HAPPINESS IS ... PLAY!!!
Think_n_See
the entire subject line?! ... Very important, and more than that,
very cool, and very fun!)
Here's the result:
People used to think that the brain could not develop any new neurons.
People used to think that what you had at birth was all you were ever
going to have. The reason people thought this was that the brains of
mice did not develop new neurons - in their sterile, boring
environments. Researcher Elizabeth Gould showed that when mice were
put into interesting environments and given new toys regularly they
showed neuron growth!
The conclusion? Play, Play, PLAY!
Here's a great article about this by Kathy Sierra ("Brain Death by Dull
Cubicle"):
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/02/brain_death_by_.html
da5zeay
brains stop growing after a certain age, and I HAVE NEVER EVER BELIEVED
IT. I am glad that there's researcher finally turning this idea on its
ear and putting it to rest. I'm feeling vindicated!
The first reason I rejected the idea of brain growth is that it's often
cited as a LIMITING STATEMENT, offered up as an excuse that "old dogs
can't learn new tricks", and therefore an excuse not to try. Note that
this has nothing to do with scientific research, just a rejection of
the idea as being relevant to actually living a productive life of
active learning.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and also say that thing about only
being able to learn languages easily at a young age is utter hooey. The
reason why it's difficult for us, I am postulating, is because as we've
grown older we have convinced ourselves it's hard or embarassing and
have stopped listening and playing with the sounds. If as an adult we
could go back to happily babbling and swimming in the sounds and
languages without self consciousness, I think we could still learn as
quickly! People would look at you funny, I'm sure, but that's another
limiting environmental thing that we should ignore.
So yeah...go and play! Everything becomes possible through it!