Handbook of Your Brain in Business: 2. The High-Performing Brain 2.2 Your Knowledgeable Brain
Handbook of the Brain in Business
The High-Performing Brain
Your Knowledgable Brain
Previous: Your Predictive Brain?
We’ve just explored the predictive brain and how our brains are often one step, or more, ahead of us, which is great to know. But another aspect related to prediction is that of knowledge, learning, knowing things.
Intelligence and performance are often associated with knowing things – we spend many years at school and/or college or university stuffing our head with knowledge. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of exaggeration, schools and university are also social places with plenty of other stuff happening. And indeed, one criticism of schooling is precisely that - it is knowledge-based and not thinking-based. A valid criticism that I will come to presently. But knowledge is important, knowing stuff is critical and having a good memory and being able to draw on information is also very, very helpful. So, let’s explore how our brain builds and saves knowledge.
First a note on Big G or IQ – I mentioned in the introduction to high-performing brains that all values of IQ correlate together. This obviously includes one, short-term memory, and two, what is known as crystallised intelligence (knowledge). But memory comes in many forms:
Sensory – or ultra short-term memory
Short-term or Working Memory - ability to remember things for a few seconds or minutes such as remembering a string of numbers as a temporary passcode or precisely what someone said a few minutes earlier in a meeting.
Long-term
Explicit – crystallised memory of facts
Episodic – often autobiographical, events and things that happen to us
Semantic – facts such as what we learn at school
Implicit (procedural) – of processes which includes riding a bike or sporting movements
For the average person we may only think of two things when it comes to memory. Short-term this is like when we play memory with our children - and are amazed at how good they are. And long-term when we can remember events (episodic) or facts (semantic).
Memory is well researched in the brain, but we still know far from everything but let’s start the look at our short-term memory as this is important for operating in the here and now in everyday life, in a meeting in business, and in learning.
Your Brain on Memory
As I mentioned memory is a well-researched area in the neurosciences and also is topic of one of the most famous cases in neuroscience history. The case of HM, as he was known for many decades before his identity was released on his death in 2008, standing for Henry Molaison [1]. This is probably the most famous name in neuroscience – in fact he is the most referenced case in psychological and medical history.
HM had more than five decades of research into his brain after he had had large parts of his hippocampus removed while undergoing brain surgery to alleviate severe epileptic seizures. Little did the neurosurgeon know on that day in 1953 what dramatic impacts this would have on Henry but also what this would contribute to memory (and brain research) - simply put, much of what we know about memory comes from HM. Obviously our knowledge and research methods have advanced, particularly in recent years, but the contributions shouldn’t be underestimated.
William Beecher Scoville (actually HM’s grandfather) sucked out Molaison’s hippocampi, two structures resembling seahorses and named after the Greek word for seahorse, deep in the brain. Their function was not known or researched in 1953 - neuronal theory was only just progressing let alone there being detailed functional mapping, particularly of the internal structures. Much of the cortex had indeed already been mapped by trailblazers such as Brodmann whose regional names still linger on today and Wilder Penfield in Canada who you can see on old YouTube clips activating patients’ brains while undergoing brain surgery – often carried out with only local anaesthetics (the brain has no pain receptors).
Henry Molaison at 62, from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/trouble-in-mind/201201/hm-the-man-no-memory
The operation left Molaison with dense memory loss. This came on two forms:
The inability to form any new memories.
Retrograde amnesia – he lost, for some unknown reason, memories of the previous 11 years, leaving him with only memories up to the age of 16 and with the inability to form new memories.
He lived until the age of 82 in this seemingly bizarre condition, not forming any memories along the way. This had of course, some seemingly amusing side effects namely that he couldn’t remember the researchers who had researched his cognitive function over decades. His case was also one of the reasons that led to the demise of lobotomies that were shockingly, in retrospect, happily carried out on patients with various mental disorders. Of course, neurosurgery is conducted to the present day with much greater care, awareness, and only when no other options available (cancer for example).
