“Learning is not for me, anyway I always sucked at school”, or even “I am not capable of learning that, I never have been and I never will be!” Who hasn't already heard one of these phrases and/or more or less agreed to it?

At a time of the emergence of new technologies, of the major transformations of private and public organizations—but not only—, the need to adapt quickly to environments in Full mutation is more present than ever! Moreover, the foundations of this ability to adapt are largely based on our learning skills. Unfortunately, far too often we connect the word “learn” to restricted periods in time, at a domain in particular or only accessible to a certain “elite”. Sometimes we even think that there are impassable boundaries ! But are they as limited as we think they are?

What does cognitive science tell us about our learning abilities?

Learning is an intrinsic tool in the way we exist! And this ability is far from being limited to the period of our school learning, reserved exclusively for childhood or adolescence, restricted to certain privileged areas or possible only for certain people. Cognitive science has revealed to us that we are ALL learning, all the time, every day and every second ! Why? Because we are programmed to learn! We are constantly processing, without us necessarily being aware of it, information from our environment: we try to understand the rules that govern them in order to better adapt.

This ability to learn from our environment is based on a neural circuit that has become more complex over time to provide us with tools. incredibly effective. This phenomenon is based on a particular property of our neurons: their plasticity (1) ! As a result of our learning, our neural networks are reorganize : connections -the sites where nerve signals are transmitted through neurons- or also called synapses- are reinforced, others are weakening.

When our connections are strengthened as a result of new learning, other changes in our synapses appear. Indeed, gradually, the “myelin” sheath that surrounds our neurons will thicken and this will result in: manage information more effectively (2). In other words, the more we train and repeat the learning, the more we will strengthen our neural networks and the more quickly the information will be conducted. In this way, we will better and better master these new skills. But when are these properties present and do they have a limited lifespan?

The “malleable” properties of our neurons are functional Even before we were born And are very powerful in childhood! Indeed, recent research has shown that the brains of Fetuses start as early as the third trimester of pregnancy to learn very fine characteristics of their native language (s) while modulating the activity of their neural networks at birth (3, 4).

But these properties are not reserved for childhood, nor are they limited in time! If we adults decide to start learning to juggle or to use this new application on our phone or even to learn a new profession, then subtle alterations will also appear at the level of our synapses to support this new learning (5). Brain plasticity in adults is good more important that it was not accepted by the neuroscientific community a few years ago (6, 7 for the recent controversy). Thus, mastering a new skill perfectly is possible for us! This “cerebral rigidity”, where everything is fixed and unchangeable when we are adults, too often highlighted in our learning problems, is not a biological reality !

So nothing is limited in time or limited to one area of expertise., we can learn throughout our lives, we have the neurobiological equipment for that. Besides, if the human brain is So powerful, it is precisely because he is extremely sensitive to experiences and to its environment throughout life! Certainly it is true the child's brain is extremely flexible and can be changed easily and quickly but it is relatively unstable. The adult brain is sometimes a bit more rigid given its accumulated experience, but it is more effective and more stable, able to support very complex learning (8).

Let's use these keys derived from knowledge in cognitive sciences, which are crucial, in particular to learn better, improve your skills or even to adapt better in a very changing environment. At a time when the jobs of tomorrow do not yet exist, when our apprenticeship capacities are the engine for the transformation of our organizations, we need to re-tame this concept of learning that we have sometimes surrounded by too many constraints or limits. We must put them back at the center of our reflections, seize them to put them at the service of a Common ambition.

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