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Plasticity Is a Two-Sided Neural Coin
I’m so glad my brain is plastic, too.
—Teacher
Rats! Maze smart and maze dull. Pet rats! This is an extraordinary story of how an intuitive thought about “pet” rats versus rats in a “cage” changed classrooms forever. Dr. Hebb’s two daughters were allowed play with pet rats in their house. In his laboratory at McGill University, Dr. Hebb studied caged rats. The question he settled on was this, “Would pet rats run the maze better than caged rats?” This little experiment evolved into the study of “enriched environments” that caused schools to look like colorful, stimulating, and fun ADHD places, today.
Playing in a house with furniture, stairs, lots of rooms, and interesting new spaces, as well as enthusiastically, ...