John Pelley

Bodybuilding for the brain: John Pelley at TEDxTexasTechUniversity

John attempts to show his audience how action and sleep are used to build a strong brain as well as a strong body. Bodybuilding requires action for muscular growth and the growth occurs during sleep. Similarly, learning requires action for the physical growth of brain cells and this also occurs during sleep. Active learning experiences (sketching, organizing, discussing, etc.) are needed for the brain to replay them during sleep and that action must also be associated with emotion, if either the exercise routine or the learning experience is to be effective. Brain cells develop a temporary record of our experiences during the day but we don't make that record permanent until we sleep. As we replay our experiences during sleep, only those with emotional value are retained, or consolidated, into memory. This can be seen physically in the development of a network of branched connections between brain cells, called dendritic trees. Muscle cells grow, brain cells grow.
The audience will be shown how to apply action and sleep to employ bodybuilding for the brain.