00:00Transcriber: Anna Kalynchuk
Reviewer: Michael Nystrom
00:22And Iâm angry because I wish
I knew this when I was younger.
00:28So Iâm a neuroscientist and a lecturer.
00:30And as a neuroscientist,
00:31I study the brain and the nerves
that span out into the body.
00:34And as a lecturer, I teach the next
generation of healthcare professionals.
00:39And look, I see some students
struggle with their learning,
00:44especially the older ones,
but itâs not their fault.
00:47You know, we don't get
taught how to learn.
00:49We just kind of expect it to happen.
00:52And I think the worst curse of all really
is it gets harder to learn as we age.
00:58But what if I told you that
there are things that we can do
01:02to learn faster and more effectively?
01:06Iâm going to take you
through the neuroscience
01:08behind six critical ingredients
that can help you learn faster:
01:11attention, alertness, sleep,
01:15repetition, breaks, and mistakes.
01:21Now, first things first.
How do we actually learn?
01:23We need neuroplasticity to happen.
01:25So neuroplasticity is the scientific
term that essentially means
01:29our brainâs ability to physically
change in response to experience.
01:34So when weâre learning something,
whether itâs learning information or
01:40tiny little connections called synapses
01:42form between neighboring
neurons in the brain.
01:45And the more we do that thing,
whether itâs information or a skill,
01:49the more robust those connections become
01:51and the better we get
at doing whatever it is.
01:55Now, what youâre looking at here
01:57are two neurons that I filmed
in a petri dish connecting.
02:01Actually, this was a petri dish
that I was about to throw away,
02:04but I saw they were about to connect,
so I quickly took this video.
02:07Now, these incredible handlike structures
here are called âgrowth cones,â
02:12and every neuron has one.
02:13They actively sense
the environment around,
02:16and they help each and every one
of the 86 billion neurons in your brain
02:21find the correct place to connect to.
02:23So, for example, from here to here,
02:26And this isnât learning.
This doesnât represent learning.
02:29What it represents is how our brain
wires itself during development.
02:34Now, when things go wrong
with that wiring process
02:37or when it doesn't happen
in the usual way,
02:39you can end up with things
like issues with learning and memory.
02:44Now, kids are a little bit
like sponges, right?
02:48They just seem to need
to be exposed to stuff,
02:50and they seem to remember it.
02:52Languages, skills, sports, whatever it is,
the learning just happens really quickly.
02:57Now, have you ever met someone
whoâs incredibly talented,
03:00and you just thought,
03:01âOkay, they must have
some magic thing about them
03:04that the rest of us donât have.â
03:06Well, what if I told you that
that's probably not true?
03:09It mostly comes down
to practice, perseverance,
03:13and when in development,
they started learning that skill.
03:17So the earlier, the better.
03:20And people like
Serena Williams and Beethoven,
03:22they weren't born with their skills.
03:25They practiced, and they all
actually started by age five.
03:30So really, our ability to learn
goes downhill after age five,
03:36but it certainly gets harder
through our childhood, through our teens.
03:40And once we hit our mid-twenties,
it gets exponentially harder to learn.
03:46But the good news is Iâm going
to tell you what you can do about it
03:49because there are things you can do.
03:51You can use attention, alertness,
sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes
03:56to make your learning better.
03:59So first things first.
04:00In order to learn, we need
to pay attention, right?
04:03Attention is a really important function.
04:06So, for example, if I were
to ask you to close your eyes
04:09and focus on your contact
between your feet and the floor,
04:14youâll suddenly be aware
of maybe the texture of your socks,
04:17maybe how tight your shoes are,
maybe how firm the floor is.
04:25And you werenât aware
of any of that a second ago.
04:30And what that means is that
we have the ability to choose
04:34how much attention we pay to something.
04:37And studies have shown that
when we are fully focused on a task,
04:41we are more likely
to retain that information,
04:43especially for the long term.
04:45Now, until the last little
blip in human history,
04:48we have never had to work
this hard to pay attention.
