The Psychology of Brain Learning: Debunking Neuromyths and Facts

This psychology essay examines various neuromyths surrounding brain function and learning. It challenges misconceptions such as the 10% brain usage myth and the left-brain/right-brain dichotomy. The essay discusses the importance of physical exercise in cognitive development, citing research that supports the positive impact of exercise on brain plasticity and cognitive performance, particularly in children. It highlights how these neuromyths can impact individuals' self-perception and motivation, emphasizing the need to debunk false beliefs. The essay references studies and research to support its claims, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Running Head: PSYCHOLOGY 0
Brain learning
[Document subtitle]

PSYCHOLOGY 1
Neuromyth is about cultivating the wrong or false beliefs regarding the functioning of the
brain. In the neuromyth, various myths are formed by the educators or people regarding the how
the brain works (Blaya, 2015, pp. 268-282). The people readily accept various ideas and beliefs
and consider them to be true. They live their whole life believing that false concept for example
the differences that usually arise between the left and right brain thinkers. People believe that the
left-brain thinkers have a practical personality and the right brain thinkers have a more emotional
personality. Although there is truth to some extent but in the recent studies it was claimed that
both part of the brain works together and there are various changes that take place during the
lifetime. The claim is just the tip of an iceberg. There are various other claims that are falsely
believed by the people in a lifetime.
Only 10 %of the brain is used in the lifetime
It is the widely believed myth that the people use the only 10%of brain. The belief has
been originated from the most popular book by Christian Jarrett that is “Great Myth of the brain”
and from the psychologist William James work of ‘reserve mental energy (Duan, 2018, pp. 108-
115.)’. Various movies such Lucy and Limitless are responsible for the spread of this false belief.
The claim is false in the recent studies, it is being claimed that every part of the brain is used by
the people in the lifetime. The truth that individuals use every part is proven through various
high-take responsibilities such as functional magnetic resonance imaging. Sometimes the brain
images through MRI shows that only small part of the brain to be active but the active part of the
brain is (Ward, 2017, pp. 140-154)against the claim could be that the brain is 2%of the body
weight of an individual and it records for around 20% of the energy consumption and for infants,
it is around 60% and moreover, the brain is such a high valued organ that the chances for it
getting underutilized is less (Parkin & Walsh., 2015, pp. 932-945.). The truth regarding the brain
is that it holds maximum potential for change. Every time a person learns a skill, a new memory
is created in the brain. The fact that our brain has untapped potential is not true. Although many
people have the great cognitive potential but it is not always the high amount of reservoir. The
neuro-myth had been of great help in unlocking the potential of the brain of many children
(Parkin & Walsh., 2015, pp. 932-945.).
The brain learning is improved by doing high level of physical exercise

PSYCHOLOGY 2
During the recent times, the idea that the exercise improves the functioning of the brain
as it causes the cognitive development in them. the studies also claimed the importance of doing
regular physical exercises by children to develop the cognitive process of the brain. The claim
came out be true (Raichlen & Alexander, 2017, pp. 408-421.). It has also been proved by the
science that the exercise does prove the cognitive functioning of the brain. Various research has
in 1970 and 1980 claimed that the physical exercise was used for adults to slow down their
cognitive decline. In the case of rodents, the exercises impacted positively to their cognitive
development. In case of the mouse, they were made to exercise on a wheel that improved their
performance in maze task. The further research claimed that the development of the proteins take
place by doing exercise voluntarily (Ward, 2017, pp. 140-154). The new-blood cells got
developed thus helping to improve the plasticity in brain. The brain becomes more capable of
receiving new information thus leading to the development of new memory lanes. Various
experiments conducted proved voluntary exercise to be beneficial for children in their cognitive
development (Blaya, 2015, pp. 268-282). It was reported in a study that the aerobic fitness is
responsible for improved performance in reading habits and math. In children, high degree of
physical activity is proportional to improved intelligence, perceptual and verbal skills (Raichlen
& Alexander, 2017, pp. 408-421.).
Conclusion
There are various myths related to the functioning of the brain. These myths create false
belief in an individual for the functioning of the brain. It becomes important to eradicate this
myth from an individual’s brain. The myths regarding left brain or right brain user creates
demotivation among individuals as they right brain thinkers started thinking that they lack
analytical skills and vice-versa. In other cases, some neuromyth are the cause of the great
performance in an individual as some people started believing that brain has vast mental
reservoir that could be exploited to bring more intelligence.

PSYCHOLOGY 3
References
Blaya, M. O. (2015). Neurotherapeutic capacity of P7C3 agents for the treatment of Traumatic
Brain Injury.". Neuropharmacology, 268-282.
Duan, X. e. (2018). Development of neural stem cell in the adult brain.". Current opinion in
neurobiology, 108-115.
Karakus, O. P.-J., & Jay, T. (2015). Primary and secondary school teachers’ knowledge and
misconceptions about the brain in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences ,
1933-1940.
Parkin, B. L., & Walsh., V. F. (2015). Non-invasive human brain stimulation in cognitive
neuroscience: a primer.". Elsevier, 932-945.
Raichlen, D. A., & Alexander, G. E. (2017). Adaptive capacity: an evolutionary neuroscience
model linking exercise, cognition, and brain health. Trends in neurosciences, 408-421.
Ward, A. F. (2017). "Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available
cognitive capacity.". Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 140-154.