--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You could double the number of synaptic…" description: "\"You could double the number of synaptic connections in a very simple neurocircuit as a result of experience and learning. The reason for that was that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/eric-kandel-10189_cause_you-could-double-the-number-of-synaptic_2876594.jpg" --- # You could double the number of synaptic connections in a… ![“You could double the number of synaptic connections in a very simple neurocircuit as a result of experience and learning. The reason for that was that long-term memory alters the expression of genes in nerve cells, which is the cause of the growth of new synaptic connections.” quote by Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/eric-kandel-10189_cause_you-could-double-the-number-of-synaptic_2876594.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/eric-kandel-10189_cause_you-could-double-the-number-of-synaptic_2876594.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/eric-kandel-10189_cause_you-could-double-the-number-of-synaptic_2876594.jpg) > “You could double the number of synaptic connections in a very simple neurocircuit as a result of experience and learning. The reason for that was that long-term memory alters the expression of genes in nerve cells, which is the cause of the growth of new synaptic connections.” [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experience triggers gene expression changes that grow new synaptic connections, enhancing memory. **In simple terms:** Learning reshapes brain connections. Key Takeaway Engage in experiences to learn. Themes neuroscience learning memory Mood curious optimistic Type educational scientific When to use this quote - education - skill acquisition - rehabilitation Key Concepts synaptic plasticity gene expression neurogenesis Questions to Reflect On - How does experience alter genes? - What practices maximize synaptic growth? A Different Perspective Biological limits may restrict growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cause/) [Cells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cells/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Could](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/could/) [Double](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/double/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience and learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-and-learning/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Genes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genes/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Alters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-alters-1342876/) [Nerve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerve/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [New Synaptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-synaptic-3115606/) [Number](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/number/) [Number Synaptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/number-synaptic-3963342/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Result](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/result/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Simple Neurocircuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple-neurocircuit-3963343/) [Synaptic Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/synaptic-connections-3515262/) [Term Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term-memory/) [Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [Long-term memory involves enduring changes that result from the growth of new synaptic connections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/long-term-memory-involves-enduring-changes-that-result-from-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [While the past asks only to be remembered, a woman's memory alters on her behalf and in her best interests. Memory - the vain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/while-the-past-asks-only-to-be-remembered-a-woman-s-memory-alters-on/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [By the way, pornography? It's a new synaptic pathway. You wake up in the morning, open a thumbnail page, and it leads to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/by-the-way-pornography-it-s-a-new-synaptic-pathway-you-wake-up-in-the/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [“Satisfactions provide the last clue to talent. As we described in the previous chapter, your strongest synaptic connections are designed so that when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/satisfactions-provide-the-last-clue-to-talent-as-we-described-in-the/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [“As John Bruer describes in The Myth of the First Three Years, nature has developed three ways for you to learn as an adult:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/as-john-bruer-describes-in-the-myth-of-the-first-three-years-nature/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [There are several different kinds of painful feelings that we might experience, and learning to distinguish and relate to these feelings of discomfort or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/there-are-several-different-kinds-of-painful-feelings-that-we-might/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Experience comes from bad judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/experience-comes-from-bad-judgment/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [So while it is true that children are exposed to more information and a greater variety of experiences than were children of the past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-elkind/so-while-it-is-true-that-children-are-exposed-to-more-information-and/) [David Elkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-elkind/) > [You don't know why someone is in a certain circumstance and why they chose to be there. Sometimes it's just about having an experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megalyn-echikunwoke/you-don-t-know-why-someone-is-in-a-certain-circumstance-and-why-they/) [Megalyn Echikunwoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megalyn-echikunwoke/) > [I was the singing voice of a cartoon character. I did dog food commercials. I did a lot of commercials, actually, and helped pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-ladd/i-was-the-singing-voice-of-a-cartoon-character-i-did-dog-food/) [Cheryl Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-ladd/) > [It comes with experience and learning and knowing the game. It's not necessarily about sticking your chest out and saying, 'I'm tough.