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May 2016
BrainBow
Issue 3
Authored by:
Diane P. Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Everything brain related
Brainbow, an e-letter, is dedicated to summarizing
brain developments from the popular press. Like
brainbows, captivating ideas have the potential to
expand common understandings about the brain.
The name, brainbow, draws inspiration from
images. Originally developed in 2007, the brainbow
is a staining process that colors individual neurons
using florescent proteins. Currently, brainbows are
limited to images taken from organisms with less
complex brains such as mice and drosophila.
Neuroscience Research in Education
Imagine my excitement in March to
learn from an article in Education Week
about groundbreaking work in a wiredclassroom at the Neurocognition
Science Laboratory at Washington State
University. My dream about
understanding neuroscience and the
connection to classroom learning was
coming true. Being inspired by this
work, I decided to feature Dr. Richard
Lamb and his associates as the
centerpiece for this issue of Brainbow.
This Neurocognition Lab is and will
continue to provide groundbreaking
understandings that link the brain to
assessment and classroom learning.
Because I was reporting on a short
article, not a book, I also thought I
would be able to complete the issue in
record time. How wrong I was.
brain. My drive for clarity jolted me out
of my complacency. In the end this
Brainbow generated more questions than
answers, and left me pondering how far
those of us interested in everything brain
related have come, and how far our
schools still have to go.
I couldnt help but think of the French
idiom, plus a change, plus cest the
mme chose, which means the more
things change, the more they stay the
same. Despite 20 years of paradigm
shifting breakthroughs in neuroscience,
which have led to a complete rethinking
about how the brain grows and develops
and a plethora of writing on the topic in
the popular press, it seems schools stayed
more the same. I started this issue
Where I though I would find a plethora
of supporting articles, I found a dearth.
As I put print to the page and pondered
the deep meaning of every word, I
found that even I had lingering
simplifications, which had continued to
shape my beliefs and limit my thinking
about research on teaching and the
celebrating all these breakthroughs, and
ended up frustrated by the lack of change in
education. As a result this Brainbow is a cry
for political action, and a commitment to
the moral imperativecomplacency and
ignorance are no excuse, we must find ways
to influence the educational research agenda
in the United States, and for that matter the
world.
First, I must reveal my own bias; ever since
I was a graduate student and applied the
defining brain maps of Wernicke and Broca
when working with stroke patients, I have
dreamed of the day when we would have
explicit maps of the brain, coded to help us
know just how to make a differencein
other words, how to teach using brain
research. As I moved into the deep
contemplation sustained in writing and
thinking about a topic, I realized that I was
still dreaming of that day, even though I
know that location and brain function are
just one small part of the puzzle, and that
neurochemistry and the pathways of
communication are far more significant for
learning.
(continued page 2)
About the American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Our Mission: AERA, founded in 1916, is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly
inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of
results.(it) provides a forum for academic institutions, departments, non-university-based research institutions, and
professional associations to shape information about federal education research issues, people, and events, as well as be
engaged in shaping policy with regard to significant research issues.
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(continued
page 1)
Lorem from
Ipsum
As I contemplated the topic I realized that
making connections from neuroscience to
classroom learning continues to be a
daunting task. Yet, I was hopeful as I studied
a phone book sized program for the annual
conference of the American Educational
Research Association (AERA) Conference in
Washington DC.
For this 5-day conference over 16,000
educational researchers from the US and the
world flowed into DC just as the cherry
blossoms blew away. AERA is the premiere
policy setting body for schools of education and
government agencies. In a sense it is ground zero
for research-based reforms. So I felt certain I
would find pithy piece of new research to pull
the next issue of Brainbow together. Instead, I get
to invite you to join me in my shock--as I
thumbed through the inch thick program I
found next to nothing about learning and the
brain! As surprising as it may be, the 2,000 +
item index listed a paltry 12 presentations under
Cognitive and the Neurosciences, and a meager
64 offerings under the heading Cognitive
Processes/Development.
Digging even deeper into the data tells an even
more frightening tale; of these 76 offerings 50%
of them were round-table discussions, which give
10 to 20 minutes on the topic to a small audience
of about 10 people. As I browsed the remaining
50% of the offerings I found 5 with cognition in
the title a 2 that addressed neuroscience. The
rest seemed unrelated to the indexed heading,
and were more related to thinking skills and
decision-making. I was vexed, how could this be?
