LSAT preparation found to strengthen reasoning skills

LSAT preparation found to strengthen reasoning skills

As lawyers are required to sift through and absorb large amounts of information, individuals who wish to enter this profession should possess good reasoning skills. Prospective attorneys will be pleased to learn that all the preparation they do for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) may actually improve these vital skills, according to a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley.

The researchers consider LSAT preparation to be reasoning training. As a result, they set out to see what effect all the studying prospective legal students do has on their brains. What they found was the work they do alters brain connections, which, in turn, can strengthen their ability to reason.

While John D. E. Gabrieli, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, did not participate in the study, he is excited about its findings.

"It shows, with rigorous analysis, that brain pathways important for thinking and reasoning remain plastic in adulthood, and that intensive, real-life educational experience that trains reasoning also alters the brain pathways that support reasoning ability," Gabrieli said.

Based on the results of this study, those who have taken the LSAT may want to take an IQ test and see if there really have been any changes to their brain.

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