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Unpacking Your Mind 17

Dendrites

Axon

Cell body

Figure 3 Dendrites and axons

going out to complete the circuit, so your nerve cells are connected.
And you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that there are
plenty of potential connections to be made in any one brain.
We learn by experience, by interacting with the world using
our senses. Connections or pathways develop between neurons,
which become the routes through which we access our experiences.
When we think or learn, the neural networking that is taking place
is, at a microchemical level, our brain learning from our experiences.
When stimulated, neurons grow many dendrites. These look
like twigs from a branch and connect with an axon from another
neuron or group of neurons. In fact, the dendrites and axons can
connect with each other at various points along their length. When
they connect, they are literally exchanging a small electrical charge
and also releasing minute amounts of different chemicals, depend-
ing on the nature of the experience.
The first time we learn something we are comparatively slow.
I picture my dendrites as explorers, beating a path through a jungle.
The next time it is easier because there is already a route cut out.
Scientists think that this may involve a substance called myelin,
which coats and insulates axons, ensuring much faster transmission
of impulses. Scientists also tell us that water is essential for the
effective movement of the dendrites in your brain, just as it is for
the passage of any explorer through unexplored terrain.
We have three different kinds of neuron. One group brings
information from our senses, another has a networking role using