Computer

John Medina’s excellent book Brain Rules has received quite a bit of attention already (see my original post based on the videos and online information I explored first on John’s website, as well as Donald Clark’s recent review), but I’ve only just got round to reading it properly and I want to take a look at each of the twelve rules in a bit more detail. Whether I sustain this remains to be seen.

John is a developmental molecular biologist (whatever that means) and serious about distinguishing brain myths from brain facts, so I’ve got some confidence in his work. I’m not going to try and relay to you all John’s sources for his twelve rules, because it would take too long and you’d have no reason to buy the book, but I will pass on his conclusions and my reflections on why these may or may not be important in the context of workplace learning. So don’t argue with me if you disagree with the rules; on the other hand, do let me know if you have a different interpretation or application.

Rule 1: Exercise boosts brain power

You’ll have to get used to the fact that John’s rules aren’t really rules at all, they’re assertions. In my mind a rule is a statement that explains what to do in a particular situation – ‘if x happens, then do y’ – but let’s not get bogged down in semantics.

John argues that our brains were built for the way life was for us thousands of years ago – continually on the move, hunting and gathering, avoiding danger and seeking out opportunities. Early humans walked something like 12 miles a day (which meant they must have been pretty fit and needed a hell of a lot of calories), which meant they were conditioned to thinking as they went. Experiments show that thinking skills are improved by exercise, which stimulates the flow if blood to the brain. Even a modest amount of aerobic exercise will half your risk of general dementia and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s by 60%.

So, what does rule 1 mean to me? Well, first of all, as someone who exercises frequently and must therefore be brilliant, this is a chance to be smug and look down my nose at those who have other pastimes. As John says, “Exercisers outperform couch potatoes in tests that measure long-term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, even so-called ‘fluid intelligence’ tasks.”

But what it really tells me is that we have a problem if we expect learners to thrive sitting down for hours at a time in a classroom. This involves an unnatural amount of stillness and a dangerous absence of stimulation. It also shows how important it is not to compromise on physical activity in schools.

In the workplace, it would not go down well, particularly in tough times, if we took the afternoon off to play football, but there must be some compromise. I know some trainers use ‘energisers’ and many of these involve exercise, so I’d advocate more of those. Perhaps it would also help if the coffee machine and the toilets were some distance away, maybe 5 miles! More realistically, I’d schedule lots of breaks and encourage participants to take a walk. On residential courses I wouldn’t schedule evening work, instead encouraging people to use the gyms and other facilities.

Would I go so far as to have everyone walk round the room continuously during the sessions or sit on exercise bikes? I’d like to think I would, but hey, they’d think I was mad (and I can’t be – see above). What I do know is that exercise in moderation certainly gets my brain going, as I always get my best ideas on the cross-trainer and then have to rely on my short-term memory operating at peak performance as I try and hold on to all this while I wait for the opportunity to take a note. We need notepads or audio recorders on the gym machines. Could there be some money in that?