When I was a kid, I thought of going to school as an obligation imposed by my parents, and I guess many kids feel the same. My father used to say, "you need to study hard to build a better future for yourself," but I think that if my father had told me "studying is good for your future brain," then I probably would have focused more on my learning at school. Here, I shall deal with the topic of how our school education can influence the brain, focusing particularly on the changes in the cerebral cortex that are induced by our surroundings. These findings will be explained using a historical perspective to support the ideas presented.