hebb’s theory

• Hebb's theory


  Theory of learning and neuronal growth suggesting that when we learn, this creates new connections between neurons in the brain
• Donald Hebb


  • One of the first researchers to use ideas from psychology and biology to explain mental processes
• What happens in the brain during learning

  1. Synaptic connections in the brain become stronger the more they are used

  2. Brain is plastic and constantly changing and developing
• Brain plasticity


  The brain can adapt, change structure and form new connections as we learn
• Learning produces an engram, a trace in the brain that can be made permanent if we continually practise and rehearse the thing we are learning
• How changes occur in the brain during learning

  1. Groups of neurons (cell assemblies) fire together

  2. The more this happens, the stronger the synaptic connections between them become

  3. This leads to the groups of neurons becoming more efficient and physically changing and growing
• Hebb's summary of learning-related changes in the brain

  Cells that fire together, wire together