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Transcriber: Anna Kalynchuk
Reviewer: Michael Nystrom
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I'm angry.
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And I’m angry because I wish
I knew this when I was younger.
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So I’m a neuroscientist and a lecturer.
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And as a neuroscientist,
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I study the brain and the nerves
that span out into the body.
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And as a lecturer, I teach the next
generation of healthcare professionals.
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And look, I see some students
struggle with their learning,
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especially the older ones,
but it’s not their fault.
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You know, we don't get
taught how to learn.
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We just kind of expect it to happen.
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And I think the worst curse of all really
is it gets harder to learn as we age.
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But what if I told you that
there are things that we can do
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to learn faster and more effectively?
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I’m going to take you
through the neuroscience
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behind six critical ingredients
that can help you learn faster:
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attention, alertness, sleep,
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repetition, breaks, and mistakes.
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Now, first things first.
How do we actually learn?
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We need neuroplasticity to happen.
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So neuroplasticity is the scientific
term that essentially means
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our brain’s ability to physically
change in response to experience.
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So when we’re learning something,
whether it’s learning information or
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learning a skill,
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tiny little connections called synapses
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form between neighboring
neurons in the brain.
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And the more we do that thing,
whether it’s information or a skill,
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the more robust those connections become
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and the better we get
at doing whatever it is.
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Now, what you’re looking at here
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are two neurons that I filmed
in a petri dish connecting.
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Actually, this was a petri dish
that I was about to throw away,
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but I saw they were about to connect,
so I quickly took this video.
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Now, these incredible handlike structures
here are called “growth cones,”
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and every neuron has one.
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They actively sense
the environment around,
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and they help each and every one
of the 86 billion neurons in your brain
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find the correct place to connect to.
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So, for example, from here to here,
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or here to here.
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And this isn’t learning.
This doesn’t represent learning.
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What it represents is how our brain
wires itself during development.
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Now, when things go wrong
with that wiring process
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or when it doesn't happen
in the usual way,
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you can end up with things
like issues with learning and memory.
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Now, kids are a little bit
like sponges, right?
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They just seem to need
to be exposed to stuff,
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and they seem to remember it.
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Languages, skills, sports, whatever it is,
the learning just happens really quickly.
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Now, have you ever met someone
who’s incredibly talented,
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and you just thought,
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“Okay, they must have
some magic thing about them
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that the rest of us don’t have.”
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Well, what if I told you that
that's probably not true?
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It mostly comes down
to practice, perseverance,
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and when in development,
they started learning that skill.
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So the earlier, the better.
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And people like
Serena Williams and Beethoven,
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they weren't born with their skills.
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They practiced, and they all
actually started by age five.
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So really, our ability to learn
goes downhill after age five,
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(Laughter)
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but it certainly gets harder
through our childhood, through our teens.
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And once we hit our mid-twenties,
it gets exponentially harder to learn.
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But the good news is I’m going
to tell you what you can do about it
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because there are things you can do.
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You can use attention, alertness,
sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes
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to make your learning better.
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So first things first.
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In order to learn, we need
to pay attention, right?
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Attention is a really important function.
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So, for example, if I were
to ask you to close your eyes
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and focus on your contact
between your feet and the floor,
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you’ll suddenly be aware
of maybe the texture of your socks,
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maybe how tight your shoes are,
maybe how firm the floor is.
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And you weren’t aware
of any of that a second ago.
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And what that means is that
we have the ability to choose
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how much attention we pay to something.
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And studies have shown that
when we are fully focused on a task,
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we are more likely
to retain that information,
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especially for the long term.
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Now, until the last little
blip in human history,
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we have never had to work
this hard to pay attention.
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Like, let’s be honest, how many
times do you find yourself
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rereading or replaying something
because you got a bit distracted?
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Right? Yeah.
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We are designed to focus
on one thing at a time.
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There’s no secret that
the frequent context switching
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that happens when we use social media,
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so scrolling through our phones
and seeing lots of different bits of
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completely unrelated bits of information
like news, ads, you know, cat videos.
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That results in significantly
measurable attention deficits.
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So I’m not saying it causes ADHD,
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but studies have shown that if you use
your phone for more than an hour in teens,
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that results in these attention deficits.
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So try and use your phone
a little bit less.
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Now, if you wanted to improve
your attention in the long term,
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there are things like
focused attention meditation
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that you can do to improve that.
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And if you wanted to improve
your attention in the really short term,
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well, you can actually just exercise.
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I know you’re thinking:
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“Oh, well, my doctor always says
I have to exercise and eat well.”
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But hear me out for a second.
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Did you know that exercise
can actually increase the size
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of the part of your brain involved
in learning and memory?
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It also helps you make new brain cells.
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And studies have shown that
regular exercise improves memory.
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It improves cognition,
so your ability to think.
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And just 20 minutes of moderate exercise -
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so not even, you know, intense exercise -
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that will actually improve your attention
for about two hours afterwards.
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So here’s what you should do:
if you’re sitting down to study,
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go for a jog,
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do some star jumps.
