Understanding the Power of Your Child"s Brain
In order to understand how our intelligence can indeed be increased, you must first learn how your amazing brain works.
Our brain's cerebral cortex (the top and central layers), which plays the role for higher-level thinking is made up of about one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) brain cells called neurons.
Since all of us have roughly the same number of neurons (plus or minus a few million), we have the same basic neurology or 'hardware'.
To understand how powerful the brain really is, you must know how it compares to the processing speed of computers which is measured by MIPS (millions of instructions per second) An Intel Pentium III Processor (500 Mhz) is able to process only 1,354 MIPS.
In comparison, each brain cell (neuron) can process 1,000 instructions per second and our entire brain has the potential to process 100 million MIPS! Th is means that our brain's potential is equivalent to 73,855 Personal Computers working together! All of us share this same phenomenal brainpower and yet, we use less than one percent of our true potential.
Neuro-Connections: The Key To Intelligence So, if all of us have the same number of neurons (equivalent to 73,855 personal computers), then why is it that some students seem to be more intelligent than others? Why are there some teens who seem to grasp and remember academic concepts easily while others struggle to try to understand and remember? The answer lies not in the brain's neurology (or hardware), but rather how our neurons are being activated and used (the software).
Twenty weeks after conception, our brain's neurons begin to make connections with one another.
These connections are called Neuro-Connections.
Every time our neurons make a connection (known as a synapse), a new thought pattern is formed.
So the more neuro-connections we have, the more intelligent we become in a particular area.
For example, if your child is good at Math and Science, it is because the part of the brain that takes care of mathematical-logical intelligence is very rich in connections.
At the same time, your child may not be very good at drawing, which means that in the visual-spatial section of the brain, there are not too many neural-pathways.
So, if your child is not strong at a particular mental activity (like Math or memorizing facts), can he actually increase his intelligence and abilities in that area? Of course! Th e answer is by stimulating and challenging that area of the brain, thereby creating more neuro-connections and increasing his intelligence.
In other words, by doing more of something, you actually become smarter in that activity! Th e brain is like a muscle.
It grows stronger the more it is used and challenged.
At the same time, when it is no longer challenged, it will weaken...
just like any other muscle in your body.
Th is is why we always tell our students that the only way to become great in Math is to learn the right strategy and keep practicing it, until you master it.
If you want to have a powerful memory, you must learn the right memory techniques and keep practicing memorizing until you develop a strong memory intelligence! The trouble with most teens is that they do the exact opposite.
When they get confused or fail a particular subject (like Chinese), they end up hating it and making little effort to master it.
As a result, they will never improve or they may even become worse at it!
Our brain's cerebral cortex (the top and central layers), which plays the role for higher-level thinking is made up of about one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) brain cells called neurons.
Since all of us have roughly the same number of neurons (plus or minus a few million), we have the same basic neurology or 'hardware'.
To understand how powerful the brain really is, you must know how it compares to the processing speed of computers which is measured by MIPS (millions of instructions per second) An Intel Pentium III Processor (500 Mhz) is able to process only 1,354 MIPS.
In comparison, each brain cell (neuron) can process 1,000 instructions per second and our entire brain has the potential to process 100 million MIPS! Th is means that our brain's potential is equivalent to 73,855 Personal Computers working together! All of us share this same phenomenal brainpower and yet, we use less than one percent of our true potential.
Neuro-Connections: The Key To Intelligence So, if all of us have the same number of neurons (equivalent to 73,855 personal computers), then why is it that some students seem to be more intelligent than others? Why are there some teens who seem to grasp and remember academic concepts easily while others struggle to try to understand and remember? The answer lies not in the brain's neurology (or hardware), but rather how our neurons are being activated and used (the software).
Twenty weeks after conception, our brain's neurons begin to make connections with one another.
These connections are called Neuro-Connections.
Every time our neurons make a connection (known as a synapse), a new thought pattern is formed.
So the more neuro-connections we have, the more intelligent we become in a particular area.
For example, if your child is good at Math and Science, it is because the part of the brain that takes care of mathematical-logical intelligence is very rich in connections.
At the same time, your child may not be very good at drawing, which means that in the visual-spatial section of the brain, there are not too many neural-pathways.
So, if your child is not strong at a particular mental activity (like Math or memorizing facts), can he actually increase his intelligence and abilities in that area? Of course! Th e answer is by stimulating and challenging that area of the brain, thereby creating more neuro-connections and increasing his intelligence.
In other words, by doing more of something, you actually become smarter in that activity! Th e brain is like a muscle.
It grows stronger the more it is used and challenged.
At the same time, when it is no longer challenged, it will weaken...
just like any other muscle in your body.
Th is is why we always tell our students that the only way to become great in Math is to learn the right strategy and keep practicing it, until you master it.
If you want to have a powerful memory, you must learn the right memory techniques and keep practicing memorizing until you develop a strong memory intelligence! The trouble with most teens is that they do the exact opposite.
When they get confused or fail a particular subject (like Chinese), they end up hating it and making little effort to master it.
As a result, they will never improve or they may even become worse at it!