Brain-Based LearningThe wave of the brain

Increasingly, educators such as Syl-wester are relying on brain-based learningtheory to take advantage of the gtowingbody of evidence that neurologists are un-covering about how humans learn. Hesays, "To learn more about the brain, sci-entists had to discover how to perfonn in-tricate studies that would provide solidinformation on its most basic operations-the normal and abnormal actions of a sin-gle neuron, the synchronized actions ofnetworks of neurons. and the factors thattrigger neuronal activitY. "

It's clear that no two human brains arealike. Every nerve cell (neuron) serves as arelay station. Neurons not only receive sig-nals from other cells, but they also processthe signals and send them on to other cellsacross tiny gaps called synapses. Chemi-cals called neurotransmitters (there may beas many as 100) cause the signals to flowfrom one neuron to another. That electro-chemical process is the basis of all humanbehavior. Every time we speak, move, orthink, electrical and chemical communica-tion are taking place between tens of thou-sands ofneurons.

"As a nerve cell is stimulated by newexperiences and exposure to incoming in-formation from the senses, it growsbranches called dendrites. Dendrites arethe major receptive surface of the nervecell. One nerve cell can receive input fromas many as 20,000 other nerve cells. If youhave 100 billion cells in your brain, thinkof the complexityl With use, you growbranches; with impoverishment, you losethem.

"The ability to change the structure andchemistry of the brain in response to the

environment is what we call plasticity,"says Marian Diamond, a neuroscientist andprofessor of neuroanatomy at the Univer-sity of California at Berkeley.

As we might imagine, for a subject asvast and complicated as braia research andlearning theory there are a variety ofviews. Some scientists feel that there arefundamental differences between learningand education. They insist that brain-basedresearch on learning isn't fhe same as re-search done on education theory. They alsonote that many of the initial neurologicalinquiries into learning have been done onanimals and that it's an iffy proposition toextrapolate from animals to humans.

But during the past 10 Years, hown asthe Decade of the Brain, a number of sci-entists have been using new technologiessuch as Magnetic Resonance lnagingO/RD, Functional MRI (fMRI), andPositron Emission Topography (PET)scans. Those tests he$ scientists explorehow human brains process memory, emo-tion, attention, patterning, and context-

By Ruth Palombo Weiss

rLt's a jungle out there! We have all heardand probably uttered that pbrase. Well, theNobel Prize winning newobiologist Ger-ald kleknan postulates that it's a jungle in-side there as well. Edelrnan, director of theNeuroscience Institute at the Scripps Re-search Institute, compares our brains to adense web of interconnecting synapses.His metaphor gives us insight into current,sometimes confusing, research on how thebrain works and its connection to learningtheory.

Many of us use the Internet daily andare astounded by the vast and seeminglyendless connections we can make. Thebrain's interconnections exceed the Inter-net's by an astronomical number. The typ-ical brain has approximately 100 billionneurons. and each neuron has one to10,000 synaptic connections to other neu-rons. Says Edelrnan, "The intricacy andnumerosity of brain connections are ex-traordinary."

Our brains are suffirsed with a vastnumber of interdependent nefworks. Weprocess all incoming information throughthose networks, and any information al-ready stored influences how and what welearn.

"The human brain is the best-orga-nized, most functional three pounds ofmatter in the known universe," says educa-tor Robert Sylwester in his book, A Cele-bration of Neurons: An Educator's Guideto the Human Brain. "It's responsible forBeethoven's Ninth Symphony, computers,the Sistine Chapel, automobiles, the Sec-ond World War, Hamlet, apple pie, and awhole lot more."

28

Articie 6. Brain-Based Learning

A Few Brain Facts

among other areas in this vast area of in-qulry.