This hence threw the hippocampus into the spotlight as a structure that forms memories. Molaison as mentioned was unable to form memories for the next 55 years and was stuck in time at the age of 16. He could, however, learn motor and procedural skills such as learning to walk with a frame but could not remember having learnt to do it. This highlighted that motor, and procedural skills, use different networks to semantic or autobiographical memories.
This therefore is one of the main functions ascribed to the hippocampus - that of memory formation. As we noted we know that previously formed memories can still be recalled with hippocampal damage – these seem to be distributed across the brain and in respective regions i.e., visual memories in visual areas, auditory memories in auditory areas. Also, short-term memory seems to be a pre-frontal function, so the role of the hippocampus is more in encoding episodic and autobiographical memories.
However, research over the years has pointed to another critical component of the hippocampus. Let’s first go back to a classic study in memory because this is also linked to the second key function of the hippocampus. These studies were conducted by Eleanor Maguire and received a lot of popular and academic press [2-5]. The reason being they showed a number of things, and it was something the general public could relate to. Namely memory ability of black cab drivers in London and growth of the brain – back then the concept of neuroplasticity was not as widely touted as it is now.
The first paper in 1997 [2] showed that cab drivers showed high right hippocampal activation on recalling routes around London. For those who don’t know black cab drivers (as in black cabs and not black drivers) have to basically know every street in London and have to take just such a fiendishly difficult test, known as “the knowledge”. This takes years to master. The interesting follow up studies were published in 2000 and 2006 and these showed significant structural changes in the hippocampus while training and learning for the knowledge [4], [5]. This is now interesting as it matches to the memory function, but also includes the navigation function. And it is precisely this which is also considered a key, if not the key function of the hippocampus.
Specifically, cells known as place cells were first discovered in 1976, these are neurons that activate when in specific locations [6]. This seems to show that we build cognitive maps, literally, within a network of neurons. This whole navigational structure has been intensively researched over the years and the Nobel prize in medicine went to John O’Keefe and the wife husband combo of Edvard and May-Brit Moser, the latter discovering grid cells [6]. The Nobel committee saw this as key fundamental insight into how the brain works with these cells operating in tandem and activating to different stimuli in different ways to help us navigate. These grid cells are however, found in the entorhinal cortex which effectively connects the hippocampus to the cortex. Other cells have been discovered that activate to different stimuli: head direction cells, speed cells, and boundary cells.
The question researchers have asked is, is the navigational function the first function of the hippocampus, and this cognitive map architecture then exapted into developing more complex memories, or vice versa, or something else entirely.
What is also fascinating about the hippocampus is that it is one of the only areas in the brain where neurogenesis occurs i.e. new neurons are born (in the dentate gyrus). As has been reported in other leading brains Review articles, and again in the following article on Cortisol and stress, that exercise stimulates this neurogenesis (see below also). Similarly, the adverse effects of stress stimulated by elevated levels of cortisol are shrinkage and atrophy of the hippocampus. So, this brain region is severely impacted by stress.
A further role has been suggested and that is of approach-avoidance conflict. I reported on approach and avoidance motivation and their representations in the brain in my post Of Carrots & Sticks. There seems to be high activation in the hippocampus reported in 2016 with this conflict [7]. This is when we both want something and want to avoid something. Arguably this could be considered an orientation mechanism of moving towards reward, and simultaneously wanting to move away from danger.
The hippocampus is a brain region that everyone knows in the neurosciences and is extensively researched. Some of its functions are clear: it obviously has a key role in memory formation and generation and is very clearly involved in orientation. Which came first and how they are related, and how it manages to generate the encoding of memories which are stored across the brain remains a mystery but as we know from Henry Molaison, it is much better to have a hippocampus than not. Not to mention that getting new brain cells, whatever you say, is probably a good thing.
This puts the hippocampus as a key centre for recording memories in the brain. But what may interest us more in business and our roles is how to improve our memories. A good memory is after all helpful in many contexts. Remembering what was agreed in a meeting, remembering facts, contracts, technical details, these all help us in performance in our roles.
