After a thorough analysis of my data collected and research done on brain plasticity, I have concluded that consistent challenges to the brain does indeed improve brain plasticity as stated in the hypothesis. Brain plasticity essentially refers to the number of connections made between neurons, ability to develop through mental challenges, and how effective those connections are. Plasticity is enhanced over time depending on each person’s capability to develop his or her brain when learning new information. A term associated with plasticity is cognition, which is the brains ability to perform tasks with the use of various skills such as problem solving and retaining new information. To be more specific, people use cognitive thinking to evolve
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In my initial Ping-Pong dribble (baseline study), I successfully dribbled the ball fifty-two times. Over the span of thirty days, I decided to spend five minutes every morning shooting free throws with my non-dominant hand (left) at home. The first couple weeks of shooting with my left hand were very difficult because I had no rotation on the ball and felt awkward flicking my wrist. However I noticed that by the third week my arm adapted and I became comfortable shooting with my non-dominant hand. By week four it was astonishing to see myself start making five to ten free throws with ease. Another interesting thing I noticed was that whenever I had seven or more hours of sleep the previous night, my focus during the five minutes was sharper then when I had less than five hours of …show more content…
To justify my data, I found out that brains process new information with the use of neurons that work together to perform critical thinking and do specific tasks. Neurons in the brain function by receiving, processing, and transmitting information to nerve, muscle, or gland cells depending on the type of information given and specific task. Each neuron is divided into three essential parts: axons, dendrites, and soma. During the thirty-day experiment, my brain uses dendrites to receive information collected about triggering motion in my left arm. Information is analyzed, then sent to axons where the brain sends instructions to other cells throughout the body in order to perform a specific task (in this case shooting the basketball with my left hand). Brain plasticity is evident because over time the ability to use my non-dominant hand increased greatly after each week. My brain fought against cognitive decline by strengthening my focus and ability to shoot left-handed over the thirty days. However, if didn’t shoot a basketball left-handed for a year then try to do so after all that time, it would be obvious that cognitive decline took its toll when I struggle shooting with
In my initial Ping-Pong dribble (baseline study), I successfully dribbled the ball fifty-two times. Over the span of thirty days, I decided to spend five minutes every morning shooting free throws with my non-dominant hand (left) at home. The first couple weeks of shooting with my left hand were very difficult because I had no rotation on the ball and felt awkward flicking my wrist. However I noticed that by the third week my arm adapted and I became comfortable shooting with my non-dominant hand. By week four it was astonishing to see myself start making five to ten free throws with ease. Another interesting thing I noticed was that whenever I had seven or more hours of sleep the previous night, my focus during the five minutes was sharper then when I had less than five hours of …show more content…
To justify my data, I found out that brains process new information with the use of neurons that work together to perform critical thinking and do specific tasks. Neurons in the brain function by receiving, processing, and transmitting information to nerve, muscle, or gland cells depending on the type of information given and specific task. Each neuron is divided into three essential parts: axons, dendrites, and soma. During the thirty-day experiment, my brain uses dendrites to receive information collected about triggering motion in my left arm. Information is analyzed, then sent to axons where the brain sends instructions to other cells throughout the body in order to perform a specific task (in this case shooting the basketball with my left hand). Brain plasticity is evident because over time the ability to use my non-dominant hand increased greatly after each week. My brain fought against cognitive decline by strengthening my focus and ability to shoot left-handed over the thirty days. However, if didn’t shoot a basketball left-handed for a year then try to do so after all that time, it would be obvious that cognitive decline took its toll when I struggle shooting with