Learning, Memory and Connections
By Michael Hebron
What follows is based on research by Anthony J. Green, University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Learning and Memory Lab.
Nothing we learn stands in isolation; new learning is sustained only in connection to what
we already know. Memory is not like a notebook, video recording or any other storage
device. Memory comes from a web of connections in the brain between new learning and
prior knowledge.
Memory is dispersed throughout the brain, forming in the regions responsible for
language, vision, hearing, emotions and other functions. When a memory forms in the
brain, it alters the connections among a variety of nerve cells. This means that learning
and memory arise from changes in neurons as they connect and communicate with
neurons in many areas of the brain. There is no one location in the brain where memory
is stored.
The discovery that memory is all about connections between neurons in different
areas of the brain has revolutionary implications for education. It is the connection
between neurons in different areas of the brain that let us understand cause and effect,
learn from our unwanted outcomes and anticipate the future. The things we remember
are things that experience teaches us to help us make predictions for survival.
Because knowledge derives from many neural connections, the optimal strategy for
learning involves making meaningful associations among many different topics.
The ability to form and retain neural connections gives us a record of events, but also
the foundations of comprehension. We make use of these neural connections thousands
of times a day. Non-consciously knowing about the neural connections between different
areas of the brain is crucial for understanding how we learn.
At the root of learning and memory there are non specific generalizations. The ability
to form and retain different neural connections makes comprehension possible; this is a
critical aspect of learning.
There are no upper limits on how much human beings can learn. By making relevant
connections between what we know and what we want to know, supports learning. Build
as many meaningful connections as you can.
As understanding of memory grows deeper, we see that the connections we make
between people, places, and things in our lives, between the past and the present,
present and the future, do not themselves spring from memory. Memory springs from the
neural connections throughout between different areas of the brain.
When the connection between subject matter is relevant and personal to a student,
the learned material becomes part of their beings.
Contextual learning and associative learning formed in the making of neural
connections help to anchor understanding and memory of any body of knowledge.
The message from modern research about neural memory is: there are connections
between different areas of the brain that are used for recognizing and organizing new and
more relevant connections. Joining (connecting) new learning to existing knowledge by
engaging contextual and associative learning we can greatly improve results.
Memory networks are fully engaged across the entire brain when people use what
they already know to make predictions. A personal use of neural connections lets
students move new information into their own thinking. After students can relate to
information, they grasp its significance.
copyright Michael Hebron 2010, all rights reserved
By Michael Hebron
What follows is based on research by Anthony J. Green, University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Learning and Memory Lab.
Nothing we learn stands in isolation; new learning is sustained only in connection to what
we already know. Memory is not like a notebook, video recording or any other storage
device. Memory comes from a web of connections in the brain between new learning and
prior knowledge.
Memory is dispersed throughout the brain, forming in the regions responsible for
language, vision, hearing, emotions and other functions. When a memory forms in the
brain, it alters the connections among a variety of nerve cells. This means that learning
and memory arise from changes in neurons as they connect and communicate with
neurons in many areas of the brain. There is no one location in the brain where memory
is stored.
The discovery that memory is all about connections between neurons in different
areas of the brain has revolutionary implications for education. It is the connection
between neurons in different areas of the brain that let us understand cause and effect,
learn from our unwanted outcomes and anticipate the future. The things we remember
are things that experience teaches us to help us make predictions for survival.
Because knowledge derives from many neural connections, the optimal strategy for
learning involves making meaningful associations among many different topics.
The ability to form and retain neural connections gives us a record of events, but also
the foundations of comprehension. We make use of these neural connections thousands
of times a day. Non-consciously knowing about the neural connections between different
areas of the brain is crucial for understanding how we learn.
At the root of learning and memory there are non specific generalizations. The ability
to form and retain different neural connections makes comprehension possible; this is a
critical aspect of learning.
There are no upper limits on how much human beings can learn. By making relevant
connections between what we know and what we want to know, supports learning. Build
as many meaningful connections as you can.
As understanding of memory grows deeper, we see that the connections we make
between people, places, and things in our lives, between the past and the present,
present and the future, do not themselves spring from memory. Memory springs from the
neural connections throughout between different areas of the brain.
When the connection between subject matter is relevant and personal to a student,
the learned material becomes part of their beings.
Contextual learning and associative learning formed in the making of neural
connections help to anchor understanding and memory of any body of knowledge.
The message from modern research about neural memory is: there are connections
between different areas of the brain that are used for recognizing and organizing new and
more relevant connections. Joining (connecting) new learning to existing knowledge by
engaging contextual and associative learning we can greatly improve results.
Memory networks are fully engaged across the entire brain when people use what
they already know to make predictions. A personal use of neural connections lets
students move new information into their own thinking. After students can relate to
information, they grasp its significance.
copyright Michael Hebron 2010, all rights reserved
