Fragile Flexibility (EF Skills Series)

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In young children, the schema of their quality world usually revolves around a caregiver or a person who they consider as important in the development of their identity. Their interests initially mimic from imagining that they are versions of the adults they are surrounded by until they are exposed to wider environments, peers, language, media, and then a wholistic interest database emerges from the conglomeration and exposure.

It also makes sense that the younger the child, the more questions they ask. Rarely would you find a child between the ages of 3-5 years come into contact with adults who have set values or biases of themselves concerning what’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ around the way they perceive the world. This type of mental flexibility, of mixing and matching new, or new-old ideas in their youth is also directly proportional to the physical activity that they engage in. The pushing of limits of their physical capacities around places that are close to the natural world like garden parks, or places that have been landscaped for the socialization of little people like urban parks are indicators of their levels of mindful curiosity.

It certainly becomes less correlational when children become older, the degree or type of questions with physical movement. The overt questions may turn into musings and conformity is usually expected when school-age commences. Physical movement is timed if the child is not involved in organized sports or games. Just the same, however, the degree of flexibility in these minds depends on the environment they take in, and the imagination that is left from viewing the world from their youth. Martinez and Riba’s 2021 study, Cognitive Flexibility in Schoolchild Through the Graphic Representation of Movement postulates that Neuroconstructivism is the progressive complexity of mental representation over the course of cognitive development and the role of the graphic representation of movement in the transformation of mental schemas, cognitive flexibility, and representational complexity.

They also discuss that In this differential trajectory, mental representation is a key element for cognitive development and for understanding the emergence of child drawing, and changes thereof, as a graphic representation of internalized models of reality (Sirois et al., 2008). A child’s drawing is the first marker that enables the study of mental representation as an external manifestation of internalized reality, by showing what is known about it.

Moreover, events are naturally more attractive than objects, and their foremost feature is their movement. Therefore, part of the content of the first mental representations turns around the identity of events, objects, and people, and their movement and position, which forms the basis of the dynamic representations produced. The first external representative manifestation is the child’s scribble, in which the action of the drawing already contains expressive and representational meanings relating to shapes, movements, and emotions (Quaglia et al., 2015), even if there is no real figure that relates to a meaningful movement for representational purpose.

Such cognitive flexibility is what drives competition in a crowd. The narratives that may have been handed down from authority figures that were used to set ‘safety’ limits, such as limiting or eliminating outdoor time due to the location of where the child resides, or in this recent case the pandemic, inadvertently have pared down the curiosity factor toward the external influences. Subsitutions by devices and programs on the web were meant to digitize the parallel experience of the world beyond the home, however, without the multisensorial inundation of an experience, the ideas being written are almost dream-like. They may be able to describe a forest of trees in a contextual litany of facts, but ask them about the experience and then they are puzzled.

So do you make up for lost cognitive flexibility time for children? Or for yourself as a person of structure and routine? The answer is no. It is more important to make active choices to be exposed to the internal and external worlds that are immediate and to ensure that physical movements are consciously added in a 24 hour period than to make up for the over a year of standing still. Scientific studies have isolated the executive functions that aim at cognitive flexibility, which include the abilities to shift one’s thinking (flexibility), updating the learning that has been made based on the thinking shift (working memory), and response inhibition. In Uddin’s 2021 study, Cognitive and behavioural flexibility: neural mechanisms and clinical considerations she explains the core processes in thinking flexibility with this figure:

Fig. 1

Fig. 1: Core cognitive processes and brain network interactions underlying flexibility in the human brain. From: Cognitive and behavioural flexibility: neural mechanisms and clinical considerations

These brain maps were established with the use of automated meta-analyses of published functional neuroimaging studies can be conducted with Neurosynth, a Web-based platform that uses text mining to extract activation coordinates from studies reporting on a specific psychological term of interest and machine learning to estimate the likelihood that activation maps are associated with specific psychological terms, thus creating a mapping between neural and cognitive states. In the study, Neurosynth reveals that brain imaging studies including the terms ‘shifting’, ‘updating’ and ‘inhibition’ report highly overlapping patterns of activation in lateral frontoparietal and mid-cingulo-insular brain regions, underscoring the difficulty of isolating the construct of flexibility from associated executive functions.

