The Power of Play
Neuroscientists, developmental biologist, psychologists, social scientists, and researchers from every point of the scientific compass now know that play is a profound biological process. It shapes the brain and makes animals smarter and more adaptable. It fosters empathy and makes possible complex social groups. For us, play lies at the core of creativity and innovation. This includes children on the autism spectrum. All brains are in the process of being formed and developing new connections which increase both social and intellectual skills.
John Byers discovered [that] the amount of play is correlated to the development of the brain’s frontal cortex, which is the important brain region responsible for much of what we call cognition: discriminating relevant from irrelevant information, monitoring and organizing our own thoughts and feelings, and planning for the future. In addition, the period of maximum play in each species is tied to the rate and size of growth of the cerebellum. This part of the brain lies in back of and below the main hemispheres, and contains more neurons than the whole rest of the brain. . . . through new brain-imaging techniques researchers are finding that the cerebellum is responsible for key cognitive functions such as attention, language processing, sensing musical rhythm, and more.
Play activity is actually helping sculpt the brain. We make new cognitive connections that find their way into our everyday lives. Neuroscientists, developmental biologist, psychologists, social scientists, and researchers from every point of the scientific compass now know that play is a profound biological process. It shapes the brain and makes animals smarter and more adaptable. . . .it fosters empathy and makes possible complex social groups. For us, play lies at the core of creativity and innovation. The ability to play is critical not only to being happy, but also to sustaining social relationships and being a creative, innovative person. 1 (p. 4-6)
The amount of play is correlated to the development of the brain’s frontal cortex, which is the important brain region responsible for much of what we call cognition: discriminating relevant from irrelevant information, monitoring and organizing our own thoughts and feelings, and planning for the future. In addition, the period of maximum play in each species is tied to the rate and size of growth of the cerebellum. This part of the brain lies in back of and below the main hemispheres, and contains more neurons than the whole rest of the brain. . .through new brain-imaging techniques researchers are finding that the cerebellum is responsible for key cognitive functions such as attention, language processing, sensing musical rhythm, and more. 1 (P. 34)
Play activity is actually helping sculpt the brain. As skills in manipulating objects (e.g., banging on pans, skilling rocks) develop, the richer the circuits in the brain become. Deprivation studies demonstrate that fantasizing—imagining the inner life of others and comparing it to one’s own—is one of the keys to developing empathy, understanding, and trust of others, as well as personal coping skills. Humans are social animals, and play is the gas that drives the engine of social competence. 1 (pp. 85-87)
Transformative-Integrative and Creative Play
Play can become a doorway to a new self, one much more in tune with the world. Because play is all about trying on new behaviors and thoughts, it frees us from established patterns. Sometimes, though, in kids who are really stuck, play can provide a dramatic and obvious example of transformation. 1 (p. 92)
He (Jaak Panksepp) and his student Nikki Gordon have found evidence that play increases gene expression in the frontal lobe for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein thought to be involved with brain maturation. Without play, Panksepp suggests, optimal learning, normal social functioning, self-control, and other executive functions may not mature properly.
Play isn’t the enemy of learning, it’s learning’s partner. Play is like fertilizer for brain growth. It’s crazy not to use it. The link between adequate recess time and later higher performance is one finding that appears to support these benefits.
In addition, play involves multiple centers of perception and cognition across the whole brain. “Play just lights everything up” in the brains of rats at play. Siviy has shown how bouts of play particularly affect the brain’s levels of certain “intermediate early genes,” c-Fos genes, that foster neuronal excitability and survival. He speculates that by strengthening connections between brain areas that might be weakly connected previously, play enhances the retention of knowledge.
That’s part of the adaptive power of play: with a pinch of pleasure, it integrates our deep physiological, emotional, and cognitive capacities. And quite without knowing it, we grow. We harmonize the influences within us. 1 (pp. 100-104)
1 Brown, S. (2009). Play: How it shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. New York, NY: Avery.