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W. Keith Sgrillo I like to embrace this idea that the brain is ever changing because, for me, it gives a sense of hope. It helps me to realize that despite students/peoples limitations, there is always the possiblility to change, develop, and expand. This line of thought has helped me to better understand and work with other people/students in ways I wouldn't have before. I also like this idea beacause it allows me to change as well and "improve" on some of the "stories" I previously believed and told as well. Someone brought up the idea of environment and how it affects on the brain. It reminded me of an article I read this year in a sciene magazine about the construction of the brain. The scientists looked at and compared/contrasted healthy brains of living people and dead. they studied people who were life-long "puzzle-solvers" (i think they phrased it that way). They looked at brains of people who engaged in chess, math puzzles,word puzzles etc and compared/contrasted them to those who do not. They found that there were significantly more ridges in the brain of those who engaged in puzzle games (like chess) than those who did not. I found that to be very interesting and maybe Paul can expand on that.