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Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Spaskiba on 20/01/2016 21:39:32

Title: Can brain training make me better at maths through plasticity?
Post by: Spaskiba on 20/01/2016 21:39:32
Hello, new to the forums. I think this is where the topic most fits since its both in psychology, neurology and myself

I've been reading on neuroplasticity, and Luckily I'm 20 in the age where neuroplasticity is still strong, I would consider myself somewhat mathematical mind, at the age of 15 I was able to calculate duration and energy density of a black hole using Steven Hawkins equations, because unlike math problems in high school I was able to visualize the problem, though I passed my final math exam it was on the lowest level unit possible (in UK it's something like A level AS level and so on) but here it's level 3,4 and 5 I passed level 3

I want to study physics in a university but before I can do that I need to do pass unit 4 final math exam (I'm studying for 5)

Now from what I've read on neuroplasticity, you can reshape your brain to do any work you encounter with ease (simply put: practice)
The thing is I'm looking forward to be exceptionally good at math and right now I'm still struggling with algebra rules, so it got me wondering with two thoughts:

(First thought is a bit off intendant topic so just skip to the second)

First my little brother whose in prepubertal age, according to modern neurological understanding his brain is very adaptable, thus I thought of playing with that plasticity of his brain, teach him algebra, at first he didn't understand anything but with explaining the concept very simply and making him interested in practice the day after I first told him the concept he already started using hidden variables, he didn't know how to find x for some reason he understands the logic of

4-1=3 then it must be true that 4=3+1 he even understands 2-x=1 then it must be true that x=-1 yet he doesn't understand that that very second statement is the missing variable of the first, this is pretty astonishing for a 5 year old that fact that he can find a negative number after a minus
This got me thinking even deeper what if I motivate him to learn how to write with both hands? Such task will improve his connection between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere at such an early age, and after his both hemispheres communicate better than average you can go wild from there

But only as long as you don't force him to do those tasks and exercise, and only if you make your explanation really short and leave him alone
Btw for parents or anything whose interested in how I explained algebra to a five year old is just by telling him his understanding is wrong
It's not really "question=answer" it's "this is the same=as this"

My second thought is what if I practice viewing everything in a mathematical way? Thus making my neural pathways more efficient for mathematical problems, and I've done that, being a very visual person, every car that makes a turn from point a to be I imagined a parabola, every plane that flew in the sky I imagined a tanget, every group of births I imaged the surface area between them but here's the problem and what I believe to be at the highest level to be true:

You cannot create a new way of thinking without witnessing a way of thinking, for example being the visual person I am, and (I forgot the diagnosis name) hyper complosive something, and having ADD I'm unable to process information In a whole complete new way like I want to, I'm always enhancing previous ways of thinking or when I learn some new way of viewing things I combine it with a previous one,

You see what I mean by that is take Pablo Picasso and Nicolas Tesla, while Picasso had a very artistic view if reality, no matter how detailed he would try to be, how technical he would try to be, he would never be able to process information as Tesla and the only way I see to get around this but that would require connecting my brain to a different one directly copying it's ways of interpreting information and that's but realistic at the moment.

You see I'm presented here with a problem, I can find a way to do math in my own way but I can't find a way to do math the way I want to do it, which I can imagine and actually visualize but I have no idea how to achieve such a way.

How does one reshape his information processing pathways?