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Strengthening Learning Capacities® COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT · 2018. 3. 28. · Strengthening...
Transcript of Strengthening Learning Capacities® COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT · 2018. 3. 28. · Strengthening...
Strengthening Learning Capacities®
COGNITIVE
ENHANCEMENT:
Keeping Our Brains Fit and Healthy
Debbie Gilmore
Executive Director, Arrowsmith Program
Established in Toronto, 1978
In over 100 public and private schools throughout
Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand,
South Korea and Spain
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TOPICS FOR TODAY
• Neuroplasticity
• Barbara Arrowsmith Young her work
• Cognitive function
• Cognitive lens
• Cognitive reserve
• Cognitive enhancement
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NEUROPLASTICITY
Neuro=Brain Plasticity=Modifiable
The brain's ability to change both its
physical structure and its functional
organization, to form new neural
connections throughout life
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PRE-NEUROPLASTIC PARADIGM
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PRE-NEUROPLASTIC PARADIGM
The Brain
• Unchangeable
• Hard-wired
• Function can not be
altered if damaged or
limited
Ageing Brain
• Brain maturation at
approx. age 11 or 12
• Slow decline
• No process to improve
function
• Live with it
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NEUROPLASTICITY GIVES HOPE
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Strengthen specific
cognitive functions in
neural networks
Change cognitive
capacity to learn
THE BRAIN CAN BE MODIFIED
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Our brain is a lifelong resource that we can
use to take control of our lives, our version
of the world and how we operate within it.
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BARBARA ARROWSMITH YOUNG
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Somatosensory Cortex
(Registers location of sensation)
Parietal Lobe
(Spatial Reasoning)
Juncture Temporal/Parietal/Occipital
(Association Area of Association Areas)
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ALEXANDER LURIAIdentification of Function
• Mapped out the brain and
proposed that the brain is
made up of specialized
cognitive areas that carry out
very specific cognitive
functions.
• These areas work together in
neural networks to carry out
complex tasks.
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Lyova Zazetsky and A.R. Luria
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MARK ROSENZWEIGStimulation of Function
The brain can change at a physiological level
thus creating better learners.
Stimulated (Enriched) rats
• improved performance on mazes (better
learners)
• increased levels of neurotransmitters
• more glia cells
• enlarged capillaries (better blood
supply)
• more dendrite branching (more synaptic
connections)No Special Toys for Stimulation
Stimulation (Enriched)
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IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR RESEARCH
Not only is the brain made of very specific
cognitive areas but these areas can be
targeted, stimulated and strengthened
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ARROWSMITH PROGRAM• Designed by Barbara Arrowsmith Young to address her
own cognitive deficits by utilizing the research of Luria and Rosenzweig
• The Arrowsmith Program is a suite of cognitive programs comprised of intensive and graduated cognitive exercises that are designed to strengthen a series of cognitive functions.
• It is a facilitator-led program.
• The teacher has specialized training by Arrowsmith Program.
• The 19 cognitive functions addressed by the Arrowsmith Program are those involved in reading, writing, auditory memory, non-verbal learning, reasoning, executive functioning, numeracy, visual memory and spatial awareness.
• Programs are designed to address an individual’s unique profile – no ‘one size fits all’
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COGNITIVE FUNCTION
Cognitive functions are the characteristic function or
job of a region of the brain or network of regions
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CONTINUUM OF FUNCTION
Very Severe
Average Superior
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EXAMPLES OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS
• capacity to read non-verbal
cues necessary for
navigating social
interactions
• visual memory functions
necessary to learn reading
and spelling patterns
• executive functions
necessary for thinking,
planning and problem
solving
• capacity for grasping
relationships
• auditory memory functions
involved in retaining
information
• capacity for quantification
required for time
scheduling and budgeting
• ability to learn motor
patterns necessary for
writing
• capacity to recognize faces
• spatial reasoning
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UNIQUE COGNITIVE PROFILE
• Every individual has a unique learning profile due to his or her combination of cognitive strengths and deficits
• Cognitive deficits combine to create various academic and social learning problems
• The Arrowsmith Cognitive Profile Questionnaire is available on www.arrowsmithschool.org
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Brain Activity while Reading Out Loud (Lassen et. al. 1978)
Example of a Functional system (neural network)
as postulated by A. R. Luria
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COGNITIVE LENS
Think about the person who:
• Is socially awkward or rude
• Cannot see another person’s point of view
• Is rigid and needs routine
• Can’t tidy their room
• Can’t see a specific item in the fridge or their closet
• Can’t use a map or find their way to a familiar place
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• Active Engagement
• Effortful Processing
• Novelty /
Task Complexity
CONDITIONS FOR
NEUROPLASTIC CHANGE
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Reduce Negative Factors
Chronic Stress
Prolonged Anxiety
Chronic Pain
Sleep Deprivation
Increase Positive Factors
Self- challenge
- Active Sustained Engagement
- Effortful Processing
- Novelty and Complexity
- Reward/Performance Feedback
Exercise
HARNESSING NEUROPLASTICITY
… various factors can contribute to loss of synapses, shrinkage or retraction of
dendrites (de-branching), and pruning of axons, thereby reducing
communication in those areas” (Kays et al., 2012)
“I can’t”; “I don’t”
Mindfulness
Growth Mindset
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CHANGE SUSTAINED OVER TIME
To ensure the change in functioning is sustained and not just practice effect or short-term temporary wiring change we need to:
• Keep our brains active over the lifespan
• Integrate and use the cognitive gains resulting from mental training
• Reduce factors that lead to negative neuroplastic change
• Increase factors that lead to positive neuroplastic change
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CHANGE SUSTAINED OVER TIME
“If one wants only a temporary trick, it can be induced quickly; if one wants it to last, it must be induced gradually, allowing for harder neuroplastic change.”