04:50Like, letâs be honest, how many
times do you find yourself
04:53rereading or replaying something
because you got a bit distracted?
04:58We are designed to focus
on one thing at a time.
05:02Thereâs no secret that
the frequent context switching
05:05that happens when we use social media,
05:07so scrolling through our phones
and seeing lots of different bits of
05:11completely unrelated bits of information
like news, ads, you know, cat videos.
05:17That results in significantly
measurable attention deficits.
05:24So Iâm not saying it causes ADHD,
05:27but studies have shown that if you use
your phone for more than an hour in teens,
05:32that results in these attention deficits.
05:36So try and use your phone
a little bit less.
05:39Now, if you wanted to improve
your attention in the long term,
05:42there are things like
focused attention meditation
05:45that you can do to improve that.
05:47And if you wanted to improve
your attention in the really short term,
05:50well, you can actually just exercise.
05:53I know youâre thinking:
05:54âOh, well, my doctor always says
I have to exercise and eat well.â
05:57But hear me out for a second.
05:59Did you know that exercise
can actually increase the size
06:03of the part of your brain involved
in learning and memory?
06:06It also helps you make new brain cells.
06:09And studies have shown that
regular exercise improves memory.
06:13It improves cognition,
so your ability to think.
06:18And just 20 minutes of moderate exercise -
06:21so not even, you know, intense exercise -
06:24that will actually improve your attention
for about two hours afterwards.
06:29So hereâs what you should do:
if youâre sitting down to study,
06:41Itâs even better
if you challenge your balance.
06:43If youâre at work,
run up and down the stairs.
06:46There are lots of things that you can do
to make this happen.
07:00In order to learn,
youâve got to be alert, right?
07:02It's not rocket science.
07:06But heâs the thing.
07:07If youâre not fully focused on a task,
07:12then youâre going to have a harder time
retaining that information.
07:15Activating our bodyâs
fight-or-flight system
07:18or activating our sympathetic
nervous system, as itâs also known,
07:21results in the release of things
like adrenaline and noradrenaline,
07:25and amongst other things,
that will increase our alertness.
07:30So what are some other
things that we can do
07:32to increase our fight-or-flight system?
07:34Because obviously, we canât go around
blasting air horns all the time.
07:38Well, again, exercise -
a bit of a recurring theme here.
07:43You can do certain breathing techniques
like Wim Hof breathing.
07:46You can even end your shower
with a bit of a cold blast of water
07:49because that will certainly
make you feel very alert.
07:52And we also know that stress
will do the same thing.
07:55So we know that if you sit down
to learn after a small stressor -
07:59like this, for example -
that will enhance your learning.
08:07You can have too much stress, though,
08:08as you can see that
Iâm experiencing right now.
08:11So when you have been experiencing
long-term stress or chronic stress,
08:15it physically changes our brain,
08:17and it causes issues
with learning and memory.
08:20So if you have been experiencing stress
for a long period of time,
08:24you will have impairments in memory.
08:25It is that simple,
so do be kind to yourself.
08:29But little bits of stress are good.
08:31They actually help you
reach peak performance.
08:34And we know that having a little bit
of an increase in adrenaline
08:37after a learning task will actually
enhance your learning as well.
08:41Now you can also ingest substances
to enhance your alertness,
08:46things like caffeine.
08:47And thereâs a growing body of evidence now
that shows that having caffeine
08:51before a learning task or actually
just being a regular caffeine drinker
08:55can enhance your learning and memory
08:57through a range of different
mechanisms in the brain.
09:01We know that, for example, if you eat,
09:05you are less alert because thatâs
switching off our fight-or-flight system.
09:09So maybe donât sit down
to study after a big meal.
09:13Thereâs also a limit
to our alertness as well.
09:16So it's still a little bit contentious,
09:19but studies have shown
09:20that we are constantly going through
what we call an âultradian rhythm.â
09:23So about every 90 minutes,
weâre going in and out of peak alertness.
09:28So the reality is you canât be
100% alert all the time,
09:32and itâs going to be a chunk of about
8 to 30 minutes in the middle there
09:36we will be most alert.
