Attention Deficit

From A User’s Guide to the Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D.

…the brain is subject to the same kinds of influences and dysfunctions as other organs. Like a set of muscles, it responds to use and disuse by either growing and remaining vital or decaying, and thus, for the first time, we are learning to see mental weaknesses as physical systems in need of training and practice. The brain is a dynamic, highly sensitive yet robust system that may adapt, for better or worse, to almost any element of its environment. If we are going to set about training our brains to succeed in the world, we certainly need to learn about the various factors that can influence brain functions.

…Neural Darwinism is the theory that explains why the brain needs to be plastic, that is, able to change as our environment and experiences change. That is why we can learn in the first place, and unlearn too, and why people with brain injuries can recover lost functions. The concept also underlies two of the mantras of this book. "Neurons that fire together wire together" means that the more we repeat the same actions and thoughts–from practicing a tennis serve to memorizing multiplication tables–the more we encourage the formation of certain connections and the more fixed the neural circuits in the brain for that activity become.