This means that cognitive flexibility is an activity that requires the whole brain, and if that is the case, then it requires a complete human experience. In an article by Sahakian, et. al in the World Economic Forum site called, Why is cognitive flexibility important and how can you improve it? they indicate that Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. Flexible thinking is key to creativity – in other words, the ability to think of new ideas, make novel connections between ideas, and make new inventions. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem-solving.

They also write that cognitive flexibility can also help protect against a number of biases, such as confirmation bias. That’s because people who are cognitively flexible are better at recognizing potential faults and difficulties in themselves and using strategies to overcome these faults. See their table below showing the flexibility representations:

How do we become adept at choosing to be flexible especially in situations that give little determination of what we can control? Aside from practicing the principles of evidence-based psychological therapy which allows people to change their patterns of thoughts and behavior (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT), Structure learning has been proven to be potentially another way. It has been described as a person’s ability to extract information about the structure of a complex environment and then decipher initially incomprehensible streams of sensory information via the process of elimination. This specific type of learning taps into the similar frontal and striatal brain regions as cognitive flexibility, thus exposure and practice are the keys to successful learning.

Go forth, be human, and explore!

Response Inhibition in the 21st Century (EF Skills Series)

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If there is a human condition that is written most about second to human emotions, it would be that of impulse. Motivation powered by Dopamine and sped by Acetylcholine (AcH) is not necessarily supported by the higher-order skills that the Frontal Cortex is known for when impulse gets in the way. For example, when a choice is made by a person to eat what is body assistive or eat what is fast and palatable, chances are impulses drive the attention toward the sensory appealing choice.

It is by responding with delayed gratification, to not take the most convenient method to an end goal, that we can assess the process of each step toward the goal. How then can pacing be valued equitably when it is the efficiency of speed and productivity that pays higher dividends? What was pioneered by the Marshmallow test conducted by Walter Mischel in 1972 on preschoolers continues to be replicated, and bottom-line conclusions are the better a person redirects and controls his or her impulses, the clearer the direction of the path toward the end goal/s. Though not entirely specified, the original test was an exercise of concretizing “waiting” into something that had a “reward” in the end, and that the Marshmallow itself was not the real goal.

The ultimate reward of response inhibition is to process the game of waiting. Waiting on public transportation with a throng of people. Waiting and completing the morning routine despite sleep deprivation. Sticking to the regimen that is pro-health (physical, mental, emotional). To play the game of waiting efficiently, strategies that are at the person’s disposal are in the Inhibitory control toolkit, including scenario playing such as Stimulus–Stimulus- and Stimulus–Response-conflict with the many selves and environments a person interacts with.

The Waiting Game can be very difficult for those who have challenges attending to simple steps. The hippocampus is unable to maintain bridges with the Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC) when the thoughts are not in sync, where working memory is affected since inhibiting responses allow memories to be processed clearly. Mindfulness exercises do increase the strengthening of neural pathways from the parietal cortex to the frontal cortex as it supports the just ‘being’ state without conclusions. However, as with attention, mindfulness requires a push-pull of one’s attentional inhibition, which means the decision to let some things just pass by like clouds while maintaining focus on the journey of the mind during the session is multilayered. Do I respond to the thought cloud of the ding of the phone, maybe that was an email…or do I cut this short, dinner time is close and I have friends coming later…wait, what was I supposed to be concentrating on…?

The yin-yang of inhibitory control behavior has many names in the field of behavioral science. Response Inhibition is also referred to as ‘Behavioral Inhibition,’ ‘Motor Inhibition,’ ‘Prepotent Response Inhibition,’ and ‘(Attention) Restraint’; while Attentional Inhibition is also referred to as ‘Interference Control,’ ‘Interference Suppression,’ ‘Resistance to (Distracter) Interference,’ and ‘Attention Constraint.’ Think of the two as the demonstration of Newton’s third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means response and attention in every interaction are the pair of forces acting on the two interacting choice objects.

