Getting to Know Your Brain

Journal Write half a page about a time when you felt really afraid. How did you react?

When we face danger… Our body tells us to “fight or flight”

Your brain is made up of 3 parts Parts of the brain work together as a team, each part with a position or job to do

Prefrontal Cortex Makes thoughtful decisions, does careful calculations, talks through a problem, and stays focused on what you’re doing Can only get information when the Amygdala is calm Passes information on to the Hippocampus

Amygdala Keeps you safe at all costs Regulates and blocks information from going to your prefrontal cortex so you can react in a flash Can cause you to react without thinking

Hippocampus Creates, stores and processes important facts and memories passed on from the Prefrontal Cortex Ie. smell of freshly baked biscuits – makes you feel good

Team Analogy Prefrontal cortex: quaterback – calls plays and makes decisions – helps you pay attention and make good decisions

Amygdala: blocker – protects the quarterback – keeps you safe

Hippocampus: coach – remembers the old games and the playbook – retrieves important information

Scenario Imagine you are walking to school and you see ahead of you, blocking the sidewalk, a large group of bigger kids you don’t know. How does your body immediately react? What are you thinking? What experience can you draw on? What is each part of your brain doing?

What types of things can you do to calm yourself?