Brain Based Learning

1. Brain Based Learning Amy Cane Freshmen Counselor Hewitt Trussville High School

2. So basically I am a nerd… • the science of the mind (psychology) • Psychologists were interested in our mental functions and capacities how we learn, remember, and think. • mental software • the science of the brain (neuroscience). • Neuroscientists were interested in how the brain develops and functions. • neural hardware • scientists called cognitive neuroscientists are beginning to study how our neural hardware might run our mental software, how brain structures support mental functions, how our neural circuits enable us to think and learn.

3. Cross Laterals Stimulate all four lobes of the brain • Frontal lobe- higher –order thinking • Occipital lobe- processes visual information • Parietal lobe- relays motor and sensory stimuli • Temporal lobe- processes auditory information • Stimulate communications between hemispheres • Left hemisphere- good at sequencing and recognizing parts • Right hemisphere – good at conceptualizing (big picture)

4. Cross Laterals • The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side. Both sides are forced to communicate when arms and legs cross over. This “unsticks” the brain and energizes learning.

5. The Human Brain • The human brain: • is approximately 75% water • Weighs about 3 lbs • Uses 20-25% of our energy supply each day • There are approximately 1.1 trillion cells and 100 billion neurons in the average brain • Brains are disproportionality large compared to other organs at birth

6. How a Brain Develops • The lower building blocks, the brainstem and the mid-brain, are the first areas of the brain to develop and connect. These areas are often referred to as the ‘survival brain’ because they control basic body functions, such as regulating blood pressure and body temperature.

7. How a Brain Develops • The upper building blocks, the limbic system and the cerebral cortex, are referred to as the ‘intellectual’ or thinking brain. The limbic system is the emotional core of the brain. The cortex forms an outer covering around the brain that accounts for 85 percent of the human brain mass. The cortex is where reason, logic, and rational thinking originate.

8. How a Brain Develops • Reading, writing, and arithmetic are cortical functions. During adolescence, the cortex goes through a major period of growth and change that helps adolescents transition into adulthood.

9. How a Brain Develops • The cerebellum not only coordinates certain types of movement but also acts as a support system for other cognitive functions, such as recognizing social cues. The cerebellum, which has more neurons than any other place in the brain and which continues to grow into the early twenties, appears to be the last area of the brain to mature.

10. How we communicate Words Tone/ Feeling Body Language

11. Non-Verbals Teens use their amygdala (a small, almond shaped region of the medial and temporal lobes) that process memory and emotion Adults use their frontal cortex, which governs reason and forethought

12. Use it or Lose it… • Cells with connections that are used will survive and flourish. Not used cells will wither and die. • “The first 3 years…” “Give me a kid for 5 years and I can make them a thief or a pastor” • Not a CD nor video nor music nor app…

13. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

14. How a Brain Develops • The human brain also gets its final layer of insulation during adolescence. • Myelin, a fatty substance, is deposited on critical brain connections. • Myelination increases the speed with which electrical and chemical messages are transmitted throughout the brain. • The prefrontal cortex is the last area of the brain to complete myelination.

15. How a Brain Develops • The portion of the cortex that is located right behind the forehead is called the prefrontal cortex. • The prefrontal cortex is one of the last areas of the brain to mature. • A mature prefrontal cortex is necessary for good judgment, controlling impulses, solving problems, setting goals, organizing and planning, and other skills that are essential to adults. • Following a growth spurt that occurs around age 9 or 10, when the prefrontal cortex actually thickens, this area of the brain goes through a pruning process that starts around age 11 and continues into early adulthood. • New experiences will stimulate more brain connections and new neural pathways. Connections that are not used will be eliminated.

16. How a Brain Develops- Good news!! • As teens mature, their brains become faster, sharper, and more specialized. They begin to: • develop advanced reasoning abilities; expand their capacity for abstract and critical thinking; • understand ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions; analyze complex issues; and evaluate alternatives before making a decision. Although teens have an amazing capacity for learning and memorizing new information, they often experience difficulty with prefrontal cortex functions, such as prioritizing what is important and organizing tasks. (You may have known that!!)

17. Where are our students’ brains? • the part of our brain that processes information expands during childhood and then begins to thin, peaking in girls at roughly 12 to 14 years old and in boys about two years later.

