Brain Based Research Strategies Analisa Gerig-Sickles & Heidi Schubert September 2011

Taken from: Basic Brain Anatomy

Neurons

The terminals make contact with the dendrites of other neurons and allow connections, or synapses, to form between neurons. In this way, complex neural networks can be created.

Frontal Lobe: Frontal Lobe: Most anterior, right under the forehead. Functions: Consciousness Initiation of activity in response to our environment Judgments we make Controls our emotional response Controls our expressive language Assigns meaning to the words we choose & word associations Memory for habits and motor activities.

Parietal Lobe: Parietal Lobe: near the back and top of the head. Functions: Location for visual attention. Location for touch perception. Goal directed voluntary movements. Manipulation of objects. Integration of different senses to understand a single concept.

Occipital Lobes: Occipital Lobes: Most posterior, at the back of the head. Functions: Vision Observed Problems: Defects in vision – locating objects in environment. – with identifying colors – hallucinations/visual illusions – Word blindness – Difficulty in recognizing drawn objects. – Inability to recognize the movement of an object Difficulties with reading and writing.

Temporal Lobes: Temporal Lobes: Side of head above ears. Functions: Hearing ability Memory acquisition Some visual perceptions Categorization of objects.

BRAIN STEM: BRAIN STEM: Deep in Brain, leads to spinal cord. Functions: Breathing Heart Rate Swallowing Reflexes to seeing and hearing Controls sweating, blood pressure, digestion, temperature Affects level of alertness. Ability to sleep. Sense of balance

CEREBELLUM: CEREBELLUM: Located at the base of the skull. Functions: Coordination of voluntary movement (balance and equilibrium) Some memory for reflex motor acts. Observed Problems: Loss of ability to: – coordinate fine movements. – to walk – reach out and grab objects. – To make rapid movements. Tremors & dizziness Slurred Speech

12 Brain-Based Learning Principles Caine & Caine These principles are interrelated.

The brain is a parallel processor The brain does many things at once However, there is the Cocktail effect- – You cannot consciously focus on more than one thing at a time – Develop automaticity of tasks YouTube

Learning engages the entire physiology Things that affect learning: – Healthy eating, emotions, physical activity hydration, sleep Exercise allows more circulation The search for meaning is innate Connections made with dendrites 1 st lessons should have connections Need routine, but some curiosity invoked

The search for meaning occurs through “patterning” Meaningful patterns and connections are made Teachers can influence how students make patterns and connections Emotions are critical to patterning How students feel affects their learning

Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes Left and right brain work together at the same time with different functions Each side has its own job (parts), to make learning (whole) Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception Brain absorbs direct information but also sensory information

Characteristics of Sensory Memory It receives all information coming into the brain through the senses. It discards approximately 99% of this incoming sensory data. Attends to relevant information

Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes We learn much more than we are consciously aware of The brain and body learn physically, mentally, and affectively Processing time, reflection and metacognition are important in the classroom

We have at least two types of memory Spatial-where connections and meanings take place Rote-where things are stored by memorization The brain understands and remembers best when facts and skills are embedded in natural spatial memory Learning is given meaning when embedded in everyday occurrences

Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat Safe environment with learning challenges Each brain is unique Although processes are similar, every brain is different

Group discussion Read the Pat Wolfe article in your Cooperative Learning Exercises packet. With your group, discuss how Pat Wolfe’s generally accepted list of potential classroom applications of brain research correspond with the 12 Brain-Based Learning Principles. How are they similar and where do they diverge? What are the classroom implications of both lists?

Oral language is natural Babies born able to hear abundance of sounds Natural Pruning People need to be explicitly taught to read, not to speak Reading is an unnatural act

How do we learn to read? Plasticity-allows the brain to make new connections among structures and circuits originally made for vision or oral language Learning to read actually changes the brain Not in genetics- each person needs to learn to read

The pathway for language The pathway for learning to read

Pathway for reading The pathway in the brain for memorized words

Research on Dyslexia

Research on Dyslexia: 2 Studies Neural deficits in children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation: Evidence from functional MRI – Elise Temple et al. - with Fast ForWord program Dyslexia-specific brain activation profile becomes normal following successful remedial training – P.G. Simos et al – with Phono-Graphix program & with Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing program

Caution! Much of current brain research is only of the level 1 type – be careful that the research was done in classrooms and check with which types of populations the research was conducted. Left brained/Right brained fiasco