When things become automatic, they're inflexible. The meaning of a word comes for free after thousands and thousands of hours of staring at a squiggly line. So if we want to behave flexibly, we need noisier or more effortful control systems in the brain. And that experience of being in a situation that you're not prepared for is exactly the kind of plasticity inducing learning that will help your brain stay adaptable and plastic and flexible with your environment.
There's no such thing as a "normal" brain. And according to Dr. Chantel Prat, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington, that's a very good thing indeed. In her new book, "The Neuroscience of You," Chantel tells readers how their brains got to be the way they are, and today on the show, she explains how to get the most out of the brain you've got.
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