Understanding the Gifted Learner’s Brain GATE Parent Conference Presented by Kate Miller

March 12, 2016

Objectives: To better understand: • Brain Development • How the brain “remembers” and

“learns” • Factors that influence learning • What makes a gifted brain unique

Neurogenesis (Growth of Neurons) • During the 9 months of fetal development,

neurons grow at the rate of 250,000 per minute.

• At birth the brain has approximately 100 billion neurons and weighs about 1 pound. By one year it has doubled and by age 5 or 6 it is 90% of its adult size and weight

•  This growth is not caused by the growth of more neurons but rather by the rapid growth of more synapses.

Development of the Brain

The 100 billion neurons

communicate with one another at

junctures called synapses.

Brain Cells (Neurons)

The Developing Brain

There are two factors that determine how the brain develops…. 1.  Genes are the building blocks.

Some genes are determinants.

Some genes are predispositions.

The Developing Brain (continued)

2. Environment - the on-the-job foreman The environment provides the instruction for the

final construction of the brain.

The brain gobbles up the external environment through its sensory system and then reassembles the digested world in the form of trillions of connections which are...

Constantly growing or dying , becoming stronger or weaker....

Depending on the richness of the banquet.

Genes & Environment as Partners

It is during these years that the foundations are laid down for:

* vision * language * vocabulary * intellectual development * emotional development

Genes and the environment work closely together during the first three to four years

to form a healthy brain.

Neuroplasticity • When children are born, they can hear the sounds

of 6000 languages. However, very early the neural connections representing the sounds that have been reinforced remain and the others wither away.

• What do you think would happen in the brain of a person born blind?

•  Plasticity is a feature of the brain throughout an individual’s lifetime, however, young brains are much more plastic than adult brains.

The Four Lobes of the Brain

Development of Vision

Lack of visual stimulation at birth causes the brain cells designed to interpret

vision to dry up or be diverted to other tasks.

Vision (continued) The neurons in the visual circuits have a growth spurt at the age of 2 to 4 months, which corresponds to when babies start to really notice the world. This growth peaks at 8 months, when each neuron is connected to 15,000 other neurons. A baby whose eyes are clouded by cataracts from birth will, despite cataract-removal surgery at age two, be forever blind. Although the eyes may be perfectly healthy, the child will not be able to see.

Hearing and Language • The critical period for

learning a spoken language is totally lost by about age ten.

• When a child is born deaf, the 50,000 neural pathways that would normally carry sound messages from the ears to the brain are silent.

Second Language Development

The learning of a second language is also dependent upon the stimulation of the neurons for the sounds of that language.

Learning a second language after age 10 to

12 is not only more difficult, it is highly unlikely that it will be spoken without an accent.

Vocabulary

Babies whose mothers talk to them more have a bigger vocabulary. At 20 months, babies of talkative mothers knew 131 more words than infants of less talkative moms. At 24 months the difference was 295 words.

Syntax The critical period for learning syntax is

before age 3. Everyone can learn to use nouns and verbs correctly throughout childhood. But the critical period for learning the correct use of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions seems to be much shorter.

Societal Implications 1. Many children are not talked to or read to or encouraged to interact verbally. 2. Children watching television aren't personally involved with language. 3. Majority of babies born in U.S. are placed in full time day care within a year. In many day care centers there is little interactive talk.

Synaptogenesis and Pruning • Between the second month in utero and the age of

two, each neuron in the cortex forms an average of 1.8 synapses per second. At this point the brain begins to prune away large numbers of connections.

• Which connections remain, and which are pruned,

depends on whether or not they are used.

• Experience literally changes the brain!

What are Learning & Memory? • Learning is the act of making (and

strengthening) connections between thousand of neurons forming neural networks or maps.

• Memory is the ability to reconstruct or reactivate the previously-made connections.

• Neurons that fire together, wire together!

Information Processing

Factors that Influence Attention Attention is important for moving sensory memories to working memory. How do we get the brain to “pay attention”? There are many factors that influence attention, however the two over which we have the most control are: •  Meaning – Whether or not the student can make sense of the information (Does it connect to what they know)

•  Emotion – Whether or not the information has an emotional “hook” (Do they have an emotional response?)

Emotion’s Powerful Role Under threat, the rational/thinking part of the brain is less efficient and learning is often impeded. Kids must be not only physically safe but also psychologically safe to learn. Adrenalin can positively influence memory by stamping them with extra vividness. Anything which engages students’ emotional/motivational interest will naturally engage the adrenalin system and result in stronger memories.

Consolidation The process of stabilizing a memory trace over time, moving

it from working memory to long-term memory •  New information is not “fixed” the moment it is processed.

It takes time to become “gelled” or consolidated. •  Consolidation is enhanced by spaced intervals of

appropriate elaborative rehearsal. •  Learning occurs best when new information is

incorporated gradually into memory rather than being jammed in all at one time!

Two Types of Rehearsal

•  Rote Rehearsal - deliberate, continuous repetition of material in the same form that it originally entered working memory. • Elaborative Rehearsal – elaborating or integrating information, giving it some kind of “hook” to increase retention, creating chunks of reminders.

Two Types of Long-term Memory

1.   Procedural Memory (Best rehearsed by repetition)

Processes that have been practiced or repeated to the extent that they have become automatic. Driving a car, writing, reading, typing, throwing a pass in football, walking, playing the piano, etc.

Two Types of Long-term Memory 2. Declarative Memory

(Best rehearsed with elaboration.)

Semantic Our general knowledge:

Language, people,

places, faces, concepts, facts.

(Independent of

context, acquired by learning.

Episodic

Our life experiences:

Specific events and emotions connected

with these events.

(Reconstructed over time, recall not

necessarily accurate.)

Effective Rehearsal •  The more elaboratively information is rehearsed at

the moment of learning, the stronger the memory.

•  The more modalities used to rehearse, the more paths you have for retrieval.

•  The more real-world examples given, the more likely the concept will be understood and remembered.

•  The more information is linked to previous learning, the stronger the memory.

What Helps the Brain Learn? • 1. Reciprocal Teaching – A/B Teams • 2. Storytelling • 3. Metaphor, Analogy and Simile • 4. Simulations and Role Play • 5. Reflect and Write, Reflection Journals • 6. Rhyme, Rhythm and Rap • 7. Visuals and Graphics • 8. Projects and Problem-based Learning • 9. Mnemonics • 10. Hands On Activities