A psych article, by Temujin, now with minty freshness!

I've stated this before, but here it is again: the human brain is very flexible. Not just in terms of thought but in terms of composition. We can change the structure of it (dendrite spines anyway) by just thinking, and over time we can consciously choose to strengthen a givern neurological pathway.

To give that a real life example, imagine horse-riding. The connections between the various muscle groups necessary will probably be fairly weak to start with, because we don't ride horses naturally. However, if you practise it will become easier, as the pathways strengthen and the activity will move from being consciously to unconsciously executed as less and less mental effort is needed to ride competently.

This is not true merely of motor skills. It applies to linguistics, arithmetic, memory and possibly all other spheres of mental capacity.

So, to test this and write a new, exciting psych article I decided to try and improve an easily measurable and easily executable (if that is a word) task. Having a head for figures, but not being a genius, alas, I chose to exciting world of multiplying numbers in your head. However, we are not talking 7x6 or suchlike. The easiest sets I started out practising were 2x2s (eg 54x36 or 65x23) and I also began with 3x2s (eg 345x12). If I did well enough, by which I meant getting 80% or more out of 30 attempted sums, I would try some 3x3s. Each attempted sum was done entirely in my head, although I did allow myself to look at the two numbers being multiplied. The sums were done at the same 3 times during the day approximately, morning, afternoon and early evening.

During the first week of this experiment, I got 10-12 out of 15 for the 2x2s for all but one day, which were there as more of a mental warm-up than a real test. A disastrous or excellent result with them might also indicate improved or poor concentration.

My 3x2 results started off predictably low, at 17/30 and getting almost as many wrong as you get right is a clear sign of not being consistently capable. However, by the end of week one I was getting 26/30 right, and during week 2 I got a 28 and a 27, (both 90% or higher). Considering the relatively short time span this took place, I was pleased with my progress. And so I tried some 3x3s for the second week.

Alas, I did not progress so well with the 3x3s for the short time space I was trying them. I tried 15 a day, and got between 5 and 9 each time, which is neither utterly awful nor good. However, it did take a week for the 3x2s to get to 80-90%, so I believe with more time I would have achieved a similar result with these as I did with the 3x2s.

So, in just a week I increased my mental multiplication capacity by a digit. If you're still reading you're probably wondering what this means for you or anyone in reality. Well, this specific case is almost useless because very few people need to do sums like this, but what the experiment underlines is the flexibility of the human brain. As stated before, the reason for the choice of multiplication was the ease with which is could be measured. If it's possible to improve the mathematical functioning of the brain in such a short time space it is also possible to improve other things, and to show that learning can be both swift and consciously driven.

In conclusion, this simple study has shown that the brain is both like and unlike a muscle. Exercising it does indeed strengthen its power and improve its fitness, but it is superior to a muscle. A muscle can only become stronger at flexing. A brain can become stronger in any field of learning that we choose, so the next time you think you can't do a task because it's too complicated, reconsider. The brain is the most advanced object we know of in the universe (that is a scientific fact). You can direct its energies consciously and mould its structure and capabilities to whatever you want, and if you do so, the world is your oyster.