Understanding Brain Structure and Development: Gender Differences and Teaching Strategies

1. 全腦教育潛能開發 王姿陵 副教授 新竹教育大學數理教育研究所 2015.11.18

2. Outline • Brain structure • Brain development • Nature and nurture • Gender differences in brain structure • Gender differences in brain development • Gender differences in cognitive ability • Hemisphere specialization • Left-brain and right-brain teaching strategies

3. Brain Structure • Convolutions • 3 pounds (1.4 kg) • 20%~25% of the energy

4. The brain has three parts: • - the cerebrum （大腦） • - the cerebellum （小腦） • - the brain stem （腦幹） • The cerebrum is divided into two halves: • - the left cerebral hemisphere • - the right cerebral hemisphere • Each hemisphere is divided into four lobes: • - frontal （額葉） • - parietal （頂葉） • - occipital （枕葉） • - temporal （顳葉）

5. The Triune Brain Theoryby Paul D. MacLean (1969) The outer layer of the cerebrum is the cerebral cortex（大腦皮質） or neocortex. (2-4mm)

6. Divisions of the Cerebrum 胼胝體

8. 4 Lobes of the Neocortex 觸覺、壓力、溫度、疼痛 思考、計畫、行動、 情緒、語言 知覺、聽覺、記憶 視覺

9. Brain Asymmetry

11. The left hemisphere controls sensory Input and motor output on the right sideof the body. • The right hemisphere controls sensory Input and motor output on the left side of the body.

12. Brain cells • The brain is made up of many cells, including neurons（神經元/神經細胞）(10%) and glial cells（神經膠細胞）(90%). • There are about 100 billion （千億）neurons in the brain. • There are many more glial cells. • Neurons send and receive electrical-chemical signals to and from the brain and nerve system. • Glial cells provide support, protection, nutrition for the neurons.

13. A neuron The neuron consists of a cell body（細胞本體）with branching dendrites（樹突）and an axon （軸突）.

14. A neuron • The axon takes information away from the cell body. • The dendrites receive information from the sending cell. • Myelin（髓鞘質）coats and insulates the axon, increasing transmission and • speed along the axon. • The axon terminals（軸突末端）transmit the electro-chemical signal across a • synapse（突觸）(the gap between the axon terminal and the receiving cell).

15. How neurons communicate • The axon is the sender of information. • The dendrites are the receivers of information. • The action inside the cell is electrical. • The action between the cells is chemical.

16. Electrical-Chemical Communication at a Synapse

17. The synapse A typical neuron has about 1,000 to 10,000 synapses.

18. Cell connection=Learning

19. Forming neural networks

20. Brain development • An adult brain contains about 100 billion neurons. • At birth, a child’s brain has almost 100 billion neurons. • During the first year of life, the brain forms new synapses (connections between neurons) at a high rate of speed. • By age 2, children’s brains containtwice as many synapses as the brains of normal adults.

21. While these new synapses between neurons continue to form throughout life, they reach their highest synapses at around the age of 2 and the number of synapses remains relatively stable until the age of 10 or 11. • After this age, the number of synapses begins to drop and continues to decline slowly into adult level. By late adolescence, half of all the synapses have been pruned which leaves about 500 trillion （五百兆）synapses. • This number remains relatively constant throughout life although new connections continue to be formed. • Brain development is a dynamic process of growth and pruning.

22. Learning over time

23. Growing dendrites = Learning

24. Disappearing dendrites = Forgetting

25. Nature and nurture In 1960s, Marian Diamond conducted experiments with rats on the effects of environmental stimulation and deprivation on the development of the cerebral cortex.

26. impoverished environment enriched environment

27. How environment changes the structure of brain cells

28. Ronald Kotulak (1997):environment  brain development A longitudinal study: Group 1: Children in an enriched environment Group 2: Children not in an enriched environment after 3 years: Group 1 IQ > Group 2 IQ

29. The psychobiosocial modelby Halpern D. F. (1986) • The dynamic model emphasizes that brain development is based on a complex interaction between genes and experiences. • Nature and nurture are continuous and inseparable.

30. Hemispheric specialization

31. 豬 握 文字 Left brain 影像 Right brain

32. Hemispheric specialization

33. Approach 1: Specialized Areas of the Brain

34. Approach 2: tachistoscopic presentation

35. Tachistoscopic Test 1

37. Tachistoscopic Test 2

40. Approach 2: Dichotic Listening Technique

41. Left vs.Right

42. Parts (Left) vs. Whole(right)

44. Left vs. Right

45. Approach 3: Advanced technologies • Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of brain electrical activity • Positron emission tomography (PET) mapping the blood-flow patterns or glucose metabolism patterns in the brain • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) mapping the blood-flow patterns in the brain

46. EEG Recording

47. PET Scan

48. fMRI Scan

49. Gender differences in brain structure

50. Corpus callosum: information communication Girls: multi-task oriented Boys: single-task oriented • Hippocampus: transition from short-term to long-term memory, vocabulary, reading Girls > boys in language arts • Frontal lobe: regulation of emotions Girls tend to make less impulsive decisions compared to boys. • Broca’s area & Wernicke’s area: main language centers Girls > Boys for verbal communication skills