We humans communicate in lots of ways. And we do it way better than my backyard birds. Sometimes, we don’t even have to speak. A hand signal, a body posture, or an expression can get our message across.

How do we learn things? We humans have thought of millions of ways to learn. Before we dig into a few, let’s banter about learning. What is it?

Hello, and welcome back! 2024 has begun, and we’re almost one month in. School has started in Australia, or it’s close. So, what would you like to achieve this year? Have you thought about it? Maybe you haven’t, or you’re still getting over the summer or winter vacation.

Here are some fun brain facts to kick off the Christmas season:

750-1000mL of blood flows through the brain in one minute

One thousand millilitres is one litre or just over a quarter of a gallon.

We are the only species that communicates using written language. We’ve done it for thousands of years before we had books, paper, or pencils. Ancient humans drew pictures on rock walls. More modern humans wrote down what they did each day.

When you and your friends are chatting with each other, you use words in sentences that you will only ever say once. Let’s try that again: the sentences you use with your friends today won’t make an appearance again. Ever.

There are ways to tell we’ve learned things. Can you use a knife and fork? Of course, you can, but there was a time when you couldn’t. You learned how to use them.

Others noticed you using them before you realised you were doing it. You didn’t feel your brain learning, but it learned. And you’ll likely never forget how to cut food and bring it to your mouth without using your fingers.

How was your break from school? You’re back there now, right? I wonder if any of you took road trips. And now that you’re back at school, you’re counting the days until Christmas.

We are in the middle of the school holidays in Australia. It is spring here, and after next week, schools in most Australian states will open again for the final term of the year. So, you are doing little studying at the moment.

We have been talking a lot about brains, memory and learning. Our brains are like giant sponges for knowledge. They soak it up. There is always something new to learn. Or you might have something you have already learned that needs refreshing.

LiHow did you go with Pachelbel’s Canon? I’ve got a new composer this time around. Try out Mozart. Let me know what you think. As well as a composer, Mozart loved math. His sister used to say that he was fascinated by numbers. He wrote a piece called The Magic Flute. It has a repeated pattern of three notes.

Let’s take the music and memory thing further. 

You’re in the middle of studying for a quiz at school tomorrow. Music in the background will help ease your anxiety about it. Just a sec–music won’t cure anxiety.

Learning needs memory. For your memory to keep working, you need to teach it stuff. You store it in your memory and use it later. Once you’ve learned to ride a bike, you never forget it. You might get shaky if you don’t ride for a while. But it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it again.

Okay, we’re into the whole music thing now, right? You have a fav song, don’t you? It wasn’t always your fav. This time last month, it was most likely a different one. It was different this time last year.

My music is still playing. Well, I started playing it again. It hasn’t been playing all the time since I last wrote to you. I had to turn it off because I was doing other things. It’s hard to listen to music when the noise from the lawn mower drowns it out.

LiI always listen to music when I’m working. While I’m writing this blog, I have some calm songs playing. They are not songs I know. That’s important. If you’re trying to concentrate, you don’t need the music distracting you.

Have you ever listened to some music that made you feel tense or angry? Ever listened to music where your brain went, ‘This is awful!’

Have you ever listened to music that made you feel calm and relaxed? Of course you did. Do you know why music is in every movie you watch?

Doing good things for others is an excellent way of boosting oxytocin. Doing good things when you’re not asked to increases it even more.

It made me feel good when I paid for three kids in my class to play pinball. How did I know? I didn’t know that the feeling was caused by oxytocin. I knew my feelings were linked to doing something I thought was good.

Oxytocin is another feel good brain chemical.