{"id":74576,"date":"2022-08-03T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=74576"},"modified":"2022-08-05T13:21:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T17:21:54","slug":"how-our-brains-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-our-brains-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"How Our Brains Learn: The Key to Mastering New Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How do our brains learn new things? Why does knowing how our brains learn help you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-learn-a-new-skill\/\">master new skills<\/a> quickly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Steven Kotler, elite performers achieve seemingly impossible feats because they consistently perform at the peak of their capabilities and push themselves to exceed their potential. Kotler argues that understanding how our brains learn is the key to unlocking<strong> <\/strong>high-performance habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to find out how our brains learn, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-learn-effectively\/\">how to learn more<\/a> effectively, according to Kotler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-our-brains-learn-through-connections\">How Our Brains Learn Through Connections<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kotler argues that absorbing new information every day feeds your brain a continual stream of information while giving it time to naturally make connections between what you already <em>know <\/em>and what you\u2019re <em>learning<\/em>. When our brains learn how to do something new, this generates more dopamine, which further increases your motivation to learn more. Once you\u2019ve created connections between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-you-curious-about\/\">your interests<\/a>, <strong>set aside time each day to learn more about your new areas of interest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Spend 30 minutes every day learning more about your new areas of interest. Use a variety of media. For example, to explore \u201cthe possibility of using solar power to grow produce all year round,\u201d you might listen to a podcast about sustainable living, read an article about how solar batteries work, or take notes from a book about indoor gardening.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Neuroscience of How Our Brains Learn<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Neuroscience research expands upon Kotler\u2019s explanation of how our brains learn and create connections between what we already know and what we&#8217;re learning. Specifically, it explores the molecular activity that occurs inside your brain when you take in new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more you learn, the more you change the physical <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-is-the-brain-structured\/\">structure of your brain<\/a> by strengthening specific neural pathways. Here\u2019s a very brief overview of how our brains learn through neural pathways:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The brain consists of a dense network of pathways made up f of neurons, or information messengers.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Synapses transmit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/sensory-information-processing\/\">sensory information<\/a> through this network of neurons.&nbsp;<\/li><li>This sensory information gets stored in your short-term memory while your brain compares it to the memories you\u2019ve stored in your long-term memory. This allows your brain to <em>judge<\/em> how relevant the new information is to what you already <em>know<\/em> (the processes stored in your long-term memory) and determines whether it should be kept or discarded.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Neuroscientists believe that <a href=\"https:\/\/ccsuconed.wordpress.com\/2017\/07\/25\/what-happens-to-your-brain-when-you-learn-a-new-skill\/\">your memory and recall rely upon the relationship that your neurons have with each other<\/a>. When learning how to do something new, our brains apply conscious effort and attention to form new neural connections and pathways. The more you practice recalling specific information, the stronger the relationships between the corresponding neurons in your brain, and the more likely your brain is to store the information in your long-term memory\u2014thus converting it into knowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do our brains learn new things? Why does knowing how our brains learn help you master new skills quickly? According to Steven Kotler, elite performers achieve seemingly impossible feats because they consistently perform at the peak of their capabilities and push themselves to exceed their potential. Kotler argues that understanding how our brains learn is the key to unlocking high-performance habits. Keep reading to find out how our brains learn, including how to learn more effectively, according to Kotler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":74634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,9,43],"tags":[704],"class_list":["post-74576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-the-art-of-impossible","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Our Brains Learn: The Key to Mastering New Skills - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do our brains learn? How can you quickly master new skills by understanding the brain? Here&#039;s Kotler&#039;s advice for learning effectively.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-our-brains-learn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Our Brains Learn: The Key to Mastering New Skills\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do our brains learn? How can you quickly master new skills by understanding the brain? 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