Round-up of recent articles on neuroscience, brain development and cognitive health:
Encephalon 68: A carnival of neuroscience:
Chris hosts a great collection of neuroscience and psychology posts in his signature Q&A style.
Bilingual Babies Get Head Start --- Before They Can Talk:
- Unlike the monolingual group, the bilingual group was able to successfully learn a new sound type and use it to predict where each character would pop up.
- The bilingual babies' skill applies to more than just switching between languages. Mehler likened this apparently enhanced cognitive ability to a brain selecting "the right tool for the right operation"—also called executive function.
- In this basic process, the brain, ever flexible, nimbly switches from one learned response to another as situations change.
- Monolingual babies hone this ability later in their young lives, Mehler suggests."
Study shows how kids' stress hurts memory:
"Now, research is providing what could be crucial clues to explain how childhood poverty translates into dimmer chances of success: Chronic stress from growing up poor appears to have a direct impact on the brain, leaving children with impairment in at least one key area - working memory."
Returning troops getting tested for brain injuries:
- "More than 150,000 service members from the Marines, Air Force, Army and Navy have undergone the testing that became mandatory last year. Those who suffer a concussion or similar head injury will get a follow-up test."
Diabetes 'impact on brain power':
- "Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain, research has suggested.
- Lead researcher Dr Jackie Price said: "Either hypos lead to cognitive decline, or cognitive decline makes it more difficult for people to manage their diabetes, which in turn causes more hypos.
- "A third explanation could be that a third unidentified factor is causing both the hypos and the cognitive decline."
"Whatever you struggle with in a sense as it stems from your neurology, the inherent plasticity of the brain gives you a basis for improvement. This is a way underutilized and under-appreciated resource that well all have." Dr. Michael Merzenich on the Brain Science Podcast #54, 2/13/09.
Recently there has been growing controversy about the effectiveness of computer-based cognitive training programs. As a co-founder of Posit Science, Inc. Dr. Michael Merzenich is a staunch defender of the methods his company uses to validate the programs that they have developed. But for the purposes of this essay, I want to share some of the key ideas we discussed during his recent interview on the Brain Science Podcast.
First of all, I asked him to discuss some of the highlights of his long career. Since he was one of the first neuroscientists to embrace the concepts of neuroplasticity I was curious about how this came about. While he did have some exposure to the animal evidence as a graduate student, it was actually his experience with the invention of the cochlear implant that convinced Dr. Merzenich of the real-world, practical implications of brain plasticity. The quality of the Continue Reading »
Last week, in this article's first part, we discussed the importance of actually teaching children how to get themselves into a physical state of being relaxed, explored several suggestions I hope you found useful.
Let's continue.
Teachers can help student overcome stress by teaching them to identify the impediments they might encounter in doing a certain task.
The teacher can ask:
What's going to get in the way of you doing this work?
He or she may have to jump-start the students’ thinking by suggesting such things as:
- competing events (family activities, friends call, IM-ing, new video game, etc.)
- lack of adequate place to study
- inadequate prior preparation or skills
- a negative attitude (this is not necessary, I can't do math, I’ll never need to know this, etc).
- health factors (I’m sick; I’m tired)
Conversely, teachers have to teach students to identify the enhancers; What's going to make it more likely that you will do this, and do this well?
(examples)
- I have confidence in my ability
- I feel competent in this skill
- I am committed to learning this because: I have the necessary resources to complete this task, such as materials, sources of information, people supports; parents, tutor, other kids
Teachers can turn distress into de-stress by using the Language of Success
The key is to de-emphasize PRAISE and emphasize SELF-APPRAISAL.
Teachers can encourage self-evaluation by Continue Reading »
Eric Jensen alerted me to a research study published in the February 4th Journal of Neuroscience --- Transgenerational Rescue of a Genetic Defect in Long-Term Potentiation and Memory Formation by Juvenile Enrichment. We both had the same initial WOW! feeling that we had experienced when we first read about the discovery of mirror neurons a decade+ ago.
The study's findings seemed to suggest that acquired characteristics can be genetically transmitted, a Lamarckinan belief that had long been discarded by biologists. This seemed improbable, so we decided to check out what the scientific community thought. It's the kind of research that educators certainly need to understand because the potential educational implications are profound, no matter how this particular study sorts out.
I've thus appended the following information below: (1) the abstract and reference of the original sttudy, (2) a link to a non-technical report in the current issue of New Scientist, (3) a link to a non- technical explanation of the research in Medical News Today, and (4) a link to a recent extended non-technical New Scientist article on the issue of non-genetic inheritance. Eric will post his commentary on the research in the March edition of his Brighter Brain Bulletin newsletter.
THE STUDY:
To put it simply: The researchers studied long-term potentiation (LTP), in which longer and more robust synaptic activation occurs. LTP is the basic mechanism for learning and memory formation.
Juvenile mice placed into an enriched environment (EE) developed enhanced LTP capabilities that they later transmitted to their own offspring during embryogenesis (rather than through later maternal instruction), and these effects persisted even when the offspring weren't in an EE. The study concluded that a stimulating juvenile environment can thus influence the composition of signaling networks that influence synaptic plasticity and memory formation in the enriched mouse, and also in its future offspring.
The problem with this research appears to be over whether the transmitted effects occurred via genetic changes or through something else in the mother's uterine environment. A female's eggs develop early in life to be distributed later, so it's improbable that a female's juvenile experiences would alter the DNA in her eggs. A more probable explanation may be that any changes in the mother's brain that occur via an EE are represented as currently ill- understood signaling molecules that pass through the placental barrier into the embryonic brain.