Both these inhibition rubrics are necessary when interacting with general life situations that require working memory (both in verbal and auditory means), visual memory (stop and analyze then respond), reflexive responses (go/no-go tasks and responses), word spatial recognition, and figure grounding contrast and comparative analysis. In short, in every single aspect of living that requires a decision between options, it is the brain’s processes that attach to memories and emotions that decide between the choice to stay the course and inhibit or choose the one that interferes with the course and give in to the attentional distracter.

According to Verbruggen, et al (2014) in their study, The Inhibitory Control Reflex, performance in response inhibition paradigms can be modeled as an independent “horse race” between a go process, which is triggered by the presentation of a go stimulus, and a stop process, which is triggered by the presentation of the no-go stimulus or the stop signal. When the stop process finishes before the go process, response inhibition is successful and no response is emitted (signal-inhibit); when the go process finishes before the stop process, response inhibition is unsuccessful and the response is incorrectly emitted (signal-respond). The latency of the stop process (stop-signal reaction time or SSRT) is covert, but it can be estimated in the stop-signal task. SSRT has proven to be an important measure of the cognitive control processes that are involved in stopping.

Yet it is the weight of the end goal that determines the type of inhibitory control that one ultimately uses more of. And as mentioned earlier, the more concrete the process of inhibition by the fruition of an actual marked goal, the more likely one stays the course and avoids attentional constraints. In order to facilitate goal-directed behavior, the proper motor actions in a given context need to be selected and then executed. Regions within the medial wall of the
frontal cortex, in particular, the supplementary motor area (SMA), have been implicated in response preparation, selection, and execution. Single-cell recordings in monkeys performing a delayed reaction task reveal a distinction between the rostral portion of the SMA (‘‘pre-SMA’’) and the caudal portion of the SMA (‘‘SMA proper’’); neuronal activity is seen in the SMA proper only during the response; activity in the pre-SMA, however, is associated with both the delay period and the response, suggesting that the pre-SMA is involved in both preparation and selection of the response. This means that inhibitory responses are best strengthened when paired with a visual spatial or perceptual motor component prior to perceiving and selecting what the response selection is.

This could also support the idea that the younger the developmental age, the more multi-modal means are necessary to train the inhibitory models of the PFC. Competing with the gadgets that provide instant gratification however is much more prevalent since coming out of the lockdown, making the responses less precise and more impatient. Also part of the multi-modal means is to create a fruitful digital diet, one that is realistic and supportive of the ‘school or home work’ that still needs to be done in the platform while being able to segregate the ‘fun work’ that is embedded in the devices. One possibility is that increased functional segregation of neural networks during development results in greater differentiation of individual inhibitory control mechanisms at the behavioral level. Evidence for this is suggested by findings from the study done by Mostofsky, et. al (May 2021) Response Inhibition and Response Selection: Two Sides of the Same Coin) have found that tasks related to executive control tend to coalesce as a single factor in young children, but form a multi-factor construct in adults. This does not mean however that the addictive properties of smart devices do not affect adults the way they do children; response inhibition is key for moderation and for caudate nucleus sustainability, one of the social centers of the brain.

Here We Go: School and Work 2.0

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In the dissection of the word rebirth comes the prefix re- which means anew or afresh, while birth means the beginning or coming into existence of something, As many monikers have been given to the resumption of the midst of Covid-19 regulations and the slow burn of the worldwide pandemic, re-birthing is the closest single-word descriptor that would run the gamut of the experience right now.

The expectation that government regulations alone or science alone, not together as a unit, would cut down the life span of the virus as we have known it to be is a fault of object permanent thinking. It is after all safer to default to what is comfortable, the known black or white options than the combination of fidelity thinking. Fear or courage, anger or happiness, peace or war. We could be discussing literature themes with these high octane emotions however it does not stretch the imagination to see when one leaves the physical or digital cocoon that the either-or linear thinking is the driver of humans when faced with a problem not easily handled with prior learning or solutions.

We had discussed in previous articles how pro-social behaviors and the need for human interaction are the basis of societal stability, including the economic and academic worlds that have been in such heated contentious situations of late. Whoever said that idle hands are the devil’s playground did not take into account a forced stop, wherever one was, for longer than a few weeks. So it would make sense as people are (figuratively) dragged out of their homes and homely conditions back to what was once was normed, there will be re-birthing: kicking, screaming, and long-term adjustment.