“Regardless of the source, a sustained change in a pattern of neural activity is a necessary trigger for neuroplasticity.
Lillard & Erisir (2011)
Donald Hebb’s principle: neurons that fire together wire together. In other words, all of the brain’s activities that occur together (fire together), strengthen their connections and inter-connections (wire together)
The more they fire together, the stronger the connections.
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COGNITIVE RESERVE
Cognitive reserve refers to the ability to optimize or maximize performance through differential recruitment of brain networks and/or alternative cognitive strategies.
The brain can change the way it operates and thus make added resources available to cope with challenges.
This concept holds out the promise of interventions that could slow cognitive ageing or reduce the risk of dementia.
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COGNITIVE RESERVE
Cognitive reserve is not fixed – it can change across the lifespan depending on exposure and behaviours.
Therefore changes in lifestyle, even later in life, might impart reserve against age-related cognitive decline or dementia.
The exact “recipe” is still unknown. The generic recommendation is to maintain educational and mentally stimulating activities throughout life.
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COGNITIVE RESERVE
Yaakov Stern (2012, Columbia University) found that:
• Lifetime exposures including educational and occupational attainment and leisure activities in late life, can increase cognitive reserve
• Those who engaged in more leisure activities had 38% less risk of developing dementia
• The protective effect of higher cognitive reserve decreased risk of developing dementia by 46%
• Experiences at all stages of life, even late in life, can impart cognitive reserve. The findings support the possibility that it may be possible to intervene even later in life in order to impart reserve, slow age-related cognitive decline and prolong healthy ageing.
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COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT
• The adult brain has the plasticity ‘switch’ mostly turned “off”.
• Change is only permitted for those things that have captured the brain’s attention, and only when the brain itself judges that change to be beneficial for it.
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• Active Engagement
• Effortful Processing
• Novelty /
Task Complexity
CONDITIONS FOR
NEUROPLASTIC CHANGE
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COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT
How do we turn the plasticity switch to “on”?
When :
• we pay attention or focus on a task or goal
• we are rewarded or punished or when it expects
a reward or punishment
• the brain positively evaluates performance in a
goal-directed behaviour
• the brain is surprised by something new or
unexpected
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COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT
When task achievement is of no
consequence, or when experiences are
unimportant or strictly routine, the brain
does not release the chemicals – the
modulatory neurotransmitters – to turn “on”
the plasticity switch.
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COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT
What types of activities are beneficial?
• Cognitive stimulation
• Exercise
• Social stimulation
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COGNITIVE STIMULATION
• Take on a new activity and acquire
new skills and abilities
• Develop a habit of working on the
level at which you make steady,
measurable progress
• Count every indication of progress
as success
• Reward yourself for growing
achievements
• Work on a demanding level which
will improve abilities faster
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COGNITIVE STIMULATION
• Exercises that are satisfying and rewarding
• Activities that encompass new learning and that demand you pay attention to the details of what you see or hear or feel or smell
• Activities that involve complex planning or performance challenges
• Skills that can never really be mastered
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EXERCISE
• Physical fitness is a major contributor to brain fitness.
• Its aerobic values have a direct, positive physiological impact on the brain.
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SOCIAL STIMULATION
• Visiting or being visited by relatives and
friends
• Go to movies or restaurants or sporting
events
• Doing unpaid community volunteer work
• Playing cards or games or bingo
• Going to a club, centre, classes, church
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LANGUAGE, MEMORY AND VISION
• Engage in activities that will focus on
language, memory and vision.
• During ageing, nearly every aspect of
the brain’s operation and accuracy
slows down and deteriorates.
BE CONSCIOUS
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MORE BRAIN FOOD
Mindfulness
Gratitude
Sleep health
Good diet
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