– Key Insights from the ABC documentary “Our brain”.
The human brain’s full potential and memory abilities can be improved upon, and our intelligence levels increased. This improvement is largely thanks to neuroplasticity. As neuroplasticity helps the brain with adapting to environments, changing conditions, and modifying language and behaviour (ABC, 2023). Neuroplasticity within the brain is similar to a muscle the more the brain is engaged, and kept stimulated the stronger it is, and the less it is stimulated, the more it tends to atrophy (ABC,2023). Much like the common phrase “use it or lose it” brain engagement, and stimulation is a vital key in keeping the brain healthy, particularly for Older Australians (ABC,2023) .That is why you will often see Older Australians being encouraged to play games that require mental stimulation and problem solving such as sudoko, cards, chess, and bingo. As through continued training and stimulation the brain muscle can improve over time, rather than degenerate. It is important to train the brain with these training methods, and through lower stimulation tasks, and games as multitasking, and attention overload, can negatively affected the human brain.
Over time the human brain has had to adapt to new technological changes that have altered the brains’ ability to access stimulation and information. These new distractions have affected our brains abilities to focus, and direct attention to one task (ABC, 2023). With these technological distractions such as email alerts, social media phone alerts, and smart watches diverting our brain’s ability to stay focused on tasks. With the average time taken to reorient our focus back to a task, taking the average adult 23. 15 seconds to reorient to their main task (ABC, 2023) . This can be the most distracting for children. And particularly for their education This attention diversion towards technological distractions is known by the technical term “intermittent reinforcement”. Which is a system that keeps us, engaged with technology, rather than engaged with work. This intense anticipation system, as to when a reward might strike such as a message, a like, a alert, triggers the release of dopamine. Which is why we are constantly checking our phones, intermittently through the day. This dopamine release drives us to continue checking our phones and impairs our ability to regulate our behaviour (ABC, 2023). This dopamine flood towards the pre-frontal cortex and overloads our brains with dopamine. Which encourages us to continue to seek more dopamine throughout the day, and be intermittently distracted seeking this dopamine, rather than staying focused on task.
References
1) Our Brain, 2023 ABC, Melbourne, accessed 10/05/2023
2) Meo, Pexels, accessed 10/05/2023