What happens when Mindy tries to master the world’s loudest, most complicated musical instrument? In this episode about practice, memory, and the amazing ability of the brain to learn, Mindy and Guy Raz embark on a hilariously noisy adventure involving a baseball stadium organ, a very frustrated music teacher, and enough noise to shatter windows! Along the way, you’ll discover what happens inside the brain when we practice something again and again, how neurons can become more organized with repetition, and why getting better at something takes more than simply wishing you were good at it. This episode is packed with musical mayhem, laugh-out-loud hijinks, fascinating brain science, and one very important question: Can practice really make permanent?
Why does practicing something over and over help you remember it? What actually changes inside your brain when you keep working at a new skill? And could studying tiny mouse brains help scientists understand how our own brains learn and remember? Mindy and Guy Raz explore a fascinating study from researchers at UCLA and Rockefeller University, who trained mice to recognize and remember scents in a specific order while observing the neurons in their brains. They discover that as the mice practiced, the activity of their neurons became more organized—offering a WOW-worthy glimpse into how practice can help the brain get better at remembering and performing tasks!
This episode is a hilarious journey into the science of learning and memory. Along the way, kids and families will discover how neurons communicate, how scientists study brains to understand behavior, and how repeated practice can strengthen the brain’s ability to remember. And, of course, Mindy puts the science to the ultimate test as she attempts to transform her truly terrible baseball stadium organ playing into something resembling actual music!
This is the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Wow of practice, memory, neurons, learning, and the incredible science of how our brains get better at things over time!
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Grownups can visit tinkercast.com/join-twaaw to join the World Organization of Wowzers (WOW) and unlock exclusive activities, birthday cards, quarterly mailings, first dibs at events, and a welcome kit with an autographed photo of Mindy & Guy Raz! Plus, Grownups help support our podcast and our mission to create content and experiences that connect laughter to learning, curiosity to innovation, and kids to the WOWs in their world!
This episode of Wow in the World is a perfect blend of comedy, storytelling, and brain science, inviting kids and families to explore how practice changes the way our brains process information, discover how scientists investigate learning and memory, and experience the surprising power of repetition—all while laughing, learning, and wowing together!
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