Scientific American (Sept. 2008) had an interesting article entitled,
High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius. I thought that others on this board like enjoy reading it.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=high-aptitude-mindsHere is a brief excerpt from page 3:
No one is sure why some experiments indicate that a bright brain is a hardworking one, whereas others suggest it is one that can afford to relax. Some, such as Haier—who has found higher brain metabolic rates in more astute individuals in some of his studies but not in others—speculate one reason could relate to the difficulty of the tasks. When a problem is very complex, even a gifted person’s brain has to work to solve it. The brain’s relatively high metabolic rate in this instance might reflect greater engagement with the task. If that task was out of reach for someone of average intellect, that person’s brain might be relatively inactive because of an inability to tackle the problem. And yet a bright individual’s brain might nonetheless solve a less difficult problem efficiently and with little effort as compared with someone who has a lower IQ.
It is interesting to wonder how this would apply to gifted education? Our kids spend most of their time in school in an environment that provides very little challenge. It seems to imply that the gifted brain can switch into overdrive when given a challenging problem (much like a two-speed engine?). I wonder if gifted kids who remain unchallenged for long periods of time experience a decreased capacity to use their second gear, so to speak, or if it is always available?
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