The brain has the unique ability to alter its chemical, biological and physical properties based on the environmental diversities; this unique feature is what is referred to as brain plasticity.

The brain has the unique ability to alter its chemical, biological and physical properties based on the environmental diversities; this unique feature is what is referred to as brain plasticity. The most visible changes attributed to brain plasticity are the changes in behavior and function. Brain plasticity mainly revolves around new learning and the new learning in question occurs in several different forms throughout an individual’s lifetime right from the time of birth till the last day on earth. The acquisition of knowledge is probably the most basic and most important cognitive skills every person should have or possess.

However, there are several variations when it comes to new learning which are mainly brought about by age. The level at which the cognitive abilities of a full grown adult has reached cannot be compared to the cognitive abilities of a child or toddler. Children have the ability to acquire new knowledge in vast quantities and their brain records significantly changes during these times of new learning. The cognitive abilities of an individual may also be affected by neurological damage caused by lesions or perhaps stroke; the cognitive skills affected in these cases mainly refer to the ability to acquire new knowledge.

There are several other cognitive abilities or cognitive skills that are of grave importance to the development of a human being intellectually. For example the ability for an individual to memorize and discriminate the actual source of a specific memory; the recall may be inclusive of the specific time, place, people round you at that time, emotion you felt or any other contextual information related to that memory event. For example you might be listening to a song for the first time but it already seems familiar to you; then you remember that you heard the song on the radio on your way to the supermarket but you reached the destination before the song was over.

This kind of ability is referred to as contextual memory. One of the other important cognitive abilities is the brain’s ability to act in a flexible and adaptive manner in order for the brain to keep up with the changes in the environment. The ability to plan ahead or to anticipate the correct way to perform a task is also one of the cognitive abilities. The ability to perceive a simple stimulus and respond to it is also an important cognitive skill.

There are other cognitive skills such as naming, working memory, updating, eye hand coordination, divided attention, shifting, inhabitation, spatial perception and visual perception among others. Brain fitness training involves maintenance and improvement of synaptic and cognitive abilities of the brain by exercising it. This basically means that you will be able to maintain and even improve the above mentioned cognitive skills by going through the brain fitness program. You can find a brain fitness program online by simply using your search engine to look for a website that offers information on the brain fitness programs available and their charges.

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Thomas Mann is the author of this article on Mental Health.
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