Thanks. I don't know that much about the development of the brain itself and neuroplasticity, but I agree that this should be taken into consideration in education. I feel like what you're wondering about is possible and I'd love to ask a neuroscientist about this. I have a hypothesis that brain patterns that are too solidified are connected with depression and dementia, but this is just because the clinically depressed and demented people I know are extremely set it their ways and rarely leave their comfort zones.

That sounds reasonable. The Mandelbrot software is the easiest to start with since I've built some in the past. :-) How about if I let you know the status of these projects by mid September (say Sept. 15) and then we go from there? I'll let you know if I have questions before then. I am getting married in 9 days, so I can spend a little time working on this now and A LOT of time after the wedding.