- Define and explain Connections That Grow in your own words
- Use key terms such as synapse accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
This lesson focuses on Connections That Grow: discover how learning strengthens the links between neurons — and why practice matters.
Discover how learning strengthens the links between neurons — and why practice matters.
Key ideas
Learning builds stronger bridges
When you practise something, the synapses involved fire together repeatedly, and the connections get faster and stronger — 'neurons that fire together, wire together', as psychologist Donald Hebb proposed. That is why a times table you rehearse becomes automatic. The brain also prunes away connections you rarely use, so regular practice keeps your most useful pathways in top shape.
Neurons are the brain's wiring
Each neuron has branchy dendrites that collect signals, a cell body that processes them, and a long axon that fires the message onward. When the signal reaches the end of the axon, neurotransmitter chemicals carry it across the synapse to the next neuron. Everything you think, feel and do is built from patterns of these tiny handoffs, happening millions of times a second.
Key term — synapse: The tiny gap between two neurons where a message jumps from one cell to the next.
Explain, using neurons, why practising the piano every day makes playing easier.
Repeated firing strengthens the synapses involved ('neurons that fire together, wire together'), so the pathways become faster and the playing becomes automatic.
Answer: Repeated firing strengthens the synapses involved ('neurons that fire together, wire together'), so the pathways become faster and the playing becomes automatic.
- Bigger brains mean cleverer people Brain size does not determine intelligence; what matters far more is the pattern and strength of the connections between neurons.
- We only use 10% of our brains Brain scans show we use virtually all of our brain, just not all at once — different parts switch on for different jobs. The 10% claim is a myth.
Practice
The brain keeps forming and strengthening connections throughout life, so practice at any age builds the neural pathways needed — 14 is definitely not too late.
A nerve cell that carries messages. Its parts are dendrites (collect signals), the cell body, and the axon (sends the signal on).
The electrical signal reaches the end of the axon, and neurotransmitter chemicals carry the message across the tiny gap to the next neuron.
Cerebrum — thinking and memory; cerebellum — movement and balance; brain stem — automatic jobs like breathing and heartbeat.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "synapse"?
True or false: humans only use 10% of their brains.
- Connections That Grow: discover how learning strengthens the links between neurons — and why practice matters.
- Learning builds stronger bridges: When you practise something, the synapses involved fire together repeatedly, and the connections get faster and stronger — 'neurons that fire together, wire together', as psychologist Donald Hebb proposed.
- neuron: A nerve cell that carries messages around your nervous system; your brain contains around 86 billion of them.
- Watch out for: bigger brains mean cleverer people