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IntellectueelStimulerendeOmgevingMaakt keuze slim? Experimenten met ratten tonen aan dat een omgeving verrijkt met speeltuigen en andere ratten ervoor zorgt dat de hersencellen van de ratten meer dendrieten krijgen (meer verbindingen aanmaken met andere hersencellen). Al na 40 minuten treedt er een merkbare groei op. Omgekeerd zorgt een extra arme omgeving ervoor dat zenuwcellen in de hersenen ineen gaan krimpen en de dendrieten afsterven. Internationaal gerenommeerd onderzoekster Marianne C. Diamond ziet hierin belangrijke implicaties voor onze soort. (zie onder) > artikel: Response of the Brain to Enrichment uittreksel: Methodological issues associated with enrichment research in humans Of the vast number of animal studies that yield results of interest to human research, studies on the impact of an enriched environment on brain development and behavior can be of enormous interest to humans. Despite similarities in some key respects between the brain of the rat and other mammals, replicating or extrapolating from anatomical and chemical studies conducted in animals is fraught with difficulty, for obvious reasons. Not only is it not presently possible to control all of the experimental variables at work in humans, but the diversity and complexity of human experience militates against designing experiences comparable to those used with lower animals. Nevertheless, these studies and what few human studies have been done, suggest that there are measurable benefits to enriching an individual's environment in whatever terms that individual perceives his immediate environment as enriched. At the very least, this work indicates that there are many opportunities for enhancing brain activity and behavior at all ages, and that they can have pronounced effects throughout the life span. Leren in Vrijheid maakt slimmer > Artikel: The biological roots of learning In dit artikel staat over de zelfde onderzoekster het volgende fragment: Marion Diamond is an eminent neurobiologist from Stamford. She was one i of the team who carried out the autopsy on Einstein's brain. As a young doctoral student she worked on rats' brains (which, disconcertingly, have distinct similarities to the human brain). Not being rich she had to carry out a lot of her work at home where she was also bringing up a young family. She did what is now a standard research procedure. She had two cages of rats, one containing toys and one without. Every week she took a rat from each cage and examined its brain. Week after week she weighed these brains. Consistently the brains from the rats in the enhanced environment (the ones with toys to play with) were 10% heavier than those of the other rats who had no playthings. This was the result she had expected. Not that brain weight is an exact measure of intellectual potential, but it's a guide. Unbeknown to Marion, her children thought the whole experiment was very unfair on the rats, so they started a rescue mission, releasing a number of rats over a period of several weeks and letting them have the run of their own bedrooms. When Marion discovered what was going on - good scientist that she was - she realized she now had a third colony of rats to study. Unbeknown to her children she then started to collect free-range rats from the children's bedrooms. She carried out the same experiment. Much to her delight and to her scientific satisfaction - and, yes, you've guessed it - she found that these free range rats had brains more than 10% heavier again than the artificially stimulated rats, and, of course, more than 20% heavier than the rats in the sterile environment. Rats, if you like, need more than the simulated activity of the classroom, as do human youngsters. Early learning is as much to do with the emotions as it is with the intellect. |