09:39Now, another thing for alertness is sleep.
09:42Yes, if you havenât been sleeping,
then, yes, you wonât be as alert.
09:46But sleep is really important
for learning for another reason.
09:50So sleep serves a really important
constellation of functions.
09:54So, for example, it resets our immune
system, it resets our metabolism,
09:58it resets our emotional control,
10:00and it even gets rid of the waste
that builds up in our brain
10:04over the course of the day.
10:05But sleep is actually critical
for memory consolidation,
10:09so for turning short-term memories
into long-term memories.
10:15Thereâs a particular part
of the brain called the hippocampus,
10:18which is important
for learning and memory.
10:20So when you do stuff throughout the day,
your hippocampus is keeping track of that.
10:25Itâs a bit like a diary.
10:26So if I were to ask you
what you were doing
10:28before you sat down
to listen to this talk,
10:31youâre using your hippocampus
to recall that information.
10:35But it only keeps information
there for the short term.
10:39And when you sleep,
all of those short-term memories
10:42get flitted off to other parts
of the brain, the cortex,
10:46and turned into long-term memories.
10:48So if you donât sleep,
10:49you canât turn those short-term
memories into long-term memories.
10:53And thatâs why sleep
is so important for learning.
10:56Thatâs why pulling
an all-nighter and cramming
10:59is the worst thing you can do for study
11:01because you are not going to retain
that information for the long term.
11:05So really, here's what you should do.
11:09Make sure you prioritize
your sleep before you study,
11:12just so you can be a bit more alert,
11:13but also really prioritize
that study after learning
11:17because you will need that to retain
that information for the long term.
11:25Now, the old adage says
that practice makes perfect,
11:28but there's so much truth to that
11:30because repetition is key
when it comes to learning.
11:34Repetition is key
when it comes to learning.
11:38It's not enough to just hear
or see something once
11:41and expect to remember it forever.
11:42Just like exercising builds muscle,
11:44repetitive patterns of thinking or doing
things will reinforce those pathways
11:50and those connections in the brain
associated with doing that thing,
11:53so it'll become easier to recall.
11:56So through the process of neuroplasticity,
youâre making these brand-new connections.
12:01And that takes energy,
requires fatty acids,
12:04requires lots of little
proteins to be made.
12:07Itâs a big job. It takes a lot of energy.
12:09And the brainâs not going
to want to invest all of this energy
12:12in creating these new connections
12:14if itâs something that
youâve only done once, right?
12:18That is why repetition
is so important for learning.
12:21Itâs basically flagging to your brain
at the cellular level that
12:24âHey, this is the thing that
keeps coming up in my life.
12:27So in order to be more efficient,
12:29I need to reinforce this
and do it better.â
12:31So here's what you should do.
12:33Repeat the thing that you are trying
to learn as many times as you can
12:38in that learning period,
and use the spacing technique.
12:41So space your learning out
over multiple days
12:45so that way your learning has a chance
to build on those new long-term memories.
12:54We know that two shorter
learning periods over different days
12:57will result in significantly
better learning
13:00than using that same amount
of time on a single day.
13:06Sometimes we can learn things in one go.
13:10And this is a thing called âone-trial
learningâ in psychology and neuroscience.
13:15And it basically happens when thereâs
a really strong emotional component
13:18tied to that experience.
13:20So, for example, if it makes us really
happy or really sad or scared,
13:24especially if it makes
us afraid, actually,
13:26and thereâs a really important
biological reason for that
13:29if you think about it.
13:31So your brain wants
to remember in exquisite detail
13:35everything to do with that scary event.
13:38So that way, you know how to respond
the next time you encounter it
13:41or just so you can avoid it completely.
13:44And when things go wrong
with that process,
13:46you can end up with things like PTSD.
13:53Breaks are incredibly important
for learning as well.
13:55And there are two main reasons for that.
13:58So, first of all, it gives our brains
a chance to replay that information.
14:02It happens completely subconsciously.
