The Learning Brain A whirlwind tour

The building blocks: Brain cells

Image: Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd ed.

NeuronsEstimate: humans are born with 150-200 billion neurons

We keep approx. 100 billion of those - the rest are “pruned”

Huge plasticity built in - billions of glial cells, ability to form connections b/w cells (point of connection: synapse)

Image: EnchantedLearning.com

Corpus callosum - connecting the two hemispheres

Basic Brain Structures: Cortex

Frontal: Judgment, creativity, problem solving, planning

Parietal: Sensorimotor, language

Temporal: Hearing, Memory, Language

Occipital: Vision

Prefrontal cortex (PFC)

Amygdala - one in each hemisphere - strong emotion (fear, fear memory)

Hippocampus - Long Term Memory

Current research:Linking brain pathways

to patterns of learning or difficulty

At this time, there is no accepted “brain scan profile” for

diagnoses such as learning disabilities, ADHD, or autism.

Multiple Intelligences

Intended to describe learning- may or may not “map” onto a

specific brain area