LEARNING AND THE BRAINPresented by: Brenda Arellano, MS, LPA

ROAD MAP• Brain basics

• The teenage brain

• Learning and the brain

• Social media and the brain

BRAIN TERMS

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAIN• Brain: Body’s command center

• Neurons: Brain cells

• Synapses: Brain connections

• Grey matter: Thinking and processing part of brain

• White matter: allows communication between brain areas and between brain and body

• Different parts of brain responsible for different abilities• Ex: Talking, sight, movement,

emotion

• Some parts of brain develop faster than others

WHAT AFFECTS BRAIN DEVELOPMENT?

• Genes

• Nutrition

• Infection and disease• Chronic stress also slows affects

brain development

• Experiences with people and our surroundings• Chances to learn, play and explore

• Starts with parents and family. Includes teachers, friends and community as we get older

• Note: everyone’s brain is different

BRAIN CHANGES OVER TIME

• 90% of brain growth in first 5 years• Brain size doubles in first year!

• 1 million brain connections made every second in early childhood!

• Newborns have all the brain cells they’ll have for rest of life

• Brain growth builds on itself• Connections as a baby lay

foundation for more complicated connections like motivation and problem solving as an adult

• Brain size is almost at adult size by age 6, but a lot of remodeling happens in teen years

THE TEENAGE BRAIN

BRAIN CHANGES IN TEEN YEARS• Brain gets rid of unneeded and unused

connections • Pruning

• Helps brain get more efficient

• Process starts in back of the brain• Brain gets thicker

• Especially in areas linked to social understanding and communication

• Better able to delay rewards• Abstract thinking• Teens rely on amygdala- emotion

center of brain- to make decisions because front of brain still under construction

• Might look like: • Taking more risks• Feeling a lot of strong emotions• Making impulsive decisions

SOCIAL CHANGES IN TEEN BRAIN• Perspective taking: Understand others have different opinions and

experiences than them

• Identity formation: Trying to figure out who you are

• Relationships with friends and other teens become more important than relationships with family and parents

• Spotlight effect: Increased self awareness

LEARNING AND THE BRAIN

TIPS TO HELP YOUR BRAIN LEARN

• Build in breaks

• Your brain likes appetizers, not all-you-can-eat buffets• Study a little bit at a time vs. one

giant cram session the night before

• Do one thing at a time

• Try to connect new things to whatyou already know

• Test yourself

• If you don’t know, look it up

• Explain it to grandma

LEARNING FROM SITUATIONS

• Be patient with yourself• What would you tell a friend if they went

through this same difficulty?

• Pause and reflect• Do you notice any patterns?

• Find new and creative ways to express emotions

• Talk through big decisions

• Think about pros and cons

• Give yourself credit• Focus on how far you’ve come, not just

how far you have to go

• Find positive role models

• Ask for help if you need it

SOCIAL MEDIAAND THE BRAIN

SOME NUMBERS

• 97% of Americans 13-17 use social media

• 95% of teens have access to a smart phone

• 45% of teens say they’re online “almost constantly”

• Average American teen spends 6-9 hours on social media per day

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRAIN CHANGES

• More social interaction – on and off line- linked to bigger amygdala (emotional processing)

• Teens more sensitive to online rejection than adults

• Teens more sensitive to social acceptance online than adults• Depressed teens less likely to feel

accepted online

• More sensitive to “reward” • Ex: likes and followers

• Peer feedback on social media shapes what our brain sees as “normal”

• Teens tend to have more emotions in response to social media use

SO… IS SOCIAL MEDIA BAD?

• We don’t know yet

• Teens right now are first “digital natives”

• So far, it seems:

• There’s pros and cons to social media use for teens

• Social media affects people differently

• Social media more likely to be okay if use it sparingly (<2 hrs/day) and keep it positive

THANK YOU! QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?