In a four-year study, Rick Heber, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, took under his wing 44 newborn children with mothers whose IQs averaged 70 points, a level considerably below the U.S. average. Heber and his associates gave the children an intensely rich, stimulating intellectual life. By the time they were four years old, the children’s average IQ hit an amazing 130. A control group of similar children averaged 80 on the same IQ scale.
Remember the story about the teacher assigned to teach a class of exceptional students? She went in expecting them to excel—and they did. Only later did she learn her class was made up of so-called slow learners.
This sort of high-expectation result is know as the Pygmalion Effect. Studies and anecodtes like these and our own experiences indicate that a stimulating environment helps youngseters develop their potential.
Yes, you say, but what does that have to do with me?
It’s possible that one of our elected officials may hear about these developments. Legislation pertaining to day care, pre-school, instruction for new mothers might reach the floor of the House or Senate. You might influence that vote with a postcard or letter.
What’s more, you have a direct stake in similar studies involving seniors. Older adults with brains still intact must stimulate them too. And it isn’t done by running a vibrator around the skull.
Marian Diamond, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus, researched the subject for years and found that we can keep our dendrites growing. Those are the tiny branches between the neurons, or brain cells. Growth occurs when we socialize, tackle new challenges, eat properly and breathe deeply.
Put another way, the brain develops just like an exercised muscle. That’s what Dr. Walter M. Bortz II discovered in his practice and research. Use it or lose it holds true for the brain as well as the body.
He says physical exercise definitely helps the gray matter. The mental reactions of athletes are faster than those of couch potatoes, studies show. And his definition of exercise does not include bowling or golf. It takes jogging, walking, swimming or bicycling—anything that requires deep breathing and some heart action. This poses challenges when a chronic ailment such as arthritis limits one. Which helps explain the growing popularity of aquatics exercising.
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