Figure 18.

Consolidation is the fourth pillar of learning. Initially, all learning requires considerable effort, accompanied by intense activation of the parietal and frontal regions for spatial and executive attention. For a beginner reader, for instance, deciphering words is a slow, effortful, and sequential process: the more letters a word has, the slower the child reads (top). With practice, automaticity arises: reading becomes a fast, parallel, and unconscious process (bottom). A specialized reading circuit emerges, freeing up cortical resources for other tasks.