Renate Numella Caine and GeoffreyCaine, in their bookUnleashing the Powerof Perceptual Change: The Potential ofBrain-Based Teaching, confirm the ideathat our brains are whole and intercornected. "Even though there are a multitudeof specific modules with specific func-tions, thought, emotion, physical health,the nature of our interactions with others,even the time and environment in whichwe learn, are not separated in the brain.They are not dealt with one thing at atime.*

Says Edelman: "The neryous systembehavior is to some extent seH-generatedin loops: Brain activity leads to movement,which leads to further sensation and per-ception and still further movement. Thelayers and loops between them are themost intricate of any object we know, andthey are dynamic. Th.y continuallychange. Parts of the brain (indeed, the ma-jor portion ofits tissues) receive input onlyfrom other parts of the brain, and they giveoutputs to other parts without interventionfrom the outside world. The brain might besaid to be in touch more with itseH thanwith anything else."

There are several areas/topics thatbrain-based learning theories are examin-ing. As we will see, they are intercon-

nected in much the same way as our owncomplex neuronal groups.

AttentionIt appears that the thalamus, in the centerof the brain, plays an especially importantrole in attention. According to Sylwester,the thalamus is the 'telay center betweenour sense organs and the cortex.... Thisprocess holds the important informationwithin our attentional and short-termmemory systems by ignoring the less im-portant information, and thus seems to cre-ate the visual awareness we experience."Eric Jensen, author of Teaching With theBrain in Mind, ponts out that our bodieshave high-low cycles of about 90 to 110minutes. When students are at the top oftlose cycles, they're more attentive. At thebottom ofthe cycle, people's energy dropsalong with their level of attention. Jensensuggests that if educators and trainers"learn to ride with the cycles," they'll havefewer problems.

Renate Caine talks about the differenttypes of motivators and what happens inour brains depending on the source of mo-tivation. "When we encounter high stressin learning, there is apsychophysiologicalresponse to the tbreat, accompanied by afeeling of helplessness or fatigue. Thistype of response keeps people from using

their higher order, more complex thinking,and creativity."

During high-sffess situations, physio-logically the informationtakes the primarypathway through the thalamus andamygdala and then moves into the cerebel-lum. Memorization of isolated facts can beaccomplished under high-stress condi-tions, but higher order and creative think-ing may be lost. We tend to respond witheither a primitive mode of behaving or torely solely on early prograrnmed behavior.

In situations that may involve stress butin which we have a sense of control orchoice, the physiology shifts. The primarypath is no longer directly tbrough theamygdala but through other paths of thecortex, the parts that are involved inhigher-orderfunctioning. Thus, we avoid a"kneejerk response."

Learning situations that are low stressfavor reflection and analytic thinking. SaysRenate.Caine, "The thalamus, hippocam-pus, and cortex (where stored memoriesare housed and higher-level thinking takesplace) are involved. With this system, youcan translate factual elements and makeconnections. Furthermore, you can makeinferences bas"6 on e1fogr rhings you know.That higher-order tbinking includes syn-thesizing information and integrating it tocome up with new ideas."

29

ijii*,ri=:=i==::.:=.-..'.. =.:'... ..''-'.-''-:- - --:''..' -r.':r:ii'1. ,::'

ANNUAL EDITIONS

Context and Patterns"Without context, emotions' or pat-

terns, information is considered meaning-1".r.'Th"r"'" a tendency to try to formsome kind of meaningful pattern out 9J ouri"u*i"g-rnis process seems innate"' saysJensen.

He adds, *While the brain is a consum-mate pattern maker, intellectual maturityoften lnriches the process' PET scans indi-cate that a novice chess player burns more*i.r"or" (has to work harder) and uses theit"p-Uy-tt"p sequential left side of the;dt. A *utt"t ihess player uses less glu-"ot" *O engages larger patterns from theright side of the brain'"

A lot of recent memory research in-volves pattern-making abilities' One studythat n^ been replicated several times in-nJrn", ,""diog a long list of words to a sub-ject. When the subject is asked .to'remember

certain words on the list' an in-t"r"ttiog thing happens' Irt's say the listhas 25 words strung togetber' includingcake, cookie, sugar, trrin, candy' tree' car'dog. If asked whether the word sweet is ontne tst (it wasn't), most subjects say yelU""u"t"'of the words cake' cookies',and,unot. f"t"."ttingly, the sarne area of theCriio,t ", t"gisteied other words on ttre Iistlights uP on an MRL

