Rule #12 We are powerful and natural explorers. • Babies are the model of how we learn—not by passive reaction to the environment but by active testing through observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion. • Specific parts of the brain allow this scientific approach. The right prefrontal cortex looks for errors in our hypothesis (“The saber-toothed tiger is not harmless”), and an adjoining region tells us to change behavior (“Run!”). • We can recognize and imitate behavior because of “mirror neurons” scattered across the brain. • Some parts of our adult brains stay as malleable as a baby’s, so we can create neurons and learn new things throughout our lives.

— Brain Rules by John Medina