Mystified, I struggled to grasp the implications.
Flummoxed, I realized that educators would
have to reach outside of education to stay up to
date. Without realizing it I had been lulled by the
plethora of brain related research cited in the
popular press. Indeed, the raison detre for
Brainbow was an attempt to organize some of this
writing in a way that was useful for educators.
Now I fear that brain research and learning are
like the tree that falls in the forest and is lost to
the known world of education because no one
bore witness.
Brainbow of an animals denate
gyrusthe memory making part
of the brain associated with
hippocampal formation
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Neuroscientists study rEal-Time
Learning in classroom Lab
The tight formulaic confines of
scientific research have proven to
be problematic for the social
sciences including education. The
lab environment is artificial and
does not mimic real experiences;
variables are many and not easily
controlled; and brain activity is
not directly observable. Up until
now, turning a classroom into a
neurological lab has been out of
the question; however, with new
technology and
scanning devices the
Neurocognitive
Science Laboratory at
Washington State
University has done
just that. This
$200,000 lab supported by the
National Science Foundation is
believed to be the only one of its
kind in the US. (Education Week,
March 9, 2016)
The lab housed on the university
campus, directed by Dr. Richard
Lamb, focuses on learning across a
lifespan. The researchers draw
from neuropsychology,
neuroscience, and psychometric
theory to study impediments to
learning and to bridge the longstanding gap between the brain
and behavior. They use sophisticated tools such as computational
modeling of cognitive processes,
neuroimaging, and physiological
measurements. Their first studies
focus on cognitive learning
demands on students and teachers.
(See video: https://labs.wsu.edu/neurocog/ )
Using brain imaging, Dr. Lamb is
studying the cognitive difficulty of
elementary math concepts, which are
embedded within the Common Core
State Standards. Their findings are
leading to some interesting questions
about what indeed we are measuring.
One preliminary finding studied areas
of the brain associated with thinking
by measuring changes
(fNIR) in blood-oxygen
levels and found that
mathematical task items
rated as difficult were
indeed difficult, however,
they activated the phonological
systems of the brain, not the areas
associated with math operations.
Another cross disciplinary exploration
by Joshua Premo, graduate student
and former teacher, applies what he
learned about ants to classroom
dynamics and the affect on cognitive
load. He found that ants communicate
using touch and that small breakdowns
in the ant communication system cause
these insects to deviate wildly from
the normal course. He sees this as
analogous to a classroom, where small
breakdowns in classroom dynamics
can cause students to go wildly off
course.
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/neuroscientists-study-real-time-learning-inclassroom-lab.html
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Challenges of applying
Neuroscience to Education
From Blog of Daniel Willingham, University of Virginia
Daniel Willingham has identified two
challenges in translating brain research
into action: 1) The horizontal challenge
of matching neurological patterns to
behavior. 2) The vertical challenge of
linking parallel tracks of study from
different disciplines or to support a well
accepted hypothesis about the brain.
Willingham identifies four research
practices that connect the dots between
brain research and the concomitant
behaviors. He believes that by using these
filters we can avoid neuromyths:
Basic Architecture: Using
neuroscience research and mapping,
practitioners can apply basic, large-scale
architectures in identifying locations for
cognitive processes. Example: Through
autopsies Broca and Wernicke located
two language-processing areas of the
brain, which have proven useful for
both diagnosis and remediation.
Single Cell Inspiration: To study a
narrow band of behaviors, a
microelectrode is placed in the brain of
an animal in a location of interest in
order to measure when a neuron fires.
This level of analysis focuses on the
building blocks of neurobiology and can
study changes over a life span. Example:
Hubel and Wiesel (1962) located
specific functions of the visual cortex of
cats (Brainbow Feb, 2016).
Reliable Neuro-Knowledge:
Willingham cautions that reliable
knowledge about the brain can be
extremely useful, yet he recommends
restraint in jumping to conclusions.
Many neuro-myths have grown out of
proven research applied to explain
behavior in inappropriate ways. He sites
the work of Shaywitz as a constructive
application of neuro-knowledge.
Example: Shaywitz et. al. (1998) imaged
brains of typical and dyslexic readers
and found differences in brain
activation. They then validated their
findings by drawing parallels to research
from brain damage to area 39, which
reduces the ability to read. (See images
on page 3.)
