When a child learns to play piano scales for the first time, he tends to use his whole upper body—wrist, arm, shoulder—to play each note. Even the facial muscles tighten into a grimace. With practice the budding pianist stops using irrelevant muscles and soon uses only the correct finger to play the note. He develops a “lighter touch,” and if he becomes skillful, he develops “grace” and relaxes when he plays. This is because the child goes from using a massive number of neurons to an appropriate few, well matched to the task. This more efficient use of neurons occurs whenever we become
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