White Paper: Neuroscience - Learning & Development

The Neuroscience of Learning & Development

Crystalizing potential

"Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century - Alfred Edward Perlman

You were born, and it began.

The acquisition of knowledge and information, feelings and behaviors that would combine over years to shape who you are right now. Were you to look at your progress through those newborn eyes, the feat would surely have appeared insurmountable: the fine motor skills that allow you to write and eat, the ability to speak and comprehend language, the development of complex social relationships, education, professional skills and so on.

So, in the beginning was life and then there was learning and, for the duration of our existence, there is life-long learning. In this paper, we explore the neuro-scientific underpinnings of the learning process, factors that hinder or limit our learning ability, including ways to optimize this most fundamental attribute of being human.

Part One: How we learn

The human infant is born with approximately 100 billion brain cells, or neurons. That number remains relatively stable throughout life, a fact that has contributed to the long-held belief that the brain is fixed, or hard-wired, particularly post-adolescence. However, what is far from formed at birth and continues and changes throughout life, are the tens of thousands of connections that form between each one of these 100 billion neurons. The creation of these connections form neural networks and their continual restructuring and change is known as neuroplasticity

Part Two: Limitations to learning

The prefrontal cortex is the highest evolved part of the mammalian brain and is larger in humans, relative to body size, than all other mammals. It is the seat of our 'executive function' - our ability to think consciously, plan, organize, analyze, make decisions and comprehend complex information and relationships - it's what makes us human. Many scientists believe the prefrontal cortex is still evolving and, consequently, has not yet reached the maturity and capability of the older regions of our brain. This, coupled with the phenomenal change in human social conditions in the past two centuries, including the availability and need for much more information on a daily basis, is testing the limits of our prefrontal capacity.

Part Three: Implications for best practices

Organizations leading the field in learning practices must integrate;

• innovative content
• engaging instruction
• blended methods
• interactive technology
• business alignment
• robust measurement
• program management

No wonder few people can claim to be comprehensive role-models!

A model for learning: AGES

Attention, Generation, Emotion, Spacing

The brain loves to learn - fundamentally, that is its job. From the earliest conversion of the basic sensory input an infant sees, hears and feels, to the ongoing adaptations and growth we experience throughout adult life, our brains are changing, restructuring and learning. When you go to sleep tonight, it is with a brain that has changed as a result of today��,��"�s learnings and when you wake up tomorrow, with new consolidated memories, more learning awaits you.

Neuroscience has not discovered that we learn - this much we already knew. What neuroscience casts light on is how the brain acquires, stores and uses information, and what intrinsic and extrinsic factors can limit us from optimizing this process. By understanding more about how humans learn, educators and organizational learning and development professionals can tap the learning capacities of the brain that will drive the learning results toward which they strive.

In a world seeking to build talent and drive exceptional performance, organizational initiatives guided by scientific breakthroughs will combine to crystalize the potential of our talent.

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