Confirm a Construct: Many plausible
constructs have been developed to
describe functions of the brain. For
example, while short-term memory
explains behavioral data, to date this
has proved to be difficult to pinpoint
neurological correlates. Example:
its legitimate for me to propose
something like short term memory if
its part of a theory that accounts for a lot
of data. But the mere fact that some part
of the brain is active during what I claim
to be a task tapping short-term memory
doesnt help my case. I need to show that
short term memory helps to account
for the data.
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Greatest promise: Neuroscientific
data shows promise for early detection of
learning problems. For example, for the
research on dyslexia--the most studied
learning processresearchers have
effectively linked behavioral measures to
neuroscience.
This figure below summarizes the three
representations of number in the brain: a
core quantity system (red), numbers in
verbal form (green), and attentional
orientation on the number line (blue).
Dehaene et al (2003)
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Mapping the connections of the brain
continues to be a challenging task. Below
Uchida examines the long-range
connectionhow other parts of the brain
connect directly to dopamine neurons.
Rather than toss out behavioral
measures, researchers are looking to
supplement them. When both behavioral
and neuroscientific measures are applied,
it provides better prediction and
diagnosis than either measure on its own.
___________________________
More on the Research
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ng-the-brains-connections/
These numbers from Shaywitz et als
(1998) research identify Brodamans
areas of the cortex. The lighter areas are
of less activation, the darker of more
activation.
Men (an now women) go forth to marvel at the at the heights of
mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the
rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the orbits of the stars, and they
neglect to marvel at themselves. ---Saint Augustine, about 400 CE
May 2016 Issue 3
MRI image of brain showing the structure of myelin sheathed wiring (white matter). Age related differences
in how the brain learns: In an exploratory study, Dr. Takeo Watanabe from Brown University studied the learning
performance of volunteers aged 19-32 and 65-80; both groups showed substantial growth in abstract visual perception tasks. The
learning was differentiated using two types of scans, magnetic resonance imaging to look at the plasticity of the cortex and
diffusion tensor imaging to measure changes in white matter to focus on the section of the brain responsible for visual learning,
both the visual cortex (gray matter and the white matter beneath it). The conclusion: Younger learners showed more changes in
the cortex than older learners, older subjects showed more changes in the white matter than the younger subjects.
Dr. Takeo Watanabe Brown University.
Neuroscience study of Teaching:
Now for the first
time, neuroscientists
Apps, Lesage, and
Rammani (2015)
have analyzed teaching behavior and
investigated the neural mechanisms that
underpin a teachers reinforcement or
correction of learning. Specifically, they
studied the neural mechanisms of teacher
response to studentshow we learn from
the outcome of our actions. Apps et.al.
drew on the wealth of research on the
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the
study of prediction errorsthe response
to unexpected outcomes to ones own
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2014/11/age
Apps et.al. found that the ACCg plays a
specific role in signaling information about
an area of study known as prediction
errors. In other words, the dopamine
neurons increase spike frequency for
unexpectedly positive outcomes, decrease
spike frequency for unexpectedly negative
outcomes and show no activity change for
predictable outcomes. They believe that the
this entire region is important for setting
intentions as well as vicariously processing
and understanding the learning of others.
While this study was a laboratory
experiment and was conducted one-on-one,
which is not akin to a class of 30 students,
we think this is an important finding.
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actions. The anterior cingulate cortex
(ACC) has been linked to social behaviors,
specifically sensitivity to predicting the
value of others actions. They wanted to
study the reaction of the ACC gyrus
(ACCg) when teachers monitor, guide and
understand the learning of others.
Micrograph-- spindle neurons, cingulate cortex
Update from Dr. Richard Lamb
(Phone Conversation May 16, 2016)
Dr. Lamb has just accepted a new position at the
University of Buffalo in New York. While he
hated to leave his work in Washington, he looks
forward to the opportunity to work in a bigger lab
with more equipment in a large university with
many researchers. His lab in Pullman will close
temporarily at the end of May to wait for the
appointment of a new Director for the Program.
In the meantime, Dr. Lamb submitted his findings
about how Common Core State Standards for math
activate the phonological systems in the brain to
the Journal of Educational Research, the monthly
journal of AERA. During our conversation he
reported that the rejection letter had come with
the statement that research on the brain was not
reliable enough to publish in their journal!
Meanwhile, educators nationwide will continue to
administer and report on math assessments that it
turns out do not measure mathematics.
