Brain pruning

We are born with 100 billion neurons and by age three each neuron has formed 15,000 connections with other neurons. We are given more connections than we will ever need.   We absorb each new bit of information but none of it makes sense to us. The abundance of connections causes us to be overwhelmed by too many signals from many different sources. To make sense of your world you have to shut out some of the noise in your head. 

By the time we are sixteen pruning occurs and we lose billions and billions of the synaptic connections. Your genetic inheritance and early childhood experiences assist you in finding some connections smoother and easier to use. You are drawn to these connections again and again and they become stronger. These signals are loud and clear.

Certain behaviors and reactions fit and feel right to you because of these stronger connections. The neuronal network gets reduced to a smaller number of connection so you will develop into an adult. Without the pruning process we would remain in sensory overload stuck as a child. 

What makes each of us unique is our network of mental connections. This creates and causes a recurring pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Our personal mental network is a filter for us to sort and sift our experiences so we can zero in on some stimuli and ignore others. 

“If only I had a brain,” the scarecrow sang in the Wizard of Oz. The scarecrow is my favorite character in the movie. What he discovers is that he does have a brain and he is thinking. We, like the scarecrow need to discover our own brain.

Brain cell development starts at 42 days after conception. The first brain cell called a neuron fires. Approximately 9,500 new neurons are created every second till there are 100 billion neurons. We are born with 100 billion neurons and have that many till late middle life.  

Sixty days before your birth your neurons start trying to communicate with each other. That communication is a reaching out as a strand called an axon. When a connection is made, a synapse is formed. By the age of three each of the 100 billion neurons have formed 15,000 synaptic connections. That’s 15,000 for each of your 100 billion neurons. For example, from 16 months to 36 months there is a big burst of language and cognitive competence. The child goes from knowing a total of 5-10 words to gaining 1-2 words every day. 

The stronger the neuron connection, the faster the processing. We learn because our neurons are connected. Each time we learn something new, our brains are changed. The patterns of woven connections is extensive, intricate and unique. 

“Because you’re an adult”, she said. The little girl’s friend and business partner handed me my pink lemonade.  I suggested that they greet each person who came to the garage sale and invite them to drink the lemonade.    

My question to them?  How do I know this stuff?

“Because you’re an adult”. Her answer made me laugh. Oh, if only it were that easy. Imagine being smart only because you’re an adult! Too bad its not that simple. No one starts smart. Every brain is  wired to learn, yet we have to learn for ourselves. Mom and Dad can’t walk or talk for us.  The learning comes by doing. 

 I  learned how to ride a bicycle when I was five. My brother Tobey, a year younger and more coordinated than me could get on the bike, ride it, stop it, no problem. Me, I could get going but I couldn’t stop. I would drag my bare left foot on the sidewalk to stop which left  scraped toes.

Mr. Wall, our neighbor, saw me struggling. He challenged me to learn how to brake  within one week. If I did, he would build a model airplane for me.  That was exactly the encouragement and incentive I needed. Within 5 days I had it down. “Hey, Mr. Wall, watch me!” He smiled and congratulated me. Three days later he came over to our house and presented me with a model with three small airplanes on a stand. My first official reward for learning something new. 

PhotoReading by Paul Scheele and Thresholds of the Mind by Bill Harris describe four stages of learning:

Unconscious Incompetence - when you do not follow the steps or principles and you don’t know you are not following them.

Conscious Incompetence - when you are are aware of the steps or principles and you know you are not following them.

Conscious Competence - when you can follow the steps or principles, but only when you’re consciously making an effort.

Unconscious Competence - when you have consciously followed the steps or principles so consistently that it is second nature and no longer requires conscious attention. 

I am  a conscious  incompetent  about some technical details, So, I  call Mary, our web developer and programmer.  She sends an e-mail detailing every step by step.  The instructions end with  voila! you’re done.  For Mary, it is voila! because she is competent without thinking about it.

We all have to start at the beginning. The challenge is to keep learning until it becomes automatic. Then the challenge is to remember what it is like to learn.  Some call it “having a beginner’s mind”. Mr. Denton, my college symbolic logic teacher had it. Whenever he introduced a new concept, he would phrase it by saying, “this is how I learned it.” It  helped me relate to him and to the subject.  

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