Oct 25, 2007
Learning & The Brain Conference: discount for SharpBrains readers
By: Alvaro Fernandez
Context: Last February we had the chance to attend a great conference on how brain research is influencing education. Highly recommended. Caroline wrote our impressions, summarized as “It was a fascinating mix of neuroscientists and educators talking with and listening to each other. Some topics were meant to be applied today, but many were food for thought – insight on where science and education are headed and how they influence each other”. See some of our take-aways below.
Announcement: the 2008 edition of this conference, titled Using Brain Research to Enhance Learning, Attention & Memory For Educators, Parents and Clinicians, will take place in San Francisco,  on February 7-9th, 2008. The organizers have kindly invited me to deliver a lecture on Interventions to Sharpen Minds, as part of the Brain Plasticity & Attention track. I will provide an overview of the science behind computer-based cognitive training interventions and discuss a number of research-based programs that are being used today. Let me know if you are planning to attend!
Registration fees: the general registration fees are $495 per person, if you register before January 25th, 2008.
Special Discount for SharpBrains readers: you can register for $450 before that date, making sure to write
SharpBrains1 in the comments section of How did you hear about the conference? in this Registration Page.Â
To learn more about the conference:
Program overview: click here
Co-sponsors: click here
 Here you have some of our take-aways from last conference:
- Humans are a mixture of cognition and emotion, and both elements are essential to function and learn properly
- Educators and public policy makers need to learn more about the brain, how it grows, and how to cultivate it
- Students of all ages need to be both challenged and nurtured in order to succeed
- People learn differently – try to teach and learn through as many different modalities as possible (engage language, motor skills, artistic creation, social interaction, sensory input, etc.)
- While short-term stress can heighten your cognitive abilities, long term stress kills you — you need to find balance and release
- Test anxiety and subsequent poor test results can be improved with behavioral training with feedback based on heart rate variability
- Dr. Robert Sapolsky is a very very enlightening and fun speaker
- Allow time for rest and consolidation of learned material
- Emotional memories are easier to remember
- Conferences like these perform a real service in fostering dialogues between scientists and educators
(Pic: credit goes to havebackpackwill travel, via flickr).
Janelle Sellick and I have one book out and another currently being published entitled Strengthen Your Mind: Activities for People with Early Memory Loss, published by Health Professions Press. We are available for presentations and would love the opportunity to do so. Are there any opportunities with your group?
Hello Kristin,
Thanks for stopping by. I speak often at conferences, companies and learning centers, as you can see in http://www.sharpbrains.com/workshops/, mostly in the West Coast and New York. Where are you based? we could exchange leads.
We are based in Northern California, in the Napa Valley.
What continuing education credits are available for health professionals at this conference? I would need both RN and CCM. Thank you.
Hello Denise, I forwarded your question to the organizers, and they suggest you check
http://www.LearningAndTheBrain.com/educationapril.html
adding that
“There, we explain all the professional development
credits we are able to provide. We can give credit to
some RNs only.”
Denise, the organizers just added that:
“There are only RN or school nursing credits for those in PA, MA, CT, and NJ. There are no doctor credits or national nursing credits available.”