Thai clearly illustrates the economy of

$rain-processing mechanisms' The brainmakeJ a connection and generalizes eventhough the generalization might be wrong'O""?o""f*io" is that detail isn't effrcientand generalization is, though not always""rrir. The brain doesn't have values; it'san information organ' It isn't an arbiter of"uf**, of right *d *toog' What we dohave is a system that puts related events to-gether il hierarchies and categones'

Geofftey Caine states: "The brain-mindnatually organizes inforrnation into cate-gories. We can generically call that 'pat-

L*i"g.' These patterns always involveinterpieting infornration in context'fn"a"'t u*gt"ut deal of research to show,nu, *" leam from focused attention as;;li ^ ftom peripheral perception' Whenp"opt" are forrning patterns' a lot of the in-itnil"ri"" tnat Urings the pattem togetheris peripheral or contextual idormatron"

EmotionThe amygdala, an almond-shaped struc-ture in the brain's center' seerns most rn-volved wfth emotions' According toJensen, it has 12 to 15 distinct emotive re-gions anO often exerts a tremendous influ-

ence on the cortex. "Ifformation flowsboth ways between the amygdala and thecortex, but many other areas are involvedin subtle emotions," he saYs.

"Making daily decisions based on emo-tions is not an exception; it's the rule," saysprofessor Antonio pamasio' a neurologist"t *r" Uoiu"t"ity of low4 in his book Des-cartes's Error: Emorton" Reason" and theHuman Brain "While extremes of emotionare usually hamful to our best thinking, amiddle ground makes sense' Approprialeemotions speed up decision making enor-mouslY."

sodic memory' w-o:fing. memory' verbal.#il;;, iiexibilitv in tbinking' cre-#;f,*ro-f;* solving' decision making'and social interactons'

MemorY and recall;;; ,t-" tott sPectacular uses of re-

m"'ri-i#+#.h#;;**;t* inattt*oo memory' recall' and

il;;;;r""ge information and informa-

tion overload'"Memory is the ability to repea! a p:r-

formance. In the nervous system' it is a dy-

""#" "-0""v of populations of neuronal

*Ot. Unlike computer-based memory'Luio-tur"a memory is inexact' But it's

"i* ""o"Uf" "f great degrees of generaliza-l#.- it"*"w would be useless if it

";d"'il t";" waY take into account the

t"rnpo.al suc"ession of events---of sensory"u#, u, well as patterns of movement"'says Edehnan.-

'nitt Carter, who wtote MaPPing the

Mind, saysthatnew neural connechons are-"a" *i,l every incoming sensation andold ones disappear as memories fade'

"Each fleeting impression is recordedfor a while in some new configuration' butif it's not laid down in memory' the pafterndegenerates and the impression disappearsiit"" the buttocks-shaped hollow in a foamrubber cushion after you stand up' Patternsthat linger may in turn connect with' andspark off, activity in other groups--rorm-ing associations imemories) or combiningto create new concepts'

"Little explosions and waves of new ac-tivity, each with a characteristic pattern'are produced moment by moment as thebraiir reacts to outside stimuli' That activ-ity creates a constantly changrng internlenvironment, which the brainthenreacts toas well. That creates a feedback loop thatensures constant change. The loop-backprocess, sometimes referred to as neuralbarwinism, ensures that patterns that pro-duce thoughts (and thus behavior) and thathelp the organism thrive are laid down per-manently wbile those that are useless fade'It's not a rigid sYstem."

