Bransford et al. explain the ways in which the brain changes as a result of learning in the following description of the basic processes of brain development:

A nerve cell, or neuron, is a cell that received information from other nerve cells or from the sensory organs and then projects that information to other nerve cells, while still other neurons project it back to the parts of the body that interact with the environment, such as the muscles … The junctions through which information passes from one neuron to another are called synapses … During the development process, the ‘wiring diagram’ of the brain is created through the formation of synapses. At birth, the human brain has in place only a relatively small proportion of the trillions of synapses it will have. It gains about two-thirds of its adult size after birth. The rest of the synapses are formed after birth, and a portion of the process is guided by experience.

Synaptic connections are added to the brain in two basic ways. The first way is that synapses are overproduced, then selectively lost … In the visual cortex—the area of the cerebral cortex of the brain that controls sight—a person has more synapses at six months of age than at adulthood …

The second method of synapse formation is through the addition of new synapses … Unlike synapse overproduction and loss, the process of synapse addition operates throughout the entire human life span and is especially important in later life. This process is … driven by experience.

Bransford, John D., Ann L. Brown and Rodney R. Cocking (eds). 2000. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press. pp. 116–117. || Amazon || WorldCat

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