14:04So, for example, if you were learning
a sequence on the piano,
14:08then if you were to take
a ten-second break afterwards,
14:11your brain will actually
be brain recording
14:13so that youâll be replaying that sequence,
and youâll be doing it 20 times faster.
14:17And it looks like it might be even better
if you spend 10 to 20 minutes afterwards
14:24either just having a quiet break -
no phones, of course -
14:28having a nap or doing a round
of nonsleep, deep rest.
14:31Now, the other reason
why breaks are important is because
14:34that newly encoded information
isnât very stable.
14:38And if you were to use those same networks
to learn something else soon afterwards,
14:45what will happen is that newly encoded
information can be destroyed
14:48in a process called
âretrograde interference.â
14:51And in kids, they stabilize
pretty quickly, within a few minutes.
14:55But in adults, as far as we know,
theyâre still unstable after an hour,
15:01So hereâs what you should do.
15:03Make sure you take a 10- to 20-minute
break after you finish learning.
15:06And if you're at work, well,
15:08then just try and do those mundane tasks
that you can do without thinking too much
15:13and wait at least an hour
before trying to learn something similar,
15:17preferably do it on a different day.
15:19Next, we have mistakes,
15:20and I know making mistakes is terrifying.
15:22It is really scary, but thereâs
a biological reason behind that.
15:26So that feeling of anxiety and stress
you get when you make a mistake,
15:30it serves a really important purpose.
15:33So when you make a mistake,
15:34what happens is youâre releasing
neuromodulators like acetylcholine,
15:37and you're getting increased activity
in your focused attention networks.
15:42And that increase in attention
and that feeling of anxiety
15:46serves a really important purpose.
15:49Itâs basically saying to us,
âHey, you made a mistake.
15:52You need to change and do better
and become more efficient.â
15:55And it's opening up this window
for neuroplasticity.
15:58So, whatever happens next,
your brain is ready to take in.
16:02Now, if you make a mistake and you feel
a bit anxious, and you walk away,
16:06well, âAâ, youâre not going
to learn that thing,
16:08and âBâ, well, youâre actually learning
to be less able to cope with failure.
16:14Hereâs what you should do.
16:15You should set yourself up
for a little bit of failure, right?
16:18Quiz yourself on that topic as you go.
Donât wait until youâre ready.
16:22If youâre learning something -
for example, soccer -
16:24donât just kick it straight at the goal.
16:26Change the angle. Make it
more difficult, so you make mistakes.
16:29Don't wait for everything to be
perfect before you have a go,
16:33because at the end of the day
if you make a mistake,
16:36you'll be releasing neuromodulators
that improve your attention.
16:39And if you get it right,
16:41youâll be releasing things
like dopamine in your reward circuits,
16:44which makes you feel good,
16:47which makes you feel more motivated
16:48and consolidates the learning of the thing
that you just did correctly, right?
16:52So thatâs why turning our learning
into a bit of a game can work so well.
16:56Itâs a bit of a win-win situation
for our brain either way, right?
17:00So when you make a mistake, you know,
don't view that anxiety as a bad thing.
17:05Lean into that feeling and keep going
17:07because it's really your brain's way
of helping you be your best.
17:10Itâs helping you be better
than the person that you were yesterday.
17:16So, as you can see, Iâm not angry anymore.
17:20Iâm still quite nervous.
17:25But thatâs because
by understanding the brain,
17:27I know that you have the keys
to unlock your potential to learn faster
17:31and more effectively.
17:33Those keys are attention, alertness,
sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes.
17:39So next time youâre sitting down to learn,
17:41get rid of those distractions,
increase your attention,
17:45increase your alertness,
maybe through a little bit of exercise,
17:48repeat the thing that you are trying
to do as many times as you can
17:52in that training period,
and repeat it over multiple days,
17:56making sure that you prioritize
that sleep in between.
18:01Embrace your mistakes,
18:02and make sure you take
a 10- to 20-minute break after learning
18:06because your brain
is going to thank you.
18:09And now Iâm going to thank you
for your attention,
18:11and I hope you learnt something new.