18. Developmentally, where are our students brains? • the brain grows and changes continually in young people • and that it is only about 80 percent developed in adolescents. • The largest part, the cortex, is divided into lobes that mature from back to front. • The last section to connect is the frontal lobe, responsible for cognitive processes such as reasoning, planning, and judgment. • Normally this mental merger is not completed until somewhere between ages 25 and 30

19. Boys and girls… • the part of our brain that processes information expands during childhood and then begins to thin, peaking in girls at roughly 12 to 14 years old and in boys about two years later.

20. Cool brain facts • You will have approximately 70,000 thoughts per day • Even if you consider yourself a left brained person, your brain will switch over to the right side every 90 to 120 minutes • Reading to kids accelerates their brain development

21. More Cool Brain Facts • You have mirror neurons- sympathy neurons • There is a pleasure center in the brain (dopamine and serotonin release) • Your brain memorizes in snapshots

22. Pros neural networks that help brain cells (neurons) communicate through chemical signals are enlarging in teen brains. Learning takes place at the synapses between neurons, as cells excite or inhibit one another and develop more robust synapses with repeated stimulation. This cellular excitement, or “long-term potentiation,” enables children and teenagers to learn languages or musical instruments more easily than adults. Pros and Cons to a teenage brain

23. Pros and Cons to a teenage brain • Cons • Teen brains, for example, are more susceptible than their adult counterparts to alcohol-induced toxicity. • Jensen highlights an experiment in which rat brain cells were exposed to alcohol, which blocks certain synaptic activity. When the alcohol was washed out, the adult cells recovered while the adolescent cells remained “disabled.” • And because studies show that marijuana (cannabinoid) use blocks cell signaling in the brain, according to Jensen, “We make the point that what you did on the weekend is still with you during that test on Thursday. You’ve been trying to study with a self-induced learning disability.”

24. Sleep… • Crazy fact that we won’t tell the students: Studying right before bedtime can help cement the information under review • Teens are physically programmed to stay up later and sleep later. • Students need 8.4 to 9.2 hours of sleep while we need 7.5 to 8.

25. Chemicals/Hormones • Melatonin • Sleep promoting hormone rises later in teens than children and adults. • Dopamine • Chemical messenger that allows for day to day life skills • Endorphins • brain chemicals that relieve pain and can produce euphoria.

26. Chemical releasesSelf Mutilation • These soothing feelings most likely result from the release of endorphins, brain chemicals that relieve pain and can produce euphoria. • "People use self-injury in a lot of ways that other people use drugs or alcohol, or food or sex...to try to feel better in the short run," Whitlock said. • non-suicidal self-injurers had lower levels of opioids in their bodies (endorphins are a type of opioid) than those who did not self-injure. One hypothesis is that people who self-injure have an opioid deficiency and do it to boost their natural opioid levels.

27. The Brain of a Pathological Liar • In a study, it was concluded that there is more white matter in the prefrontal lobe • Which came first? • Preexisting variation • Long-term training

28. Diagnosing PTSD • Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to monitor flow of electrical signals along the brain’s pathways • There is elevated brain activity in the amygdala (fear circuitry). • There is elevated brain activity in the anterior insula (pain & sensitivity). • (Still researching- but it’s a good first step)

29. What implications does this have on Learning?

30. Study Tips • Remove distractions from your study area • Keep a bottle of cool water on hand • Fill a bucket with scissors, markers, ruler, • calculator, glue, stapler, pens, pencils, • colored pencils, paper clips • Do the most important thing first • Take two minutes to organize • Reread the notes you took in classes • Underline or * any content you don’t understand • When you review your notes, read them aloud • 9. Get up and walk around while reading notes • 10. Put your homework in the right folder • 11. Reward yourself • 12. Use a planner • 13. Gather all your stuff BEFORE bed • 14. SLEEP

31. What implications does this have on how we discipline?

32. What implications does this have on how we communicate?

33. Where I got my info…. • http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/09/the-teen-brain.html • http://www.livescience.com/health/non-suicidal-self-injury-cutting-adolescence-college-students-100912.html • http://www.instituteforsafefamilies.org/pdf/theamazingbrain/The_Amazing_Adolescent_Brain.pdf • Jerry Evanski, EdD. – amazing professor and author of Classroom Activators • All Cool Brain Facts are from www.adaringadventure.com (beware- it is satirical and has a few cuss words.) • http://bjp.rcpshcy.org/content/190/2/173.ful (Pathological liar research) • www.healthcentral.com/depression/find-460319-5.html