1. Repetition and Breaks
I am sure we’d all like to be able to learn easily. Read something and remember it, listen in on a call and never forget anything, but we all know, well the vast majority of us, that it isn’t always that easy. Over the years and decades many practises have also been developed to help learning, ranging from learning in your sleep to meditative methods. But do these really help?
Well, this is what Shana Carpenter et al. of Iowa State University wanted to find out [8]. To do this they reviewed and analysed over 200 studies ranging over 100 years to find some clear answers. And the results?
The results show that basically two strategies are the most effective and therefore the most important. These are not sexy new techniques – in fact quite boring. They are spacing and retrieval practice. That’s it!
Spacing is the concept of spacing learning out into more bite-sized chunks. For example, in one study medical students received training on surgery training over three weeks vs. one intensive day. Those in the spaced learning group performed better one week after training had finished but also, importantly, one year later.
I have reviewed spaced, or punctuated, learning previously and I explore the advantages and processes of short periods of learning and breaks below.
The second technique is also a low tech, old-fashioned, and effortful: the technique of learning retrieval. This simply means trying to remember what you have learned. This is the high effort version and probably the one we also try to avoid, particularly when by ourselves. This is more effective than the easy method which is just rereading your notes or the textbook again. The important part seems to be the active retrieval part, actually making an effort to get it out again.
So, this on one hand is a bit boring, no new sexy techniques. It is also really important: two simple techniques will improve learning for anyone, and anyone can do it!
So, if learning something new, space it out it into bite-sized chunks (see below for micro learning), and make an effort to remember what you covered and learned.
That’s it, that simple.
Short Breaks
Breaking learning down into smaller chunks is an easy and effective method to increase learning as noted above but some research published recently showed what was happening in the brain in very short learning episodes.
Everyone is interested in learning things and gaining new skills quicker and better. And recent research [9] from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has shown us that this can be made easier than we may have thought.
We have known for a long time that rest, in particular sleep, is critical for learning new skills. In this case this is because connections between neurons, brain cells, have been shown to grow mostly during sleep, deep sleep particularly. So, getting a good night’s sleep improves and consolidates learning whether that be cognitive skills or coordinative skills such as playing the piano or tennis. So far so good.
“Our results support the idea that wakeful rest plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill. It appears to be the period when our brains compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced,”
What this latest research does though, is measure short breaks, and very short breaks at that. This is particularly interesting. What is even more fascinating is the way the researchers managed to measure this. Namely by measuring brain waves of participants and matching this to their behaviour and then watching what the brain did during the breaks (yup, pretty cool).
What did the brain do during the short break? The brain replayed the task. The task in this study was a simple motor task of typing five numbers in sequence as many times as possible within 10 seconds. They noticed that performance increased for the first 10–11 trials then levelled off.
This is in itself a useful insight: we improve rapidly initially and then this levels off. So, for optimal learning repeat a few times before leaving.
But the most fascinating aspect is that the measurements showed that the brain replayed the activity during the breaks up to 2–3 times faster than when performing the task (or than later after a longer rest)! And even more interestingly those participants brains’ who replayed it faster improved the most.
A side note for those brain experts amongst you is of the of the involvement of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex which are thought not to play a role in procedural learning (but in navigation).
So, short breaks in procedural learning, helps learning. Important to note is that you also reach a point of diminishing returns quite quickly — in this case after about 10 repetitions.
So, repeat skills in short bursts, with short breaks, for a short period of time. This will apply to skills such as typing, but also more complex tasks, and also presumably to cognitive attention tasks also.
Another view into how neurons respond to learning in bursts gives us another piece of evidence as to why taking breaks is important. In this research by the Max Planck Institute in Germany [10].
