NOTES ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Brain: only part of body we like to have more
wrinkles. Brain needs oxygen and water. First organ to dehydrate. Drink lots, 8 cups a day minimum. Thoughts go at 243 miles / hour. Vegies and fruit best if grown above ground for
feeding brain. Sleep: 11 hours in elementary, 9 1/2 hours in
high school. Students are most awake at 12:00 p.m. Learning experiences grow more dendrites. If content does not find a dendrite web or make one, 18 seconds later it is gone! This is the working memory. The brain is always paying attention, but to
what? Emotions > focus > memory > learning. We lose 90 % of what goes in the brain. We can retain more if we get
feedback and stay motivated and wanting to learn. Some working memory needs 3 to 5 times
repetition before it stays. This
is why homework is important in many cases. The brain looks for patterns. If information makes sense, the
brain holds it. The brain
tries to make sense of nonsense. Negative emotions override brain functioning. Mistakes are signs on the road to learning. Learning occurs best if the person feels
physically and emotionally safe. If
a person feels threatened or in fear, learning is Learning involves risks. People want to be supported when taking a risk, not made
to feel threatened or ridiculed. The brain wants to learn. The brain likes novelty and variety. These cause motivation. Brain cells die if injured, abused with drugs
and alcohol, and is stressed for a prolonged period of time. Today’s children tend to use less language
than children in the past; they use more visual skills and they have
diminished Writing an interactive journal is of value to
student learning. (a visual and a written page). Dendrites spread faster when people learn second
languages and are actively involved in the fine arts, more so than
with The brain develops most in the first 4 years,
but afterwards there are still lots of windows of learning open to people. Nerve cells start as a circle (tiny fist) then
expand into branches with use. If
they are not used, they can be lost. An experiment on the brains of rats (24)
revealed that when 12 rats were raised in a cage with lots of new boxes,
there was Plasticity refers to being moldable. Our plasticity is weakened if our
neurons are underused. Memorization is good in certain activities and
helps the brain grow neurological branches.
Procedural memory is an example of Establish or provide experiences before making
demands about that experience. The brain believes 80% of what the body language
says and 20% of what the language says.
Even children can pick up on This is what some kids have understood from
reading common situations (seeing patterns) in life: 1)
when mom is mad, don’t let her brush your hair. 2)
Don’t hit back, the second one always gets caught. 3)
Don’t teach while standing in front of a busy bulletin board. How Do Neurons Communicate? 1.
When
a neuron is stimulated, it sends an electrical impulse down its axon to the terminals at the
ends of e axon branches. 2.
This releases chemicals (called neurotransmitters) which cross over a small gap (the synapse)
between the axon terminal and the dendrite of the receiving neuron. 3.
The action within the cell is electrical between the cells it's chemical. What is learning and
memory? 1.
Learning is the act of making
(and strengthening) connections between thousands of neurons (neural
circuits or 2.
Memory is the ability to reconstruct or reactivate the
previously-made connections. 3.
Neurons that fire together, wire together The Brain and How It Works
Brain Facts ·
The brain is an oblong organ weighing about three pounds. ·
It has a volume of about a quart, consisting chiefly of water (78
percent), fat (10 percent), and protein (8 percent.) It consumes 20 percent of the body's energy, even
though it is only about 2 percent of the body's weight. The brain has a definite division down the center,
separating it into two hemispheres. The skull provides the brain with a sturdy bone
structure and a special coating of fluids to cushion it from shock. The brain has a rich blood supply that brings
nourishment and oxygen. The brain never turns off, even in sleep. Neurons * There are two types of cells in the brain: about
100 billion nerve cells (neurons) and one trillion glia cells, which
support and nurture the neurons. *
As far as we know, neurons are the only cells that process
information. *
With few exceptions, you have as many neurons as you will ever have
at the time of your birth. *
You cannot grow neurons, but you can grow connections between
neurons, called dendrites. *
The brain is highly pliable and can change shape - it has neural
plasticity. *
Neurons serve as relay stations, sending and processing information
to the body and the brain through elaborate and * All human thought, movement, and speech are
based on this electrochemical process. Cerebral
Cortex
- The cerebral cortex consists of a 1/4-inch
thickness of cells and covers the brain. -
The quantity of cells and the thickness of the cerebral cortex
distinguish humans from other animals. The cerebral cortex is wrinkled, folded over upon
itself many times. If it were
straightened out, it would be about the size of a The cerebral cortex is divided into lobes, whose
functions overlap: The occipital lobe, at the back of the brain, processes
vision. The temporal lobe, on the side near the
ear, is responsible for hearing ,memory, meaning, and language. The parietal lobe, up higher and toward the
back of the brain, houses the interpretation and integration of sensory
stimuli. The frontal lobe is behind the forehead and
handles higher-level thinking, problem solving, creativity, and planning
for the future. Scientists do not yet know what consciousness is,
but somewhere in your brain lies your ability to be consciously aware of
what Emotions and Memory The amygdala, from the Greek word meaning "almond," is the section of the brain that processes emotion. It is critical for recalling information and linking emotions with memories. Some say our emotions are more important to the brain than higher-order thinking skills. The hippocampus and the thalamus also process emotion and memory. They are from an evolution of the brain earlier than the cerebral cortex, so their cells are less
pliable and changeable. The amygdala processes the emotions connected to
our memory-, the hippocampus processes the content of our experiences. Did You know
that... * The human brain
performs many operations, including parts and *
Learning engages the entire physiology. *
The search for meaning is automatic and occurs through patterning. *
Emotions and cognition cannot be separated. *
Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception. *
Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes. *
Isolated facts and skills require more effort to learn, since they
are unrelated; but learning related to past experiences allows use of
spatial memory, which is more efficient. * Learning is
enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. * Each brain is
unique. Brain-Based Learning
Environments There are eight
implementation elements needed to create a brain compatible environment
in which performance for both I . Absence of threat 2.
Meaningful content 3.
Choices 4.
Adequate time S. Enriched environment 6. Collaboration 7.
Immediate feedback 8.
Mastery (application) Research shows that patterns are stored as programs in
the brain. The more
meaningful, relevant, and complex the input, the more the brain will
integrate and develop those programs.
There are three (and-possibly more) barriers to achieving the
desired processing: |