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Sensory Stimulation

The way we live our lives can profoundly affect how well we think. How you spend your time affects your brain in two very different ways. On the one hand, what you do with your body - whether it is playing sports or just sitting around - changes the physical structure of both your brain and body. However, the things you think about and learn how your brain works. What we do in the early years of our lives has a significant effect on how smart we eventually become. Scientists have been studying this issue for some time, and they have analyzed that early sensory stimulation can improve cognitive performance.

A few different mechanisms might be responsible for this task improvement. One possibility is that early sensory stimulation increases the number of synaptic connections in the brain. As a result, it become easier for neurons to communicate with each other, which would improve cognitive function. Another possibility is that early sensory stimulation causes certain genes to be expressed more strongly. These genes are responsible for creating new neurons and for strengthening synaptic connections. For example, one study found that rats exposed to a rich sensory environment early in life had more neurons in their hippocampus - a region of the brain important for memory and learning. There is also some evidence that early sensory stimulation can improve cognitive function by increasing the amount of oxygen and nutrients that reach the brain. Exposure to new environments and new activities causes the brain to produce more blood vessels. And the more blood vessels there are, the more oxygen and nutrients can reach the brain.

Whatever the mechanism may be, the research on early sensory stimulation is convincing. There is even some evidence that this intervention can help people with cognitive disorders such as ADHD and autism. So it is clear that what we do in our earliest years can have a big impact on our future success. And that is something to keep in mind the next time you are tempted to stay up all night playing video games.