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It’s even better
if you challenge your balance.
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If you’re at work,
run up and down the stairs.
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There are lots of things that you can do
to make this happen.
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Next, we have...
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(Air horn blasts)
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alertness.
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(Laughter)
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In order to learn,
you’ve got to be alert, right?
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It's not rocket science.
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But he’s the thing.
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If you’re not fully focused on a task,
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then you’re going to have a harder time
retaining that information.
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Activating our body’s
fight-or-flight system
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or activating our sympathetic
nervous system, as it’s also known,
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results in the release of things
like adrenaline and noradrenaline,
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and amongst other things,
that will increase our alertness.
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So what are some other
things that we can do
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to increase our fight-or-flight system?
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Because obviously, we can’t go around
blasting air horns all the time.
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Well, again, exercise -
a bit of a recurring theme here.
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You can do certain breathing techniques
like Wim Hof breathing.
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You can even end your shower
with a bit of a cold blast of water
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because that will certainly
make you feel very alert.
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And we also know that stress
will do the same thing.
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So we know that if you sit down
to learn after a small stressor -
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like this, for example -
that will enhance your learning.
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So what can you do?
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You can have too much stress, though,
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as you can see that
I’m experiencing right now.
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So when you have been experiencing
long-term stress or chronic stress,
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it physically changes our brain,
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and it causes issues
with learning and memory.
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So if you have been experiencing stress
for a long period of time,
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you will have impairments in memory.
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It is that simple,
so do be kind to yourself.
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But little bits of stress are good.
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They actually help you
reach peak performance.
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And we know that having a little bit
of an increase in adrenaline
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after a learning task will actually
enhance your learning as well.
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Now you can also ingest substances
to enhance your alertness,
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things like caffeine.
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And there’s a growing body of evidence now
that shows that having caffeine
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before a learning task or actually
just being a regular caffeine drinker
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can enhance your learning and memory
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through a range of different
mechanisms in the brain.
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We know that, for example, if you eat,
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you are less alert because that’s
switching off our fight-or-flight system.
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So maybe don’t sit down
to study after a big meal.
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There’s also a limit
to our alertness as well.
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So it's still a little bit contentious,
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but studies have shown
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that we are constantly going through
what we call an “ultradian rhythm.”
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So about every 90 minutes,
we’re going in and out of peak alertness.
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So the reality is you can’t be
100% alert all the time,
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and it’s going to be a chunk of about
8 to 30 minutes in the middle there
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we will be most alert.
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Now, another thing for alertness is sleep.
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Yes, if you haven’t been sleeping,
then, yes, you won’t be as alert.
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But sleep is really important
for learning for another reason.
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So sleep serves a really important
constellation of functions.
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So, for example, it resets our immune
system, it resets our metabolism,
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it resets our emotional control,
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and it even gets rid of the waste
that builds up in our brain
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over the course of the day.
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But sleep is actually critical
for memory consolidation,
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so for turning short-term memories
into long-term memories.
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There’s a particular part
of the brain called the hippocampus,
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which is important
for learning and memory.
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So when you do stuff throughout the day,
your hippocampus is keeping track of that.
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It’s a bit like a diary.
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So if I were to ask you
what you were doing
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before you sat down
to listen to this talk,
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you’re using your hippocampus
to recall that information.
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But it only keeps information
there for the short term.
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And when you sleep,
all of those short-term memories
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get flitted off to other parts
of the brain, the cortex,
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and turned into long-term memories.
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So if you don’t sleep,
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you can’t turn those short-term
memories into long-term memories.
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And that’s why sleep
is so important for learning.
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That’s why pulling
an all-nighter and cramming
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is the worst thing you can do for study
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because you are not going to retain
that information for the long term.
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So really, here's what you should do.
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Make sure you prioritize
your sleep before you study,
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just so you can be a bit more alert,
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but also really prioritize
that study after learning
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because you will need that to retain
that information for the long term.
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Now, the old adage says
that practice makes perfect,
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but there's so much truth to that
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because repetition is key
when it comes to learning.
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Repetition is key
when it comes to learning.
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It's not enough to just hear
or see something once
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and expect to remember it forever.
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Just like exercising builds muscle,
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repetitive patterns of thinking or doing
things will reinforce those pathways
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and those connections in the brain
associated with doing that thing,
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so it'll become easier to recall.
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So through the process of neuroplasticity,
you’re making these brand-new connections.
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And that takes energy,
requires fatty acids,
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requires lots of little
proteins to be made.
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It’s a big job. It takes a lot of energy.
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And the brain’s not going
to want to invest all of this energy
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in creating these new connections
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if it’s something that
you’ve only done once, right?
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That is why repetition
is so important for learning.
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It’s basically flagging to your brain
at the cellular level that
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“Hey, this is the thing that
keeps coming up in my life.
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So in order to be more efficient,
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I need to reinforce this
and do it better.”
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So here's what you should do.
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Repeat the thing that you are trying
to learn as many times as you can
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in that learning period,
and use the spacing technique.
