30 years ago, very few people had heard of it and even fewer would have believed what it can do.

Throughout those decades, neuroscientist Michael Merzenich has not only been a pioneer of neuroplasticity, which allows the brain to be trained to rewire itself for growth and development at any time in our lives, but he’s also one of its most vocal proponents.

Professor Merzenich recently told an audience of government health and education officials, local police and the Family & Child Commission in Queensland, Australia, that brain training would soon be as common as physical fitness programs in schools.

It’s not until you read that point a couple times that you realize how profound it is. We train our bodies to be fit, but we don’t do the same for our minds. Of course we have and need education, but it really only fills our minds with knowledge and trains us for certain tasks. As necessary as it is, the vast majority of education doesn’t train our minds to add new connections – like the bigger muscles we can build through physical training.

In addition to education and physical fitness, we all need brain training.

Among the other points Professor Merzenich made to the Queensland audience:

  • 15 minutes of daily brain training could “turn on the lights” and make children more alert in two weeks
  • Brain-training exercises for ADHD children had longer lasting effects than medication
  • Brain training helps in the treatment of children with autism and dyslexia

“It’s not just about trying … to cram information into their little brains”, said Professor Merzenich. “It’s about improving the brain’s efficiency.”

And that’s another sentence that tells you more than what the words say. In regular schools children with ADHD get information “crammed” into their brains in ways that their brains may be incapable of handling. If instead we worked on improving their brain’s efficiency, they would be better prepared to process the information.

Which leads to one of the more unheralded benefits of brain training; the one that might be best of all. Imagine how good it feels for an ADHD child to one day “get it” after all the frustration and anger he’s experienced both from within himself and from those around him. Brain training is proof that he does not need to be saddled with ADHD forever.

In addition to inviting Professor Merzenich to speak, Queensland seems more active than most jurisdictions in promoting and furthering the study and use of brain training. The Queensland University of Technology has set up a brain “fitness lab” to help people improve the brain’s neural pathways.

According to QUT neuroscientist Selena Bartlett, the training, which includes deep breathing and mindfulness tuition exercises, helps children develop the brain’s basic neural pathways.

Professor Bartlett said neuroscience, brain training and education were “coming together to solve mental health and learning issues … This is going to change the world.”

Learn more about brain training and how it can safely and effectively control or even eliminate ADHD symptoms – without medication. Call Maxi Mind Learning Centres at 416-858-9868 today for a free initial consultation. A Maxi Mind solution can be customized to suit your child’s needs and your family’s budget.

Source:
The Australian – “Brain Training Calms Children with Autism, Hyperactivity”