Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Prep for LSAT Alters Alters Brain Structure

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120822125222.htm
Intense Prep for Law School Admission Test Alters Brain Structure
ScienceDaily (Aug. 22, 2012) — Intensive preparation for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) actually changes the microscopic structure of the brain, physically bolstering the connections between areas of the brain important for reasoning, according to neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley.

The results suggest that training people in reasoning skills -- the main focus of LSAT prep courses -- can reinforce the brain's circuits involved in thinking and reasoning and could even up people's IQ scores.
"The fact that performance on the LSAT can be improved with practice is not new. People know that they can do better on the LSAT, which is why preparation courses exist," said Allyson Mackey, a graduate student in UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute who led the study. "What we were interested in is whether and how the brain changes as a result of LSAT preparation, which we think is, fundamentally, reasoning training. We wanted to show that the ability to reason is malleable in adults."
The new study shows that reasoning training does alter brain connections, which is good news for the test prep industry, but also for people who have poor reasoning skills and would like to improve them. The findings are reported today (Wednesday, Aug. 22) in the open access journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.
"A lot of people still believe that you are either smart or you are not, and sure, you can practice for a test, but you are not fundamentally changing your brain," said senior author Silvia Bunge, associate professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Psychology and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. "Our research provides a more positive message. How you perform on one of these tests is not necessarily predictive of your future success, it merely reflects your prior history of cognitive engagement, and potentially how prepared you are at this time to enter a graduate program or a law school, as opposed to how prepared you could ever be."

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The full paper is

http://www.frontiersin.org/Neuroanatomy/10.3389/fnana.2012.00032/full
Experience-dependent plasticity in white matter microstructure: reasoning training alters structural connectivity
by
Allyson P. Mackey, Kirstie J. Whitaker and Silvia A. Bunge

Adults and teens can work with inexpensive LSAT prep books.

Taking the LSAT is a gateway drug to law school.

So, regardless of any IQ increases, I would consider the LSAT to be the equivalent of a very dangerous controlled substance.

If you do choose to take the LSAT, make sure that you have a trusted friend or confidant who will make sure that you don't sign up for student loans or complete any application paperwork.

LOL, JonLaw. I consider the GRE the same way, for whatever that's worth.

And whatever happened to those marvelous logic-puzzle books that one used to be able to pick up for a few dollars at any corner drugstore?? DD was very sad to discover that the "new" GRE no longer includes the previous, widely-feared "analytical" section. Remember? The one filled with those darned who's-married-to-who-and-who-is-the-handler-for-which-exotic-animal puzzles about cocktail parties, dinners, bowling leagues and poker/bridge groups, with a paragraph of delightful unconnected, slightly surreal statements like, "Seamus is not the lion-tamer, though he lives with big cats."

Gosh, that was the best part, and they did away with it!!


I recall trying to use a "study guide" to "improve" my skills, but frankly, I found it too cumbersome/byzantine and went back to doing things my own way since it was so much more successful for me personally. I recall finishing that section early and feeling a little wistful that there were not more problems.

Why yes, I have had a lot of people in my life tell me that this is an indication that there is something very, very wrong with me....

why do you ask?

I loved these logic puzzles too. They were the only part of the LSAT that I found engaging. I have no idea whether they are still on the test.

JonLaw -- I need to forward some of your comments to my hubby who is trying to get me to go back into law! He just can't understand that even mentioning being a lawyer again causes my stomach to knot up.

I would tell him that you went to see the neuropsychologist and you went through a battery of tests and that the part of your brain that allowed you to practice law is broken and can't be fixed.

I can't believe they did away with that part! It was my absolute favorite part of the test. It was like a little break of fun. Sigh. On a positive note, I can still find those puzzle books here sometimes and love playing them. Anybody need me to send them some?

Oh- and FWIW Dh says the MCAT is also a very dangerous gateway drug.

That's why groups like Mensa no longer take the GRE or SAT as an IQ proxy. They did away with the parts that correlate best with IQ and turned them more into achievement tests. I, too, did by far the best on the analytical section of the GRE and found it enjoyable.

uh-oh. I'm never going to take the MCAT, but... at our library's used book sale one year I bought the Princeton Review's "Cracking the MCAT" with "more than 1,000 simulated MCAT questions" ...you know, just for fun. Should I be worried?

Am I the only one with an obstructionist principal (or administrator or teacher...) who thought "Awesome! If she can't learn to be reasonable maybe the "drug" will lure her into a life of law instead"?

I think that's pretty risky behavior. Just make sure you aren't reading it alone and if you find yourself reaching for it night after night you may want to seek help.