What's the difference between memory and learning?

A few years ago, I started to learn a bit more about how our brains work. For me, it’s simply fascinating. Like peering behind the curtain and getting the inside scoop! But whilst we are learning new things about our brains all the time, it is a topic that I have continued to dive into and still only scratched the surface.

For 2023, I set myself the goal of completing 3 courses in Neuroscience and expand my knowledge of memory, histology and executive functions. I believe these are vital considerations for creating learning environments. This phrase ‘learning environment’ is one that I use a lot now. Learning isn’t just about structuring a curriculum, nor even getting learners motivated to hit a goal – it is a combination of many, many things and these courses have solidified this further for me. So, what did I learn, and what difference can it make to learner progress?

Firstly, I believe we need to think about supporting our brain in the same way we would an athlete. I am guilty of believing that I cope well with little sleep and that I can multi-task with ease. All the studies point to this just not being true. And I do mean all the studies! But I also don’t think it’s realistic to expect to suddenly change my life and working patterns to have the time to focus on one thing at a time and get my 8hour quota of shut eye. So, what can I do to support my brain to work well in these conditions? The first thing I have put into practice is splitting focus tasks across 2 days. When we sleep our hippocampus, an important ‘hub for integrating learning and memory, has different activation patterns. It plays back what we experienced at 10 times the speed helping us make sense of it all. Where I might be creating a new training presentation, I now start it in an afternoon and finish it the following morning. I’m surprised at how much better the content is – it flows so much better, but also the improvement I have found in focus. It also really supports my drive for dopamine – the addictive chemical that is released when we achieve tasks. Splitting a 1-day task across 2 days allows me to achieve other things at the same time, making me feel like I have done more. In reality, I haven’t – the time is exactly the same. But my brain feels like I have, and I end the day feeling more positive than I ever did when I spent a whole day focusing on just 1 big task. A lot of my training programmes see the workshops split like this too. Splitting a 2-day workshop over 4 ½ days allows for 3 sleeps between sessions instead of just 1. I believe this is helping to cement learning and reduce cognitive load.

Although I believe the learning environment is a combination of many factors, the physical environment is a key consideration. Creating psychological safety allows the brain to focus its energies on learning something new. I hear from many people who found school a punishing experience full of fear of failure. This triggers our behavioural inhibition system (BIS), and our brain will sense threat and try and keep us as safe as possible. Our brain’s ability to sense danger and motivate us to move away from it is something that has kept us all alive – so it’s a really valuable function. But in learning, it also increases cortisol, which is linked to stress, prevents us trying new things and makes us resist feedback. Our brains can sense threat or reward signals in just 2 tenths of a second, so in reality we are constantly in a state of scanning the environment to see how to respond. The opposite of BIS is the BAS – the behavioural activation system. The BAS triggers release of dopamine and responds to signals of reward. It regulates our behaviour as we move towards opportunities and supports resilience in challenges. People with higher levels of BAS have been found to have more joy, happiness and hope (Sign me up right?). Creating an environment that supports BAS means focusing on the social skills of training. Building a strong rapport, creating a learning community where people can both belong and be their authentic self. This is not just a ‘nice to have’ either. This is vital if you want learning to happen. The speed at which our neurons fire is affected by the levels of myelination around our axons. Studies show that myelin production can be impacted by conditions such as stress and social isolation, meaning learners who experience these negatively are also slower to learn. Connecting learning to positive emotions is also key. Not only will this create a more positive working environment in real time, but our brains remember emotional memories as a way of keeping us safe. The more content the learner feels, the more receptive they are to new ideas and maintaining them in the longer term.  

If we pause for a moment and think about everything our brain needs to do, the volume is staggering. To remember everything we have learnt would be almost impossible. Blake Richards from the University of Toronto says the “Brain’s principle is to forget everything except those incidents that were highly salient”. So how can we help our brains ‘swim against the tide’ and commit more to the long-term memory? Storytelling is one way to maximise the brains’ ability to recall detail. Stories activate far more parts of the brain than data alone. Weaving in senses allows us to connect concepts to something more concrete, so expressing detail only adds to the experience. Where there are opportunities to include the element of surprise, we should also embrace these. We remember extraordinary experiences over above ordinary ones. Why? Because if we are confronted with something unpredictable, and we survive the situation our brain believes this must be a valuable learning experience and prioritises it. It also releases yet more dopamine which motivates us to learn more.

In my field as a leadership trainer, I believe one concept is particularly relevant, and that is to build on existing schemas. Each of us has a unique network of neurons already in place before we start a new learning experience. For leaders, this will include the experience that led to them becoming leaders in the first place. Building on this experience is a far more efficient way to learn that starting from scratch. ‘Elaborate encoding’ encourages us to re-visit topics and how it connects to something we already know. Connecting new learnings to existing experiences, even if in just a small way, can speed up how we make sense of information. Given we have 86 billion neurons in our brain we have the ability to make 100 trillion connections! Linking new behaviours with existing role models or drawing on a past experience to consider a new skill can all be used to good effect. Hebb’s law (neurons that wire together fire together) is something we can all consider to better our own learning. However, this is not without its danger. Asking ‘blind’ questions can trigger learners to tap into existing schemas that may actually restrict new learning. We are all biased to believe information that fits with our current view of how the world works. So should we begin to link a new concept with an existing schema that counteracts the learning intention, it will take even longer to build new neural networks. As a trainer, we should structure learning on strong foundations and known, shared concepts to create an efficient ‘scaffold’ for new neural pathways to form and strengthen.

These are just a few of my headline takeaways from the courses I completed this year.