S.M.A.R.T.: A closer look at the brain

S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T.: A closer look at the brain

After a short break, we’re now talking about the brain. We’re talking about neurons, multitasking and the lobes. The frontal lobe controls personality, planning, voluntary motion, intelligence, memory and writing. Parietal lobe (just behind the frontal) controls sensations such as touch, pain, pressure, and temperature. The occipital lobe is in the back of the brain and controls vision. The temporal lobes are on the sides and control speech and hearing and such. The central nervous system is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is the nerves that come off the spinal cord. The somatic nervous system obtains sensory information, provides motor output to voluntary muscles that allow us to move. The autonomic nervous system receives input from and sends input to internal organs. Handles involuntary functions like blood flow and breathing. The autonomic nervous system has two subdivisions, sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic prepares the body for ‘fight or flight’, the parasympathetic returns body functions to normal after they have been altered by sympathetic stimulation. In other words, if a child has been revved up due to something that occurred at the playground (such as a fight), the parasympathetic nervous system is what will allow the body to return to normal.

He’s having us look at a graph right now that charts the growth of the brain over the first six years of life and what is developing when in various areas like vision, tactile, auditory, mobility, language and manual.

The basic idea is that during the formation of these various areas of the brain, this program is meant to provide extra stimulation so that they develop fully. If the brain is well stimulated as it is being formed during the early years, the students will be better prepared for education and for life.

Recommending a book called “Magic Trees of the Mind” by Marion Diamond. If you take two groups of rats from the same litter and put one half of them in a stimulating environment and one in a dull environment, the rats in the more stimulating environment developed larger brains. This book goes through all the brain research that has occurred since that experiment. The point of her book are that the magic trees are the dendrites in the brain and that if they aren’t stimulated, they shrivel up and ‘die’.

Here’s a decent analogy. In the past, if you wanted to create an interstate highway, you’d start off with a small pathway through the forest, then pave it, then expand it and so on. This is helping students to develop six lane super highways from the very beginning. They’re helping to develop the automatic skills that can make a significant difference in learning.

Sensory pathways: Visual, auditory and tactile. Motor pathways: Mobility, language and manual function.

I really wish this chart were online somewhere. It’s pretty interesting. I’ll have to ask if they’d mind me scanning it in or sending me a digital copy to upload.

“The language of the brain stem is crawling and creeping.” The program doesn’t have kids crawling around to practice crawling skills, it’s to help build connections that may not have been properly formed in the early years.

The brain stem controls the coordination of unconscious motor activity. SMART activities activate the brain stem where learning readiness skills are developed. Function produces structure.

A few principles:
* The brain grows fastest during the early years. That means it’s smart to take advantage of that window of opportunity with proper exposure
* Stimulation produces beneficial electrical activity. Increases connections to other cells.
* The brain’s plasticity is influenced by sensory experience. A great way to grow a better brain is through the senses. SMART activities are designed to improve reading, writing and attention through sensory stimulation.
* If the environment is complex with new and unexpected positive events, the brain remains active and stimulated. If the environment is routine, the brain merely adapts and then operates automatically using the cells which have been wired for adequacy without a need for increasing growth.
* The brain can be stimulated for increased neural growth at any age. Connections can be made throughout lives.
* The brain is stimulated through inputs not outputs. The only thing that stimulates the brain is visual, auditory or kinesthetic input.