Early Life Learning Helps Keep Brain Cells Active

Keeping your brain sharp from the very start plays a critical role in the impact of cognitive functioning throughout puberty. According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Rutgers, they found that newborn brain cells in young rats that were successful at learning survived while the same brain cells in animals that didn't master certain tasks died quickly.

"In those that didn't learn, three weeks after the new brain cells were made, nearly one-half of them were no longer there," said Tracey Shors, professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers, via a press release.  "But in those that learned, it was hard to count.  There were so many that were still alive."

Shors note the importance of the study as the massive proliferation of new brain cells can help young animals leave the protectiveness of their mothers and face different opportunities in adulthood.

Through examination of the hippocampus--a portion of the brain that's focused on the process of learning--researchers found that rats learned to associate a sound with certain motor responses found via new brain cells injected with dye a few weeks earlier that were still alive in those that had learned the task while the cells in those who had failed did not survive.

 "It's not that learning makes more cells," Shors added. "It's that the process of learning keeps new cells alive that are already present at the time of the learning experience."

As Shors notes that this process is similar in humans, ensuring that adolescent children take full care of their learning experiences is critical.

 "What it has shown me, especially as an educator, is how difficult it is to achieve optimal learning for our students. You don't want the material to be too easy to learn and yet still have it too difficult where the student doesn't learn and gives up," Shors said. "Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are now, who they want to be when they grow up and are at school in a learning environment all day long. The brain has to have a lot of strength to respond to all those experiences."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Frontiers of Neuroscience.