Educational Neuroscience

The “10% brain” Myth

Let me state this very clearly:

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains.

It is quite remarkable that a handful of ideas from the field of neuroscience spread like wildfire through the popular media, thereby becoming part of our culture and worldview, while other ideas remain neglected, known only to a small group of experts. Since I was little, I always heard that humans use only 10% of their brains. To me, this idea agreed with the age-old notion that we as humans have great potential. Years later, I learned the 10% myth most likely arose from a misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of neurological research in the late 19th century or early 20th century.

The popular notion that large parts of the brain remain unused, and could subsequently be “activated”, is not based on scientific theory. Several books, films, and short stories have been written closely related to this myth. They include the novel “The Dark Fields”, and its film adaptation “Limitless” (claiming 20% rather than the typical 10%), as well as the 2014 film “Lucy”, all of which operate under the notion that the rest of the brain could be accessed through use of a drug. Lucy, in particular, depicts a character who gains increasingly godlike abilities once she surpasses 10%.

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Hacking The Brain With Electricity — Don’t Try This At Home

by Amy Standen (Re-post from NPR)

It’s the latest craze for people who want to improve their mental performance — zapping the brain with electricity to make it sharper and more focused. It’s called “brain hacking,” and some people are experimenting with it at home.

The idea’s not completely crazy. Small jolts of electricity targeted at specific areas of the brain are used to treat diseases like epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

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The mystery of teenage brain in 14 minutes

Why do teenagers seem so much more impulsive, so much less self-aware than grown-ups? Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore compares the prefrontal cortex in adolescents to that of adults, to show us how typically “teenage” behavior is caused by the growing and developing brain.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore studies the social brain — the network of brain regions involved in understanding other people — and how it develops in adolescents.

Handwriting Trains children’s Brain – find out how

Ask preschooler Zane Pike to write his name or the alphabet, then watch this 4-year-old’s stubborn side kick in. He spurns practice at school and tosses aside workbooks at home. But Angie Pike, Zane’s mom, persists, believing that handwriting is a building block to learning.

She’s right. Using advanced tools such as magnetic resonance imaging, researchers are finding that writing by hand is more than just a way to communicate. The practice helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development.

It’s not just children who benefit. Adults studying new symbols, such as Chinese characters, might enhance recognition by writing the characters by hand, researchers say. Some physicians say handwriting could be a good cognitive exercise for baby boomers working to keep their minds sharp as they age.

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Too Much TV time Diminishes Toddlers’ Kindergarten Chances

I have been on a consulting project to building bi-lingual kindergarten in China and in Singapore little over a year now. So my eyes and ears have been more focused on studies that have to do with toddlers. A lot of what is on the internet about TV time and video game times applies to older kids. Or, they are just rehashing old research. Worse, they are based on pseudo-science.  Here is a study that is very well done in my opinion and I will recommend to parents and teachers for reading.  For those who does not like long science articles, I will get to the point here.

Conclusion of the matter is this: Every hourly increase in daily television watching at 29 months of age is associated with diminished vocabulary and math skills, classroom engagement (which is largely determined by attention skills), victimization by classmates, and physical prowess at kindergarten, according to Professor Linda Pagani of the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital. 991 girls and 1006 boys in Quebec whose parents reported their television viewing behaviour as part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.

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Neuro Myths (part 2): Separating Fact and Fiction

Back in January this year, I found and edited a list of popular neuromyths (part 1 here) that just won’t die.  here are some more explanation. 🙂

Myth Busting

Some of the biggest neuro myths, or misguided beliefs about neuroscience that have invaded the general psyche, include the following:

  • The brain is static, unchanging, and set before you start school. The most widely accepted conclusion of current research in neuroscience is that of neuroplasticity: Our brains grow, change, and adapt at all times in our lives. “Virtually everyone who studies the brain is astounded at how plastic it is,” Fischer says. (more…)

Ways of Teaching Thinking- An Introduction to Four Thinking-Centered Approaches

Effective thinking-centered instruction aims to achieve two educational objectives:

1. To cultivate the active use of knowledge, and

2. To help students become self-regulated learners.

Toward that end, this section of The Thinking Classroom highlights four thinking-centered approaches for infusing high-level thinking instruction into your regular curriculum. The Ways of Teaching Thinking region features a preview and description of each of the approaches.

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