Transcript Brain Basics 101

Brain Basics 101
Reptilian Brain: The “Preverbal Brain”
Brain Stem
Oldest and smallest region
Controls life itself
Governs basic, but critical survival needs
Heart actions
Digestion
Circulation
Breathing
Deeply instinctual and ritualistic
Executes the flight, fight, or freeze response
Oxygen to the brain and body is the primary function
of the reptilian system.
The Limbic Brain: the "Emotional" Brain
•Common to all mammals
Brain's emotion factory
Activated by imagery, music
and colors
Stores all memory information
Retention of information can be significantly
increased when it's presented in an emotionally
charged context!
The Neocortex Brain: the "Thinking" Brain
•Constitutes five-sixths of the total brain mass
•Controls such high-level processes
Logic
Creative thought
Language
Abstractions
Planning
Integration of sensory information
Slower under pressure
This is the “motherlode”
So…
...who
cares?
The Triune Brain Theory and Education
•Traditional education was designed
for Neocortex functions
•This misses a basic brain fact:
•Reptilian brain is an interconnected
pathway to the Limbic brain which is
an interconnected pathway to the
Neocortex
Brain-based learning experiences pay attention to the power of the
whole brain by simultaneously:
• Responding to the learner's physical and sensory needs
• Creating activities that link emotions to the acquisition of new
information
• Designing curriculum that requires students to form their own
knowledge/meaning
Check-In
Check-in
Tell somebody next to you two
things you have learned thus far
that you didn’t already know.
The Brain as a Computer
The brain, when it is operating with healthy reptilian
and limbic centers, can focus on new information for
an average of 12-15 minutes. Like a computer,
during that time, it “gathers information” on the
“desktop” of short-term memory.
After 12-15 minutes, the brain needs “downtime” to
“organize” the new information it has received into
“file folders” that make sense to the receiver based
upon previous experiences and perceptions of reality.
This means that you need to get up and
moving every 12-15 minutes when studying
and learning.