ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY DETAILS ABOUT POTENTIATION Brain Flash Card #7 4-11-16 WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF POTENTIATION AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? BRAIN SCIENCE FACTS What is the purpose and function of the microscopic process of potentiation (long-term potentiation) in your life? The purpose of potentiation is to make cellular communication possible among all of the neuron brain cells throughout your brain (cranium) and nervous system (body). Potentiation activates the neurons in your neuronal pathways. You can explore how the brain idea potentiation relates to the new brain idea of your brain's global connectivity by momentarily focusing your attention on the following circular symbol and the #7 red arrow: See #7 = Potentiation Brain Idea THIS SYMBOL REPRESENTS A SIMPLIFIED HOLISTIC VIEW OF THE GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY NECESSARY FOR HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS This circular symbol was created to convey a powerful visual image of the previously unimaginable coalescence of the many diverse and interactive physical brain structures that form the wonderful new idea of your self-manifesting holistic brain. The symbol of 14 red arrows pointing toward the circle of human consciousness, depicts an entity (a conscious living human brain) made up of many parts with a sum total of meaning that is greater than all of its separate parts. Each of the 15 primary brain ideas in the image, which are emphasized on this website, can converge and merge in your mind to produce the mental force (brainpower) that can empower you to stand up for your self-beliefs. Potentiation strengthens the action potential spike in a particular neural pathway by adding connections to more neurons through repeated signaling of ionic currents along a specific neural pathway. It is the biochemical process that causes a habit to form through repeating a certain physical behavior or mental idea until it is unconsciously remembered. It happens inside neural pathways when the ionic currents (biochemical signals or impulses) are associated with strong emotions or repeated due to either training or incidental routine behavior. This fundamental biological process can produce new memories of all the sensations that your brain is aware of from both inside and outside your body. For example, procedural memory (muscle memory) deals with physical skills and habits of movement but it is made possible by long-term potentiation. NOTE: See also neurons #2, dendrites #3, axons #4, nucleus #5, glial cells #6, synapses #8, connectome #9, plasticity #10, cerebral cortex #11, and prefrontal cortex #12. Printable PDF Form DETAILS ABOUT YOUR LONG-TERM POTENTIATION PROCESS (for your own editing and memory consolidation) RECOMMENDATION: Print this PDF version and read it. Underline or highlight with colors the most important new brain ideas to save them in your long-term memory. Then read your mashup of these ideas in a few hours and then in a few days to take advantage of the spaced-repetition method of learning. instantly go to: FACT FINDER LIST OF BOOKS ABOUT POTENTIATION #7 or instantly go to: POTENTIATION: BRAIN FLASH CARD #7 or instantly go to: ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY INDEX produced by Infinite Interactive Ideas™