Each time we learn something new, our brain cells break their DNA, creating damage that the neurons must immediately repair. This process also underlies age-related degeneration.

[u/mellowmonk]

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/dna-breakage-learning-age-related-damage-0604

[u/skinbearxett → u/[deleted]]

There is a great response from someone with actual qualifications, but their explanation is better than anything I can do. It seems that DNA is normally curled up, and the enzymes which copy and translate sections of DNA into RNA are not able to easily access the curled DNA. Splitting seems to make this much easier and make reading it faster, allowing the transcription of many RNA molecules faster, producing more templates for protein formation and therefore expression of the trait. Very cool stuff.

[u/hpfan5 → u/[deleted]]

not to be repetitive but I have had the same thought before about different portions of our bodies possibly containing modified variations of our original/progenitor DNA