Prompt Cast
How Movement and Balance Can Change the Brain and Improve Learning
TLDR By engaging in behaviors that access neuroplasticity, such as wearing prism glasses or engaging in motor activities that involve balance and movement, it is possible to change the brain and improve learning. Making errors and experiencing frustration during intense learning bouts can trigger the release of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators that prompt the nervous system to make changes and enhance the rate of learning.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
In this podcast episode, the host discusses how movement and balance can be used to change the nervous system and improve learning.
05:48
Behavior that is different enough from what we already know how to perform can change the brain and access neuroplasticity.
11:48
The goal is to be selective about brain changes and engage in behaviors that access neuroplasticity in order to learn or unlearn specific things.
17:46
Wearing prism glasses that shift the visual field can lead to a shift in the representation of auditory and motor maps.
23:45
The signal for neuroplasticity and learning is the making of errors, which triggers the release of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators that prompt the nervous system to make changes in order to improve behavior.
29:43
Continuing to drill into a process to the point of frustration and then staying with that process for a little bit longer is the most important thing for adult learning, as well as childhood learning, but adult learning in particular.
35:36
Motor movements are a straightforward way to access states of plasticity, and shorter bouts of intense learning are more efficient for adults because it signals to the nervous system what needs to change, while the importance of something determines the rate and magnitude of plasticity in the brain.
41:55
The key to tapping into neurochemical stores in the brain and promoting plasticity is to engage in intense learning bouts of 7 to 30 minutes where errors are made, signaling to the nervous system that change is needed.
47:52
The key to enhancing the rate of learning is to associate the experience of making errors with something positive and to release dopamine in the brain, which can be achieved by telling oneself that the frustration and failures are good for learning.
53:46
To optimize learning, it is important to identify the times of day when you have the highest mental acuity, engage in deliberate error-making for 7 to 30 minutes during those times, find pleasure in the frustration, and take advantage of the heightened state of learning that follows to acquire new information or skills.
59:32
To optimize learning, it is important to be in a state of alertness but calm, and to engage in behaviors that bring you to the starting line, such as using a physiological sigh to calm down or using methods to wake yourself up if you're too tired, and to access neuroplasticity through the vestibular system by engaging in motor activities that involve balance and movement in different planes.
01:05:06
Engaging in motor activities that disrupt the vestibular motor relationship and create errors can release neurochemicals in the brain that enhance learning and make errors more pleasurable.
01:11:05
Engaging in novel movements that disrupt the sensory motor vestibular relationship can enhance plasticity and release neurochemicals in the brain that promote learning.
01:16:50
Engaging in novel movements that disrupt the sensory motor vestibular relationship can enhance plasticity and release neurochemicals in the brain that promote learning.
Categories:
Health & Fitness
Science