According to Carter, it seems that in-coming information is spiit into severalparallel paths within tbe brain' each or*ni"n ii given a siightly different -treat-ment depeiding on the route it takes' Infor-mation that's of particular interest to oneside of the brain will activate that sidemore strongly than the other' You can seethat happen in a brain scan: The side that's

..- Brainresearch shows that emotions andtnougnt are deeply interconnected 'ln Mol-eculls of Emotion, Catdace Pert wrote thaton fle surface of every cell in the body arereceptors thatrespond to molecules such asvarious peptides and neurotransu[tters'Scientists used to think that those neu-rotransmitters were found only in neluonsin the brain, but it turns out they're in everyo* of ,n" Uody. When we have a thought''.*v

of the peptides and neurotransmit-ters interact

-with cells throughout the

fody, and those interactions trigger what*" "uU "the experience of emotions'"

"Good learning engages feelings'Rather than viewing them as a'n add-on'"-o,io"* are a fornof learning' Emotionsut* "rrgug" meaning and predict futurel"t-l"ilt"tse they involve our goals'

fJ"f*,"Ui*"., and expectancies' Emotionsdrive the threesome of attention' meailng'and memory," saYs Renate Caine'_.

e""o.C"! to Daniel Schacter of Har-

u-J Uoi"".iLy, author of Searching forMemory, there are two possible "ip]Tl;tions fbr the way emotionally chargeoevents are emblazoned in our'memones'O"" it ,n" stress hormones and chemicalmessengers' or neuroEansmitters' are re-

leased a]t such times' which "tag" the event

*itn *p""iuf signifrcance and give it prom-

inence in the memory pathways' Jh3 other

J"pf*uri* t t whalare commonly known

as flashbulb memones is that even though

,n"VT""', need to be rehearsed or reiter-

u,"i, *l"v usually are' "People'":d.t",g::

"o*r'*d go over 15g things in tlrer uves

that are imPortant to tl"*' and that

snengtbens the memory"' saYs S-cha.cier'-Rlnate Caine points out that the climate

of the workplace is critical to the kind of

oroao", nout'" going to get' lfwe feel lup-;;;; ;"; "i'i'J'"-"''' the PlYsiolog-iJ effect is a slight increase in dopamrne'*ni"n."f"*"t G tigttt amount of .u":y-choline (another neurotransminer) uar

sdmulates the hippocampus' People. witbincreased dopamine show improved epl-

30

in charge of a particular task will light upwhile the matching iuea on the other sidewill glow more dullY.

Geoffoey Caine reminds us that whenwe can connect rote memory with ordinaryexperience, we understand and make senseof things and remember more easily. Tofiansfer inforrnation effectively, we need tosee the relevance of what we're learning.

MotivationRichard Restak, a neurobiologist, writes inhis book The Brain:'Learning is not pri-marily dependent on a reward- In fact,rats-as well as humans-will consis-tently seek new experiences and behaviorswith no perceivable reward or impetus. Ex-perimental rats respond positively to sim-ple novelty. Studies confirm that the merepursuit of information can be valuable byitself and that humans are just as happy toseek novelty."

Robert Aitken at tle Vancouver British '

Columbia Community College poiats outthat we choose to stay motivated. "One ofthe things becoming clear is that our brainshave been built for survival- That hasn'tchanged in 30,000 years. If somethinghelps us survive, we're motivated to learn.

'"Trainers have to find ways to convincelearners that this is vital to their survival. Ifwe get an emotional buy-in then learningtakes place."

We can approach motivation from sev-eral different points of view, says GeoffreyCaine. "The distinction is between intrin-

Article 6. Brain'Based Learning

sic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic mo-tivation has to do with what we want' need,and desire. It's deeply grounded in our val-ues aad feelings. Extrinsic motivation isoften an attempt by someone else trying tomake us want to do something' In terms oflearning and creativity, we know there's apositive correlation between creativity andintrhsic motivation. When we're organiz-ing information in our minds' tle way weformpattems is deeply motivated by whatwe're interested in."

We have all heard the phrase Use it orlose it. That's the ultimate truth of thehealthy brain's capability to learn, change,and grow as long as we're alive.

'"fhe most exciting discovery about allof this work is that education should con-tinue for a lifetime. With emichment' wegrow dendrites; with imFoverisbment, welose them at any a1e:'concludes Diamond'

Ruth Palombo Weiss is a freelatrc e writerbased in Potomac, Marylnnd; Pivotal@erols,com

From kaining & Development,luly 2000, pp- 20-24' @ 2000 by ASTD Magazines' Reprinted by permission'

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