Neural Learning
Neural Learning
When we learn something, neural circuits are altered in our brain. These circuits are composed of a number of neurons (nerve cells) that communicate with one another through special junctions called synapses.
To memorize a new word, we repeat it to ourselves several times, and this selects and strengthens the synapse connections among these various circuits in our cortices.
Some neurons in our visual cortex enable us to recognize spelling, others in our auditory cortex enable us to hear pronunciation, and those in associative cortices enable us to relate the word to our existing knowledge.
This new and durable association between certain neurons will form our memory of this word. By repeating the word often we send the corresponding nerve impulses down many times, and strengthen the connections among those neurons.
This way, the new circuit would be easier to reactivate much later when we want to remember that word.
