Dilip Mukerjea writes in his new book, Learning How to Learn (not yet released; still in the works; this is a sneak preview!)

A VIGNETTE ON LEARNING HOW TO LEARN 

Learning how to learn is a crucial skill for the 21st century. It can make you agile, flexible, adaptable, and adept at visual-verbal processing, all brain skills for immediate application, pivotal to future-proofing your career. 

Imagine being able to acquire a new language, take up a new sport, or learn to play an instrument in less time, with greater speed and depth, by using the most effective, researchbacked methods available. 

At its core, learning is the process of creating new dendritic branches through practice, brainfriendly study bouts, and sleep. Sleep is essential for learning. It clears out metabolic toxins that accumulate during wakeful periods, and strengthens new connections made during learning. It is also when our brains rehearse what we have been learning, and makes more loose associations about any problems we may be working on. 

Although living brains are very complex, this book uses, as an example, metaphor and analogy to help simplify matters. You will discover several fundamentally different modes of thinking, and how you can use these modes to improve your learning. You will also be introduced to a tool for tackling procrastination, be given some practical information about memory. 

‘Chunking’ is one of the skills that requires cultivating focus, developing understanding, practising the skill or concept you want to learn, and paying attention to the larger context that the chunk fits into. 

Chunks are compact packages of information that your mind can easily access. We will discuss how you can form chunks, how you can use them to improve your understanding and creativity with the material, and how chunks can help you to do better on tests. We will also explore illusions of competence in learning, the challenges of overlearning, and the advantages of interleaving. 

Building solid chunks in long-term memory—chunks that are easily accessible by your short-term memory—takes time. This is why learning to handle procrastination is so important. We also address some of the best ways to access your brain’s most powerful long-term memory systems. 

Another highly effective approach, ‘Retrieving’, directed at information that needs to be learned, is an active process that facilitates deep learning and helps form longlasting chunks. It is a great way to combat illusions of competence. 

Three neurotransmitters affect learning: dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. Dopamine increases in response to rewards and the anticipation of reward. Serotonin is linked to social status, mood and risk-taking, while acetylcholine is involved in focus and concentration. 

Interleaving is a powerful recipe, described here in a unique manner, when you switch between multiple problems and themes that require different skills, which results in several related chunks being formed. It is useful for avoiding the illusion of competence; by testing yourself in different areas, you improve at them and can (sometimes) transfer them to new problems. 

Reconsolidation is the phenomenon whereby memories change when they are remembered. There are two essential facets of memory: working memory and long-term memory. 

While researchers originally thought we could hold 7 items in working memory, the number is more likely closer to 4, although we chunk items to conserve energy and short-term cognitive space. 

Long-term memory is nearly limitless; we can hold billions of pieces of information and representations there. 

Transferring things from working memory to long-term memory requires time and practice. Spaced repetition allows you to strengthen connections in long-term memory by resting and returning to practice sessions repeatedly over long stretches of time. 

From section to section of this book, you will encounter crucial ideas and techniques that will enhance your ability to learn. You will also discover how to more profitably interact with fellow learners, how to recognise your own strengths, and how to avoid the “imposter syndrome.” 

[Imposter Syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects highachieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Many question whether they are deserving of accolades]. 

Fighter pilots and surgeons use checklists to help them with their critical duties—you can use a similar checklist to help you prepare for tests. 

Ultimately, you will learn more about the joys of living a life filled with learning! 

Learning rewires the brain. In the process, some of the brain’s nerve cells change shape or even fire backwards. Recent data have been showing that the brain continues to change over the course of our lives. Cells grow. They form connections with new cells. Some stop talking to others. And it is not just nerve cells that shift and change as we learn. Other brain cells also get into the act. 

Extensive practice can even allow a person to perform a task while thinking about other things — or about nothing at all. A professional pianist, for example, can play a complex piece of music without thinking about which notes to play next. 

In fact, stopping to think about the task can actually interfere with a flawless performance. This is what musicians, athletes and others often refer to as being “in the zone.” This is an ideal state for ingesting learning material. 

The word synapse stems from the Greek words “syn” (together) and “haptein” (to clasp). This might make you think that a synapse is where brain cells touch or fasten together, but that is not quite right. 

The synapse, rather, is that small pocket of space between two cells, where they can pass messages to communicate. 

A single neuron may contain thousands of synapses. In fact, one type of neuron called the Purkinje cell, found in the brain’s cerebellum, may have as many as one hundred thousand synapses. 

One type of synaptic plasticity is called long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP occurs when brain cells on either side of a synapse repeatedly and persistently trade chemical signals, strengthening the synapse over time. This strengthening results in an amplified response in the post-synaptic cell. As such, LTP enhances cell communication, leading to faster and more efficient signaling between cells at the synapse. 

Neuroscientists believe that LTP underlies learning and memory in an area of the brain called the hippocampus. The strengthening of those synapses is what allows learning to occur, and, consequently, for memories to form. 

It is the aim of this book to get your brain alive and alert with a symphony of synapses so that you master the  art and science of learning how to learn.