8/12/2019 Brain Rules Handout

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8/12/2019 Brain Rules Handout

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MICDS Coffee Klatch November 13, 2008 Mike Cerkovnik and Vicki Thurman

Three separate networks in the brain control attention: Alerting (scan), Orienting (orient tostimuli), and Executive (control what we do next) networks.

The brain likes hierarchy----providing a preview of the big idea or concept, the gist willimprove understanding.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY | Rule #5: Repeat to remember.

Spaced learning is greatly superior to massed learning. Memory is probably encoded in the brain more like a blender with a lid off than any other

possible metaphor. Memories are distributed all over the surface of the cortex.

If you are trying to drive information into someone elses brain, make sure they know what itmeans. Constantly pepper main learning points with meaningful experiences.

You can improve your chances of remembering something if you reproduce the environmentin which you first put it into your brain.

Forget 90% of what learned in a class in 30 days. If you do not repeat initial information presented, listeners will lose it within 30 seconds. When

repeated, it moves to working memory where it will stay for another hour or so. If not

repeated during that time, it will not move to long-term memory and will disappear.

LONG-TERM MEMORY| Rule #6: Remember to repeat.

Thinking or talking about an event immediately after it has occurred enhances memory forthat event.

If you have only one week to study for a final, and only 10 times when you can hit the subject,it is better to space out the 10 repetitions during the week than to squeeze them all together.

Long-term memories are formed in a two-way conversation between the hippocampus andthe cortex, until the hippocampus breaks the connection and the memory is fixed in the cortex-

--which can take years.

If someone misses one piece of information in the big picture, it impacts their ability tounderstand new information related to it. Therefore, repetition, repetition, repetition is key.

Elaborate encoding is importantrelate the topic to a special event or emotion provokingsituation for deeper (semantic) coding vs. shallow (structural) coding.

SLEEP | Rule #7: Sleep well, think well.

Sleep interruption = lost memory - Loss of sleep hurts attention, executive function, workingmemory, mood, quantitative skills, logical reasoning, and even motor dexterity.

People vary in how much sleep they need and when they prefer to get it, but the biologicaldrive for an afternoon nap is universal. Morning vs. evening chronotypes may be embedded in

our DNA due to ancestors having to stay up all night for protection.

REM = replaying of information during the day (consolidating the information for future use) Sleep study on NASA pilots: 26 minute nap = 34% more attention, 40 minute nap = impact on

attention lasted more than 6 hours.

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8/12/2019 Brain Rules Handout

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MICDS Coffee Klatch November 13, 2008 Mike Cerkovnik and Vicki Thurman

STRESS | Rule #8: Stressed brains don't learn the same way.

Bodies can only handle stress for 30 seconds - Your bodys defense system----the release ofadrenaline and cortisol---is built for an immediate response to serious but passing danger, such

as a saber-toothed tiger. Chronic stress, such as hostility at home, dangerously deregulates a

system built only to deal with short-term responses. Under chronic stress, adrenaline creates scars in your blood vessels that can cause a heart

attack or stroke, and cortisol damages the cells of the hippocampus, crippling your ability to

learn and remember.

Chronic stress causes deregulation and can cause brain to atrophy (damages cognition,motivation, memory, immune system, executive function, etc.)

SENSORY INTEGRATION| Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses.

Our senses evolved to work together---vision influencing hearing, for example---which meansthat we learn best if we stimulate several senses at once.

The brain seems to rely partly on past experiences in deciding how to combine these signals,so two people can perceive the same event very differently.

Multisensory environment is important.

VISION| Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses.

We see with our brains. Vision is probably the best single tool we have for learning anything. Vision is by farour most dominant sense, taking up half our brains resources. We learn and remember best through pictures, not through written or spoken words.

When you hear informationremember 10%; when you see information only - remember 35%;when you hear AND see information, remember 65%.

GENDER | Rule #11: Male and female brains are different.

Men and women respond differently to acute stress: Women activate the left hemispheresamygdala and remember the emotional details. Men use the right amygdala and get the gist.

X chromosome encodes nearly 45x more proteinsTherefore, when developing in utero,womens brains can choose between father and mothers chromosomes creating bigendered

brains. Mens chromosomes always come from their mother so less selective process when

developing.

EXPLORATION | Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers.

Babies are the model of how we learn---not by passive reaction to the environment but byactive testing through observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion.

Some parts of our adult brains stay as malleable as a babys, so we can create neurons andlearn new things throughout our lives.

Error prediction is important

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