The conference chair for AERA is seeking input
for the 2017 conference in San Antonio. I plan to
send her this Brainbow. I also plan to contact the
new president of AERA, Deborah Ball, who is a
respected mathematics educator. I am hopeful
that Dr. Lambs work will get her attention. I will
also submit to present at the next conference as
well.
Signing off, finallyEnjoy this issue of Brainbow
It has been the most challenging issue yet!
This e-letter is authored by Diane P. Zimmerman, Ph.D. It represents her summaries of recent
information about the brain. Permission is granted to share this e-letter with others interested in
everything brain related. Excerpts from it must cite original authorship as noted in the writing. For more
information or to start a conversation e-mail [email protected]
Brainy Bunch Community Contributions
May 2016 Issue 3
While we dont yet have all the answers, these are findings, identified by Pat Wolfe, which have come out of the last 10 years of
neuroscience research provide a basic framework for educators can use with confidence to increase student understanding and
retention of information.
1. Environment plays a major role in shaping the brain. Because the brain has neuroplasticity, it is sculpted by what it does.
Educators not only teach the curriculum to their students, the skills and abilities students develop are based on what they ask students to do.
Students in well-executed immersion language programs become bilingual. Students in schools that emphasize social/emotional
development are more empathic.
2. The brain is a pattern-seeking device. In order to make sense out of incoming sensory data, the brain tries to find a connection
between the new information with something already stored. The brain is primed to both seek out patterns or similarities and to reject what
is not relevant or understandable. When connections are made, the new information is reassembled into existing patterns that make up
memory. Whether or not the new information is retained usually depends upon the quality of the original input. Educators can take
advantages of this propensity by using metaphor, analogies and narrative to help learners map new concepts into neural networks where
prior knowledge is stored. Meaningless information is seldom stored in permanent neural networks.
3. Emotions are a primary catalyst for the learning process. Emotion plays a dual role in the brain; either enhancing or impeding
learning. When a student perceives a situation as threatening, the fight or flight syndrome kicks in and the frontal lobes (the seat of higher
level, rational thinking) begins to shut down. This impedes learning. Therefore, the classroom needs to be psychologically safe. On the
other hand, any situation, which contains an element of emotion, is remembered longer. This is a double-edged sword meaning that both
positive and negative experiences are remembered. Teachers would be well served to seek emotional connections to important learning,
and to be mindful that negative impacts the social dynamics in the classroom.
4. Appropriate rehearsal aids in retention of information. There are two distinct types of memory, which use different brain
structures. Procedural memory is memory for those habits or skills that have been practiced to the point where they are automatic and are
largely unconscious. Examples are driving a car, reading, walking, and touch-typing. These skills are best learned through repetitive
rehearsal. Declarative memory is our general knowledge of semantic information. Repetition is not as effective for this type of memory.
Elaborating on the information through discussion, acting out, drawing, singing, etc. are much more effective. When teachers involve
students in relevant, motivating situations such as role-playing an historical event, memory is enhanced.
There are multiple other findings that will probably hold true with more research. It appears that sleep, exercise and nutrition all
play an important role in learning. Support and feedback appear to increase learning as well. We stand on the threshold of
important new advances in neuroscience that will yield increased understanding of brain functioning and the way we learn. How
we use this new information to teach our children may well be the most important question in our lifetime.
Nothing like putting a book out on April fools day! Diane Zimmermans
latest book about working with teachers to build leadership capacity came
out 4-1-16.
Here she is with her coauthors at the Teachers College Press (TCP) book
News:
Another book out at TCP has relevance for our work. Chapter 2 outlines 7 principles
for adult learning applied to teacher leadership. 1) Plasticity supports life long
learning and professional development. 2) Intelligence is malleable and multifaceted.
3) Each adult brain is unique. 4) Positive school environment supports positive
change. 5. Teacher leaders learn through purposeful inquiry. 6) Collaboration
enhances learning for teacher leaders. 7) Teacher leaders put what they have learned
to work.
Here I pose with author Donna Wilson and our wonderful acquisitions editor, Jean
Ward.
Note to Readers The next issue of Brainbow be out July 15. I plan to use Eric Jensens Engaging
Students with Poverty in Mind as the centerpiece. If you have references or other information on this
topic, please e-mail me. I would like to feature Brainy Bunch contributions. [email protected]
