did you always think that learning was due to the addition of new cells in the brain then you're not the only one researchers found that approximately 82 percent of pre-surface teachers thought the same or they don't know how learning in the brain works well actually this is not true and this is what we call a neural myth in this video we will therefore explain the real Neuroscience behind learning learning is due to the creation of new and mostly more efficient connections between brain areas but how does this work exactly to understand how learning occurs in
a brain we need to start with the basics our brain consists of billions of neurons these neurons have dendrites which receive information and an axon which sends information neurons communicates with each other via electrical and chemical signals transmission within a neuron is electrical and this is called an action potential transmission between nervous is chemical and occurs at tiny gaps called synapses once an extra potential reaches the presynaptic neuron neurotransmitters are released in the synapse and received by the postsynaptic neuron when we are learning something neurons in different parts of the brain communicate with each other
if two neurons frequently interact they form a connection that allows them to transmit messages more easily and accurately we will further explain this with a learning example and an analogy let's say you would like to learn to play the piano then playing the piano different brain areas are involved such as the motor auditory and visual cortex before you start to learn how to play the piano the pathways between these brain areas are still very weak and playing the piano doesn't sound really nice [Music] at this stage you can compare your brain to a forest without
any trails where you start practicing the piano it feels very difficult just like walking through a forest without the trail is difficult because you have to push the vegetation out of the way to work through however the more you practice the piano the stronger the connections between the involved neurons in the brain areas get which leads to faster and more efficient signals foreign just like in the forest the more you use the same Trail the easier the walk becomes when you have not played the piano in a long time the connections between the evolved brain
areas weaken and so do your piano skills [Music] it's in the forest when you stop using the trail the vegetation grows back and the trail slowly fades however when you have mastered playing the piano the connections between the neurons have become so strong that it doesn't matter that you haven't played in a while [Music] just like in a forest if you have a strong trail the vegetation is not able to grow back on again this when we learn something new our brains do not produce new cells but rather the brain creates new and mostly more
efficient connections between neurons in different areas of the brain
