your prefrontal cortex. If you build your power to focus your attention on the sensory input that is most valuable and important to attend to at the moment, the important input will make it into your thinking brain. If you feel overwhelmed, your reactive brain will take over. Then, what you experience, focus on, and remember will no longer be in your control. It‟s the difference between reflecting on and reacting to your world. What You Can Do A key to making your brain work optimally, then, is to keep yourself physically healthy and well rested and to develop awareness of—and some control over—your emotions. Then you can approach learning calmly and with positive emotions. Practice focusing and observing yourself, for example, by taking a short break from work to check in with your emotions. Just take a few minutes to think about what you‟re feeling. If it‟s a good feeling, take time to enjoy it and consider how your good emotional state affects your thinking. Do you understand more and get ideas about what you might do with the information you‟re learning? If you don‟t like the way you‟re feeling, think about times you‟ve felt a similar negative emotion (like anxiety or loneliness). What has helped you return to a better mood in the past?

Even though you‟re not sleeping, you can think of such brain breaks as “syn-naps” because they let your brain replenish neurotransmitters like dopamine As you become aware of your emotions, you build brain networks that help you control your actions with your thinking brain. It also helps to do something active during a short break—such as toss a ball back and forth with a classmate, saying a word related to your lesson each time you catch the ball. The Limbic System: Your Emotional Core After the information coming in through your senses gets through the RAS, it travels to the sensory intake centers of your brain. New information that becomes memory is eventually stored in the sensory cortex areas located in brain lobes that are each specialized to analyze data from one of your five senses. These data must first pass through your brain‟s emotional core, the limbic system, where your amygdala and hippocampus evaluate whether this information is useful because it will help you physically survive or bring you pleasure. The Amygdala The amygdala is like a central train-routing station; it‟s a system for routing information based on your emotional state. When you experience negative emotions like fear, anxiety, or even boredom, your amygdala‟s filter takes up excessive amounts of your brain‟s available nutrients and oxygen. This puts your brain into survival mode, which blocks entry of any new information into your prefrontal cortex. For example, suppose your day starts off badly. You overslept, had no time for breakfast, and have too many things to do before school. You‟re worried about whether your friends will sit with you at lunch and afraid that the mean kid in your class will say hurtful things to you. It‟s not only your body that suffers on this kind of day: Your brain is also stressed. This stress closes off the pathways through the RAS and amygdala that direct information 17

into your thinking brain and memory centers. Unless you restore a positive mood, you won‟t learn much on this particular school day. But if you can turn things around to become calm and focused, your amygdala will “decide” to send new information to your prefrontal cortex. What You Can Do Slow down and take a moment to reflect instead of react when you take a test at school or face social conflicts with friends. You might take a deep breath and visualize yourself in a peaceful place. Another technique that helps you choose what to do with your emotions—something only humans can do— is to imagine you‟re directing yourself in a play. You are the director sitting in a balcony seat watching an actor (the emotional you) on stage below. What advice would you give the emotion-filled actor on the stage if he or she had been pushed by a classmate and wanted to hit back, for example? This technique helps you move away from using your reactive brain and tap your thinking brain, where memories that might help you are stored. Your teachers play a role too. If your teachers set up lessons to include some fun activities so that you feel good during a lesson, your amygdala will add a neurochemical enhancement, like a memory chip, that strengthens the staying power of any information presented in the lesson. People actually remember more of what they hear and read if they are in a positive emotional state when they hear or read it. The Hippocampus Next to the amygdala is the hippocampus. Here, your brain links new sensory input to both memories of your past and knowledge already stored in your long-term memory to make new relational memories. These new memories are now ready for processing in your prefrontal cortex. Your prefrontal cortex contains highly developed nerve communication networks that process new information through what are called executive functions, including judgment, analysis, organizing, problem solving, planning, and creativity. The executive function networks can convert short-term relational memories into long-term memories. 18

When you are focused and in a positive or controlled emotional state, your executive functions can more successfully organize newly coded memories into long-term knowledge. What You Can Do Reviewing and practicing something you‟ve learned helps. Nerve cells (neurons) forge information into memories by sending messages to other neurons through branches— called axons and dendrites—that almost touch the branches of each neighboring neuron. It takes lots of connections between neurons to relate each neuron‟s tiny bit of information to that of other neurons so that all the bits add up to a complete memory. When you review or practice something you‟ve learned, dendrites actually grow between nerve cells in the network that holds that memory. Each time you review that knowledge, this mental manipulation increases activity along the connections between nerve cells. Repeated stimulation—for example, studying the times tables many times—makes the network stronger, just like muscles become stronger when you exercise them. And that makes the memory stay in your brain. Practice makes permanent. When you review new learning through actions, using the knowledge to create something, solve problems, or apply it to another subject (such as using the times tables to measure the areas of paintings for framing them), this mental manipulation strengthens the neural pathways and your brain becomes even more efficiently wired. Dopamine: Feeling Good Helps You Learn Dopamine is one of the brain‟s most important neurotransmitters. Messages connected to new information travel from neuron to neuron as tiny electrical currents. Like electricity, these messages need wiring to carry them. But there are gaps, called synapses, between the branches that connect nerve cells and there‟s no wiring at these gaps. Chemical neurotransmitters like dopamine carry electrical messages across the gap from one 19

neuron to another. This transmission is crucial to your brain‟s capacity to process new information. Your brain releases extra dopamine when an experience is enjoyable. As positive emotions cause dopamine to travel to more parts of your brain, additional neurons are activated. Thus a boost in dopamine not only increases your own sense of pleasure, but also increases other neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, that enhance alertness, memory, and executive functions in the prefrontal cortex. What You Can Do Certain activities, such as interacting with friends, laughing, physical activity, listening to someone read to you, and acting kindly increase dopamine levels. You‟ll boost your learning if you get them into your day. Experiencing pride at accomplishing something is also correlated with higher dopamine. It will increase your learning power if you pursue activities that give you a sense of accomplishment. Think about your personal strengths, such as artistic ability, leadership, helping classmates resolve conflicts, athletic skill, or even qualities like optimism, kindness, and empathy. Use these skills to do projects you want to do—and do them well—and you‟ll find you can use your brain power more successfully to make judgments and solve problems. Summary In conclusion, you have already explore about your brain and how its function and how its helps in your study. There are a lots going on in our little brain in barely one second. It is really magically majestic of creation. Therefore there is no label as dumb or intelligence people as our brain have same functions and everybody has it. The difference achievement between the people is basically based on the effort that a person put into. If stimulating your brain increase your intelligence, then there is no limit to how much intelleigent that you will become. Well, this depends in how much your neuro-connections your brain can continue to create until it runs out of space. Remember that we have 1,000,000 million neurons and each neuron can make connections with thousand others neurons. The total number of possible thought 20

patterns is permutated, would be so large that if we were to write it in normal handwriting, it would be I millions kilometers of zeros. Which when I compare atom, as we all know that the atom is one of the smallest particles in the universe. The atom was estimated at only 10 with 100 zeroes(1x10100) atoms there are in the universe. Your brainâ&#x20AC;&#x;s potential for growth is millions more times bigger than there are atoms in the universe.