Researchers are now considering that to learn something, it is more important than practice to forget the old thing i.e. to break the old neural connections. This is called “synaptic pruning”. Let us know, how it works.
Did you know that your brain has also a delete button? There’s an old saying in neuroscience: “neurons that fire together wire together.” This means that the more you activate a neuro-circuit in your brain, the stronger that circuit becomes. In simple words, “Practice makes perfect”.
Scientists have known this for years but now researchers talk about the other aspect of it. To learn something, more important than practice is to forget the old thing i.e. to break the old neural connections. This is called “synaptic pruning”.
Let us know, how it works. How does the brain clean itself?
Imagine your brain is a garden, only instead of growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables in it, you develop synaptic connections between neurons that have connections to dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters, and “glial cells” in your brain. They are the gardeners of the brain – they work to speed up signals between certain neurons. Whereas other glial cells remove waste, remove weeds, kill insects, and collect dead leaves. However, research is still going on as to how the brain decides which things to remove.
To clear the mind it is important to learn new things.
The gardeners that prune your brain are called “microglial cells.” They prune your synaptic connections. That is, these “microglial cells” are the delete button of your brain, which cuts off your bad memories.
This way your mind makes space for you to learn something new so that you can learn more.
Good sleep is very important
Whereas when you learn something new, after some time you realize that your mind is now filled. Your brain will not be able to function more than this. So when you learn something new and your brain is filled, the gardener of the brain i.e. “microglial cells” starts harvesting. However, after this rest is also necessary. When you sleep, your brain cleans itself, that is why a good sleep is very important.