The researchers put mice through various maze learning tasks while tracking the activation patterns of neurons. What they found, which was surprising, is that when the mice repeated tasks without breaks, they ended up activating different neurons. This is counterintuitive — you would expect the same neurons to be activated particularly when the tasks are close together. In contrast when the tasks were spaced out, and recall was much better, the mice activated much similar, and smaller, patterns of neurons.
So, what appears to be happening is that, potentially, the overload of repetition is pulling in more neurons and creating less repeatable patterns. Whereas when they are spaced, they used a similar set of neurons which can strengthen the connections and hence consolidate learning.
The topic of taking breaks in the above is related to learning new skills but this may not be practical in everyday life in business. We are unlikely to break the day into 10 second blocks. But the power of taking a break is still critically important. As the pandemic unfolded in 2020, and the world was thrown into virtual business and endless video calls Microsoft commissioned a study in the effects of this and particularly of stress levels when taking a break or not.
Breaks
This piece of research by Microsoft [11] showed the effects of having non-stop zoom meetings v. having zoom meetings with rest. Brain activity of participants was measured having two hours of non-stop back-to-back virtual meetings (each at 30 minutes) vs. having breaks between the meetings.
During these meetings participants had their brain waves measured using EEG (electrodes on the scalp). Note that in this particular study the breaks included short bouts of meditation.
No prizes for guessing which was best for the brain. With no break, brain waves patterns associated with stress increased over time and attention dropped. The breaks essentially reset the brain.
Brain activation patterns of online meeting without breaks, top, and with break, bottom. From Microsoft study. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/brain-research
But you may argue that you are perfectly capable of bouncing between meetings. Yes, maybe you have a base level of competence that can see you though, and in stressful situations we can adapt. Indeed, that is precisely what a group of researchers did in looking into fatigue mechanisms in the brain albeit this was only a small study with 16 participants but nevertheless fascinating [12].
These students at the University of Florida underwent a monitored repetitive cognitive task over 160 minutes. That’s 2 hours 40 minutes working straight at the computer!
During this they had EEG measurements of their brains. We know that performance decreases over time and this is more or less linear - basically the longer you are cognitively active the higher the fatigue and the lower the performance.
But the researchers found an interesting compensation mechanism. This seems to be the brain recruiting additional areas and resources the more it gets fatigued.
The region in question is the anterior region of the prefrontal cortex - that is at the back of the prefrontal region. This region was not involved at the start of the task but as the task progressed its activity ramped up and this seemed to moderate the decrease in performance. The activity in this region peaked between 60 and 100 minutes. But when the activity in this region declined - presumably also due to fatigue - then performance dropped dramatically.
So, your brain compensates cognitive drop in performances by recruiting different frontal areas but after 100 minutes that’s over. A break before 60 minutes is recommended anyhow but if you don’t make that because you are so heavily involved in a task — which I am also sometimes - about 100 minutes is where your performance will likely fall off a cliff.
But back to memory there is another advantage to taking breaks and that is how we break up the day into blocks – this enables memory consolidation. Research by Alexandra De Soares and colleagues [13] investigated memory recall and prediction in different contexts and saw that psychological breaks created concise “chapters” this enables recall and prediction at the same time. So, breaking up you day into clear separate blocks will benefit memory – remembering what happened, what is to be done, and updating our knowledge base.
On the topic of breaks and I have already mentioned it, sleep is the biggest break we can have - and not only is it a useful beak, detoxifying the brain, resetting emotions, and neurons, it is also when the majority of learning happens.
2. Sleep and Learning
Sleep is critical for just about everything – I will write in more detail in later sections – but it’s role in learning is especially interesting. We may consider our waking hours to be more important to learning – it is when we practice and engage in activities to stimulate learning. Indeed, as I have already shown, above, the brain replays activities during breaks when awake.
But learning from the brain’s perspective is not just being able to recall - well, it is for us in everyday life - but the basis for recall are the brain’s connections and these connections need to be built. Or rather for a memory to be translated into long-term memory connections between neurons which need to grow and stabilize the patterns so that they can then be recalled.
And when does this happen?
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