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So space your learning out
over multiple days
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so that way your learning has a chance
to build on those new long-term memories.
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We know that two shorter
learning periods over different days
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will result in significantly
better learning
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than using that same amount
of time on a single day.
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Sometimes we can learn things in one go.
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And this is a thing called “one-trial
learning” in psychology and neuroscience.
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And it basically happens when there’s
a really strong emotional component
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tied to that experience.
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So, for example, if it makes us really
happy or really sad or scared,
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especially if it makes
us afraid, actually,
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and there’s a really important
biological reason for that
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if you think about it.
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So your brain wants
to remember in exquisite detail
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everything to do with that scary event.
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So that way, you know how to respond
the next time you encounter it
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or just so you can avoid it completely.
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And when things go wrong
with that process,
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you can end up with things like PTSD.
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Breaks are incredibly important
for learning as well.
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And there are two main reasons for that.
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So, first of all, it gives our brains
a chance to replay that information.
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It happens completely subconsciously.
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So, for example, if you were learning
a sequence on the piano,
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then if you were to take
a ten-second break afterwards,
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your brain will actually
be brain recording
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so that you’ll be replaying that sequence,
and you’ll be doing it 20 times faster.
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And it looks like it might be even better
if you spend 10 to 20 minutes afterwards
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either just having a quiet break -
no phones, of course -
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having a nap or doing a round
of nonsleep, deep rest.
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Now, the other reason
why breaks are important is because
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that newly encoded information
isn’t very stable.
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And if you were to use those same networks
to learn something else soon afterwards,
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what will happen is that newly encoded
information can be destroyed
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in a process called
“retrograde interference.”
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And in kids, they stabilize
pretty quickly, within a few minutes.
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But in adults, as far as we know,
they’re still unstable after an hour,
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maybe longer.
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So here’s what you should do.
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Make sure you take a 10- to 20-minute
break after you finish learning.
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And if you're at work, well,
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then just try and do those mundane tasks
that you can do without thinking too much
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and wait at least an hour
before trying to learn something similar,
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preferably do it on a different day.
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Next, we have mistakes,
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and I know making mistakes is terrifying.
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It is really scary, but there’s
a biological reason behind that.
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So that feeling of anxiety and stress
you get when you make a mistake,
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it serves a really important purpose.
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So when you make a mistake,
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what happens is you’re releasing
neuromodulators like acetylcholine,
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and you're getting increased activity
in your focused attention networks.
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And that increase in attention
and that feeling of anxiety
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serves a really important purpose.
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It’s basically saying to us,
“Hey, you made a mistake.
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You need to change and do better
and become more efficient.”
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And it's opening up this window
for neuroplasticity.
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So, whatever happens next,
your brain is ready to take in.
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Now, if you make a mistake and you feel
a bit anxious, and you walk away,
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well, ‘A’, you’re not going
to learn that thing,
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and ‘B’, well, you’re actually learning
to be less able to cope with failure.
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Here’s what you should do.
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You should set yourself up
for a little bit of failure, right?
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Quiz yourself on that topic as you go.
Don’t wait until you’re ready.
00:16:22
If you’re learning something -
for example, soccer -
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don’t just kick it straight at the goal.
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Change the angle. Make it
more difficult, so you make mistakes.
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Don't wait for everything to be
perfect before you have a go,
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because at the end of the day
if you make a mistake,
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you'll be releasing neuromodulators
that improve your attention.
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And if you get it right,
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you’ll be releasing things
like dopamine in your reward circuits,
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which makes you feel good,
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which makes you feel more motivated
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and consolidates the learning of the thing
that you just did correctly, right?
00:16:52
So that’s why turning our learning
into a bit of a game can work so well.
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It’s a bit of a win-win situation
for our brain either way, right?
00:17:00
So when you make a mistake, you know,
don't view that anxiety as a bad thing.
00:17:05
Lean into that feeling and keep going
00:17:07
because it's really your brain's way
of helping you be your best.
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It’s helping you be better
than the person that you were yesterday.
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So, as you can see, I’m not angry anymore.
00:17:20
I’m still quite nervous.
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(Laughter)
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But that’s because
by understanding the brain,
00:17:27
I know that you have the keys
to unlock your potential to learn faster
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and more effectively.
00:17:33
Those keys are attention, alertness,
sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes.
00:17:39
So next time you’re sitting down to learn,
00:17:41
get rid of those distractions,
increase your attention,
00:17:45
increase your alertness,
maybe through a little bit of exercise,
00:17:48
repeat the thing that you are trying
to do as many times as you can
00:17:52
in that training period,
and repeat it over multiple days,
00:17:56
making sure that you prioritize
that sleep in between.
00:18:01
Embrace your mistakes,
00:18:02
and make sure you take
a 10- to 20-minute break after learning
00:18:06
because your brain
is going to thank you.
00:18:09
And now I’m going to thank you
for your attention,
00:18:11
and I hope you learnt something new.
00:18:13
(Applause)
