BRAIN+RULES

=Brain Rules, My Take=
 * Barry Potter 3/11/2012**

__Brain Rules__, written by John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, specializing in human brain development. His book describes 12 Brain Rules that are important in how we, as humans, learn and understand the things we experience in life.

-**Rule #1, Exercise boosts brain power**. Medina states it is common knowledge that exercise is good for our bodies, but it is also very good for the brain. It destroys harmful stress chemicals, boosts problem solving, and reduces the risk of demetia by 50%.He argues, early man was very active and in top physical shape. The brain evolved under this basis of active humans. Studies show groups beginning an exercise program had an increase in brain function. When exercising ceased, brain function declined, associating brain activity with increased blood, and with that, oxygen flow. Aerobic exercise showed greater increases over just muscle toning types of exercise. The increased blood flow also increases the number of blood vessels, penetrating deeper into the body's tissues. The brain flourishes with exercise, but our classrooms and work spaces have been built for people to sit for extended periods.


 * -Rule #2, The human brain evolved too**. The brain is a survival organ designed to solve problems in an outdoor environment while in constant motion. Humans weren't the largest creatures, but we developed the largest brains allowing our survival. We could solve problems, learn from mistakes and cooperate with others t survive. These relationships can also aid in surviving at work or school. Medina feels the classroom/ cubicle norm hinders brain performance and efficiency.


 * -Rule #3,- Every brain is wired differently**. What an individual does and learns in life changes what the brain looks like. Regions of the braindevelop at different rates in different people. Schools seem to dismiss this and assume every brain is the same.


 * -Rule #4, We don't pay attention to boring things.** Medina feels what we pay attention to is influenced by memory and culture and previous experiences predict when we should pay attention. These differences could have an effect how an audience percieves a presentation. We pay attention to emotions, threats, and sex harkening back to early human survival instincts, i.e., "Can I eat it?", "Will it hurt me?", "Can I mate with it?", or "Do I know it?". Medina also asserts that the brain processes sequentially and is incapable of muti-tasking. Time is required for the brain to switch tasks, hence reenforcing the notion that cell phone users are a bit slower reacting and get in more wrecks while driving. With attempts to mutli-task, research has shown the error rate increases by 50% plus more time is required to complete these tasks.


 * -Rule #5, Repeat to remember**- The brain can only hold ~7 pieces of inormation for less than 30 seconds, e.g., a seven digit phone number. If you want to extend this 30 seconds, one needs toconsistently re-expose oneself to the information, that is, repeat it to remember it.


 * -Rule #6, Remember to repeat**- It takes years to solidify a memory. By repeating a point at intervals in the school day after first learning it, a student is more likely to retain it, that is to say, repeated exposure to the information.


 * -Rule #7, Sleep well, Think well**.- When we're asleep, the brain is not resting. Medina asks is it possible we need to sleep so that we can learn? Sleep must be important as we spend 1/3 of our lives doing that. Lack of sleep affects attention, executive function, memory, mood, quantitative skills, logical reasoning, and motor dexterity. It is unsure how much sleep we need but it changes with age, gender, pregnancy, puberty, and more. Napping is normal may make a person more productive. In one study, a 26 minute nap improved NASA pilot performance by 34%.


 * Rule #8, Stressed brains don't learn the same way**.-The brain is not designed for long-term stress when you feel there is no control. Moderate stress begins to lower performance while severe long-term stress cripples the brain and can actually cause it to shrink. This has been seen in studies of the size of brains in neglected vs. non-neglected children. Over time, it can affect the immune response to the point of increased illness. It disrupts one's ability to sleep and can cause depression. Stress you might experience at home will affect work performance and vice versa.
 * -Rule #9, Stimulate more of the senses**.-Our senses work together so it's important to stimulate them. If audio is combined with visual, memory recall is higher than just reading, seeing, or hearing by itself. Recall also jumps if the learning experience is participatory or involves doing the actual task. adding senses in the learning experience also increases problem solving ability.


 * -Rule #10, Vision trumps all other senses**- Studies show recognition doubles for a picture compared with a text. Within seconds of exposure, pictures surpass text for recall. In memory tests using hundreds of photos people can remember 90%, 3 dyas later and 63% after a year.


 * -Rule #11, Male and female brains are different**- It is known that there are differences in the type and severity of pschiatric disorders based on gender. Males are more afflicted by schizophrenia than females, but females are more likely to be depressed than males. Men and women handleacute stress differnetly as well, womwns' reaction to find detail, mens' to understand the gist of the event. Similarly, the genders process certain emotions differently, which are useful in helping the brain to pay attention.


 * -Rule #12, We are powerful and natural explorers**- The desire to explore is ingrained in each of us. this is demonstreted by the actions of babies and id the model of how we learn. Babies actively test through observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion. They methodically do experiments on objects to see what they will do.

There are several interesting video segments that complement the discussion of each Brain Rule. The link is included below. []=

I see myself having the students more active in the classroom perhaps moving to the lab or outside for a demonstration to complement a discussion. This will get them to use more than one sense to learn and allow them to do it themselves. With that, to return to the classroom to repeat/ reenforce what we had learned. I try to promote a low stress atmosphere so students feel welcomed, at ease, and comfortable in joining in. I see the value of group discussions as everyone may have a different take on a subject or may have personal experiences to share. I learned in the workplace that everyone has something to offer for the common good.
 * How does this pertain to my classroom?**