using neuroscience and technology to build learning capacity
TRANSCRIPT
Using Neuroscience and Technology to Build Learning Capacity
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
• New area of neuroscience (15 years old)• Evolving thanks to the new noninvasive
technologies to study the brain (fMRI, PET etc.)
…reading is the one area of the school curriculum where neuroscience has made its greatest contribution…
Sousa, 2005
Neuronal communication system
Neurotransmitter Chemicals
• Acetylcholine: focused attention/reward
• Dopamine: reward, novelty
• Norepinephrine: novelty
This Student is Prepared to Learn: Paying Attention, Storing Multiple Commands and
Assigning Meaning to What is Said
This Student is Not Prepared to Learn:
Not Paying Attention, Not Storing Multiple Commands and Not Assigning Meaning to What is Said
National Institute of HealthCited Reasons for Poor Reading Ability
Causes of Poor ReadingResearch by National Institute of Health
(after a ten-year public study) concluded:
80% of the time cognitive skill weakness…
» Working memory » Ability to attend » Auditory and visual processing speed» Following sequences of directions
…is the source of the difficulty
Reading is SimplyWRITTEN LANGUAGE
But….
“If a student cannot identify sounds in spoken words…he will have difficulty with decoding and thus reading.”
Dr. G. Reid Lyon, National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development, NIH 1997
1. READ
2. WRITE
3. SPEAK
4. LISTEN
5. COMPREHEND
Five Domains of Language Proficiency
What are Some Causes for Poor Language Ability?
Weak or missing neural maps can be caused by:• Limited exposure to the language of the classroom• Inner ear infections• Neurological problems• Processing speed • Heritable factors• Many other factors we haven’t identified
Perceptual weakness
Weak phonological representations
Oral language weakness
Reading, writing, spelling problems
Learning and academic problems
Struggling students
Language Literacy Continuum
Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995).
12 24 36 48(Age Child in Months)
Est
ima
ted
Cu
mu
lati
ve W
ord
s A
dd
ress
ed t
o C
hil
d(I
n M
illi
on
s)
Working-class26 Million Words
Welfare13 Million Words
Professional45 Million Words
Language Experiences by Group
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
Read
ing
Ag
e L
evel
Chronological Age
Low Oral Language in Kindergarten
High Oral Language in Kindergarten
5.2 years difference
The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language on Reading Growth(Hirsch, 1996)
Problems with processing spoken language lead to difficulties with:
• Following directions• Doing multiple choice tests• Reading paragraphs• Understanding pronouns• Understanding embedded clauses
Consequences in the Classroom
For written material this is exaggerated by slow labored decoding
Research has taught us:
• Both challenge and feedback are required for brain growth.
• At birth, we have an equal potential to learn any language.
• Literacy in the 1st language accelerates literacy in the second.
• Socioeconomic level affects learning environment and vocabulary
Research has taught us:
• People who are functionally bilingual can delay the onset of dementia over 4 years longer than monolinguals.
Meet the Reseachers:Paula Tallal
•A world-recognized authority on language-learning disabilities
•Active on many scientific advisory boards and government committees
•Researches developmental language disorders and learning problems.
• Students need to distinguish speech sounds correctly so they can learn the rules of language and associate sounds with letters
• Speech sounds can differ by as little as 10 milliseconds
• Fast ForWord emphasizes the differences in sounds to make them easier to distinguish
Processing Speech
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
2-Tone Sequence Task
8 15 30 60 150 350 428 947 1466 1985 3543
3023 4062
Normals
LanguageDelayed
Tallal, P & Piercy, M (1973) Nature, 241
Faster (milliseconds) Slower
Perc
en
t C
orr
ect
Auditory Processing Differences
40
Why Processing Sound Is a Challenge For the Brain..
100milliseconds
Small Changes in Timing -Big Changes in Meaning
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Reading for Information
“Cognitive Skills Development”
Memory Attention
Processing
Sequencing
Foundational Language Skills
“By building a strong foundation,
literacy and learning can be accelerated.”
Relationships and Viewpoints
The Foundations to Literacy & LearningBrain
Fitness
Meet the Researchers:Michael Merzenich
• Considered by many to be the father of Brain Plasticity
• Has been conducting research that supports Brain Plasticity theories for nearly 30 years
• Has been using fMRI technology to take images of the brain before and after a student learns to read.
Memory
Attention
Processing
Sequencing
Memory
Attention
Processing
Sequencing
Cognitive Skills: The Foundation to Reading!
LEARNING MAPS
1. Conditions in the brain are dynamic. They change and “rewire” at any age
2. The brain’s ability to change, or be trained, is known as
Neuroplasticity
3. The brain can change and learn at any age, and certain conditions encourage learning
Neuroscience Findings
on The Learning Brain
Neuroscience Findings
Struggling readers show significantly slower and less active neural activity in the areas of the brain affecting cognitive skills:
• working memory
• attention
• processing speed
• phonological awareness
Neuroscience Principles
Frequency and intensity
Adaptivity
Simultaneous development
Timely motivation
da
Acoustically Modifying a Sound Creates a “Pure” Signal
da
Progress Towards Natural Speech
How New Technology Helps
• When acoustic differences are stretched and emphasized, students can perceive them
Consistent Trials for Maximum Performance
Number of 50-minute Sessions
Lea
rnin
g T
rial
s Fast ForWordElementary35,000 trials
Other Software6,000 trials
Fast ForWordMiddle & High45,000 trials
Reading Skills Improve
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing; Phonological Awareness Test;
Test of Phonological Awareness
Reading Scores Improve
TerraNova (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program)
Improvements Are Maintained
Woodcock-Johnson Revised
• Processing spoken language• Following directions• Quality and quantity of verbal expression and conversational skills• Reading and comprehending paragraphs• Understanding embedded clauses• Self esteem• Confidence• Writing longer responses and paragraphs• Interest in reading• Greater ability to focus and answer in class• FEWER REFERRALS TO SPECIAL EDUCATION
Improvements Observed
By Teachers and Parents
The efficacy of
the strategy
crosses a variety
of student
populations.
Memory Improves
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing
Attention Increases
ADHD Rating Scale- IV
Processing Improves
Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination
Sequencing Improves
TAPS-R (auditory sentence memory subtest)
Harvard Medical SchoolIndependent Study
Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience 25 (2007) 295–310 295IOS Press
Neural correlates of rapid auditory processingare disrupted in children with developmentaldyslexia and ameliorated with training: AnfMRI study
N. Gaab,∗, J.D.E. Gabrieli, G.K. Deutsch, P. Tallal and E. Temple, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Stanford Institute for Reading and Learning, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USACenter for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USADepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Department of Education,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USAChildren’s Hospital Boston, Developmental Medicine Center, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA, USA
Cornell University Independent StudySignature of
Average Readers
Signature of Average Readers
Signature of Dyslexic Readers,
beforeFast ForWord
Signature of Dyslexic Readers,
beforeFast ForWord
Signature of Dyslexic Readers,
afterFast ForWord
Signature of Dyslexic Readers,
afterFast ForWord
Dyslexic children’s reading ability had been raised to normal levels by the end of the eight (8) week remediation period.
Dyslexic children’s reading ability had been raised to normal levels by the end of the eight (8) week remediation period.
Adapted from Temple et al.,Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003
Stanford University Independent Study
Right Left
Dyslexic ReadersDyslexic Readers
Adapted from Temple et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003
Normal ReadersNormal Readers
Good Reading
www.positscience.com
Using Neuroscience and Technology to Build Learning Capacity