4 The brain at work
Using the variety of techniques that you met in the previous section, scientists have found that neurons are connected to form neural pathways and circuits. Usually, neural circuits in different regions of the brains are interconnected in complex large-scale networks, working together to accomplish tasks such as talking. As a result, contemporary neuroscience is moving further away from the picture of small and isolated regions of the brain being solely responsible for different roles, as discussed at the beginning of Section 3.
Connections between neurons are constantly being either reinforced or abandoned depending on how much they are used. Pathways in the brain are formed in this way, allowing new skills to be mastered and memories to be created. This is called ‘synaptic plasticity’. This remarkable ability of the brain to change with experience, continually adapting and learning, is a key area of current neuroscience research.
Here it is in action in a very striking way:
Transcript: Video 9 The rubber hand illusion
It’s perhaps possible to appreciate how something relatively simple – like learning to count – could be programmed into the brain. But what about something more difficult, like learning to play a violin concerto from memory? It takes years of practice with the instrument, of course, but just think of everything the brain must store to achieve this task: the minute muscle movements, the sounds, the extraordinarily complex patterns of notes. It’s truly wondrous to consider the brain at work.