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-barnes/it-comes-with-experience-and-learning-and-knowing-the-game-it-s-not/) [Matt Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-barnes/) > [I think experience and learning how to win are overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-zimmerman/i-think-experience-and-learning-how-to-win-are-overrated/) [Ryan Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-zimmerman/) > [“What cannot be learnt through education, training, and observation is learnt by experience;and learning through experience is the hardest and the best.For, experience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctor-kesi/what-cannot-be-learnt-through-education-training-and-observation-is/) [Doctor Kesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doctor-kesi/) > [Develop wisdom in sales by reflecting on your experience, and learning everything you can from every call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/develop-wisdom-in-sales-by-reflecting-on-your-experience-and-learning/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Learning from experience and learning from education, both are important. Your education & values decide how you learn from your experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/learning-from-experience-and-learning-from-education-both-are/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) ## More by Eric Kandel > [“Indeed, the underlying precept of the new science of mind is that all mental processes are biological—they all depend on organic molecules and cellular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/indeed-the-underlying-precept-of-the-new-science-of-mind-is-that-all/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-the-1950s-and-early-1960s-psychoanalysis-swept-through-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [In art, as in science, reductionism does not trivialize our perception - of color, light, and perspective - but allows us to see each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-art-as-in-science-reductionism-does-not-trivialize-our-perception/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I don't think neurobiology is going to replace aesthetics or art history. It's a parallel discipline that adds a new dimension. I always compare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-don-t-think-neurobiology-is-going-to-replace-aesthetics-or-art/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [One of the ultimate challenges of biology is to understand how the brain becomes consciously aware of perception, experience and emotion. 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They thought that God was a mathematician and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/ever-since-the-enlightenment-people-thought-that-we-were-living-in-a/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I was interested in the nature of human mental processes, which is what got me interested in psychoanalysis. And it became clear to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-was-interested-in-the-nature-of-human-mental-processes-which-is/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [It may act as an ancillary factor, but by itself, the mutation in tau doesn't give you Alzheimer's disease. This is not to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/it-may-act-as-an-ancillary-factor-but-by-itself-the-mutation-in-tau/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [If you have a lesion in the hippocampus in both sides, you have short term memory, but you can convert that short term memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/if-you-have-a-lesion-in-the-hippocampus-in-both-sides-you-have-short/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [My heart beats in three-quarter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/my-heart-beats-in-three-quarter-time/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Vienna is relatively small. And it had wonderful salons, opportunities for people to get together. There was a lot of interaction between scientists and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/vienna-is-relatively-small-and-it-had-wonderful-salons-opportunities/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Rather than studying the most complex form of memory in a very complicated animal, we had to take the most simple form - an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/rather-than-studying-the-most-complex-form-of-memory-in-a-very/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Since Socrates and Plato first speculated on the nature of the human mind, serious thinkers through the ages - from Aristotle to Descartes, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/since-socrates-and-plato-first-speculated-on-the-nature-of-the-human/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) [Explore all 67 Eric Kandel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) ## More Cause quotes > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [Films are tricky because for years you're getting told you're about to make it and you're about to be busy for four or six…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mills/films-are-tricky-because-for-years-you-re-getting-told-you-re-about/) [Mike Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mills/) > [Take the L out of Lover 'cause we're Over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-the-l-out-of-lover-cause-we-re-over/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Must whales and dolphins be subjected to deafening noise that will cause more than 3.5 million instances of temporary and/or permanent hearing loss? For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/must-whales-and-dolphins-be-subjected-to-deafening-noise-that-will/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [Nothing can be produced without a cause, and the effect is but the cause reproduced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/nothing-can-be-produced-without-a-cause-and-the-effect-is-but-the/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Knowing the cause of something is not going to help you to be free of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/knowing-the-cause-of-something-is-not-going-to-help-you-to-be-free-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [You miss me and tease me 'cause in the end you're gonna please me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-isaacs/you-miss-me-and-tease-me-cause-in-the-end-you-re-gonna-please-me/) [Gregory Isaacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-isaacs/) > [If I lose the ball I cause the team a problem. I am here to provide solutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-busquets/if-i-lose-the-ball-i-cause-the-team-a-problem-i-am-here-to-provide/) [Sergio Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-busquets/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Until you find a cause you can die for, you are not worthy to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/until-you-find-a-cause-you-can-die-for-you-are-not-worthy-to-live/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [“...There are so many paths you can follow. So much effect from one simple cause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-allen/there-are-so-many-paths-you-can-follow-so-much-effect-from-one-simple/) [Lee Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-allen/) > [War can be prevented only by broad-minded statesmanship - a statesmanship that understands how to enlist people's interests in a leading cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/war-can-be-prevented-only-by-broad-minded-statesmanship-a/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [I think the other misconceptions when the film came out, he was very upset that it was so widely released and so widely seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-zwigoff/i-think-the-other-misconceptions-when-the-film-came-out-he-was-very/) [Terry Zwigoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-zwigoff/) [Browse all 1,323 Cause quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cause/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You could double the number of synaptic connections in a very simple neurocircuit as a result of experience and learning. 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