THE SIGNIFICANCE:
For educators, this research simply adds to our own strong belief that long-term benefits accrue from a stimulating early environment that encourages curiosity and exploration. The research builds on Continue Reading »
Teaching kids how to relax.
Consider this vignette:
-Roxanne: (agitated and loudly) “I can’t stand this freakin’ book!”
-Teacher: “Roxanne, you need to take it easy. Just calm down! Try to relax.You need to finish your reading.
-Roxanne: (to herself) “Right easy for you to say, teacher. But very hard for me to do. What do you mean calm down? I feel like my head is going to explode.”
-Teacher: (seeing no response) “Well if you can’t settle down, maybe a trip to the office will help you!”
Some kids are so agitated that even if they know how to relax, they can’t. If you think about it, calming down when you’re upset is the hardest time to do it! Other kids can’t “calm down” or “relax” because they don’t know what that feels like. Teachers, occupational therapists, physical education teachers and parents need to actually teach children (of all ages) how to get themselves into a physical state of being relaxed. This doesn’t happen automatically. If it did, there wouldn’t be so many adult yoga classes!
Setting the mental and emotional stage for success.
Teachers who want to reduce stress and increase learning know that getting kids into a positive mindset will do both. They say Continue Reading »
As you may know, memory relies mostly on some temporal (in green) and frontal (in red) areas of the brain. 
These may be the areas that will get stimulated when you (assuming you are American or have lived in the US for long) try to remember the missing words in the American proverbs below.
However when it comes to internationals proverbs below you may have to use your reasoning skills more than your memory skills, as it is likely that you do not know these proverbs. In this case, the frontal exercise is more intense. Try to guess what the final words of each international proverb might be. Use your logical skills.
If you live outside the USA, your experience will probably be the reverse.
US proverbs
1. The early bird gets the ___________.
2. After all is _______ and done, more is said than __________.
3. From ___________ beginnings come great ____________. Continue Reading »
Two recent scientific studies published by Dr. Arthur Kramer and colleagues present 
fascinating results. The two studies are:
1) Basak C, et al "Can training in a real-time strategy video game attenuate cognitive decline in older adults?" Psychol Aging 2008; DOI: 10.1037/a0013494.
2) Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M. & Gratton, G. (2008) The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, 129, 387-398.
Let's first review the first study, a significant experiment in that it showed wide cognitive benefits in adults over 60 years old who played a strategy videogame (Rise of Nations) for 23 hours.
Playing computer games improves brain power of older adults, claim scientists (Telegraph)
- The team at the University of Illinois recruited 40 adults over 60 years old, half of whom were asked to play a computer game called Rise of Nations, a role-playing game in which you have to build your own empire.
- Game players have to build cities, feed and employ their people, maintain an adequate military and expand their territory.
- Both groups were assessed before, during and after the video game training on a variety of tests.
- As a group, the "gamers" became significantly better – and faster – at Continue Reading »
H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82 - Obituary
- "On Tuesday evening at 5:05, Henry Gustav Molaison — known worldwide only as H. M., to protect his privacy — died of respiratory failure at a nursing home in Windsor Locks, Conn. His death was confirmed by Suzanne Corkin, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who had worked closely with him for decades. Henry Molaison was 82."
- "From the age of 27, when he embarked on a life as an object of intensive study, he lived with his parents, then with a relative and finally in an institution. His amnesia did not damage his intellect or radically change his personality. But he could not hold a job and lived, more so than any mystic, in the moment."
- "The implications were enormous. Scientists saw that there were at least two systems in the brain for creating new memories."
Full article on a fascinating story: H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82 - Obituary
Today's news:
McDonnell Foundation grant harnesses cognitive science to improve student learning (press release)
- "Using what cognitive psychologists are discovering in the laboratory to improve learning in the classroom is the goal of a $6.47 million collaborative activity grant to Washington University from the James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF)."
- "The aim of the grant is to take the knowledge that cognitive psychologists have gained about learning and memory from laboratory experimentation and to develop techniques to improve learning in the classrooms," said Henry L. "Roddy" Roediger III, Ph.D., principal investigator on the grant and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences.
Comment: this is great news, but it would be even better would publishers be the ones developing these new techniques and curriculum - it is time to start moving beyond a purely content-based approach and introduce the evaluation and enhancement of what we can call "cognitive functions for life".
Today's kids are into multi-tasking. This is the generation hooked on iPods, IM'ing, video games - not to mention TV! Many people in my generation think it is wonderful that kids can do all these things simultaneously and are impressed with their competence.
Well, as a teacher of such kids when they reach college, I am not impressed. College students these days have short attention spans and have trouble concentrating. They got this way in secondary school. I see this in the middle-school outreach program I help run. At this age kids are really wrapped up in multi-tasking―at the expense of focus.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year, school kids in all grades beyond the second grade committed, on average, more than six hours per day to TV or videos, music, video games, and computers. Almost one-third reported that "most of the time" they did their homework while chatting on the phone, surfing the Web, sending instant messages, watching TV, or listening to music.
Kids think that this entertainment while studying helps their learning. It probably does make learning less tedious, but it clearly makes learning less efficient and less effective. Multi-tasking violates everything we know about how memory works. Now we have objective scientific evidence that Continue Reading »