But as mentioned, we have many brain states and developmental ages to think about in 2.0. We have the younger people who marked their schooling milestones in front of a computer screen instead of on a playing ground or person-to-person peer and teacher routine. And then there are the adults who have been lucky enough to love their jobs cause they loved them back, swing right back into it without missing a beat. And then we have those in-between who are school-aged to vocationally transitioning adults who had more than enough time in their hands to do versions of homework and self-work.

In the 2.0, there needs to be consideration of the shifts in skill sets and motivation for those skills. A curious question to ask is how did I tend to my critical thinking and literacy growth when forcibly paused? Did I overindulge in the reality to the point of paralysis? Or was I intentional in being an autodidact and directed a diet of reality, fantasy, and mindfulness worlds? How purposeful was I in conserving my energies when surrounded by the same people for those many weeks, a month?

The re-birthing of young minds into the rigor of classrooms reveals the sample size of how many adults are functioning. They first enter incautious, paralleled worlds, and the younger they are, especially if going back to school in a new environment, require a lot of effort in retooling their socializing selves. Add socializing with a mask, when you can read only the top half of a peer or school staff member’s face adds a layer of complexity — which of the emotions am I reading correctly if at all?

The whole idea that thinking critically was siloed for education or for that period where one was required to analyze text is so pre-pandemic. Without complete access to someone’s affect, body language is half calculated, or for those who have to be around a lot of people every day now, exaggerated so as not to be miscalculated. In a text from a section called Critical Literacy from a site that supports children’s literacy in the 20th century in Saskatchewan, CN, defines Literacy as a process that involves a continuum of interrelated skills, practices, and learnings that contribute to the development of an individual’s ability to understand, communicate, and participate in a variety of roles ( i.e., parent, citizen, and worker) and settings, in the home, at work, in education, and in the community.

In essence, Literacy includes Listening and speaking; reading and writing; observing, viewing and representing; numeracy; use of technology such as computers and other smart devices. Literacy is essential to and can influence the ability to think critically, make decisions, solve problems, and resolve conflicts. To further expand on critical literacy, the Brazilian educator and educator Paolo Freire in 1970 posits that, “Critical literacy views readers as active participants in the reading process and invites them to move beyond passively accepting the text’s message to question, examine, or dispute the power relations that exist between readers and authors. It focuses on issues of power and promotes reflection, transformation, and action.”

Now for the context of this article, reading is not limited to a written, visual exposition of the text. Reading here is the brain’s neuronal processing of an experience when stimuli are presented to it, either internally or externally propelled. The interpretation of what is read connects to the previous memories and experiences of the person ‘reading’ thus, the ‘text’ can be anything that causes thought to make inferences.

Ironically people read their living and nonliving environments all the time, actively or passively. The physical world interacts with the physical self first before the brain and the mind creates internal classifications of the experience – not at all similar to the binary experience of the emotions mentioned earlier. Neuronal pathways are constantly reassessing what was known to be committed as knowledge prior and reconfigured when necessary.

We are always critically receiving and giving literacy text without full awareness most of the time. To carve metacognition intended text production is key; questions need to be asked before statements, theories about other human experiences need to be tested before conclusions are drawn. Salisbury University’s Counseling Center adopts these 7 Critical Reading Strategies that are also significant for human contextual reading:

  1. PREVIEWING– learning about a text before reading it. Reviewing what the sensory systems are telling you as the reader of a person without adding judgment.
  2. CONTEXTUALIZING-placing a text in historical, biographical, cultural
    contexts    , from the personal, local and to the global environments.
  3. QUESTIONING TO UNDERSTAND/REMEMBER– asking questions about
    the content based upon the preview and the contexts to provide pre-hypothesis of the person whose experience is being read.
  4. REFLECTING ON CHALLENGES TO BELIEFS/ VALUES-examining
    personal responses and one’s previous emotional lives attached or detached from the person whose experience is being read.
  5. OUTLINING and SUMMARIZING– identifying main ideas and restating in
    your own words     after making concrete connections to the text of the person being read and theories proven or disproven.
  6. EVALUATING AN ARGUMENT– testing logic of a text when there is volatility in the reading of the person’s experience that supports polarity within the self instead of clarity.
  7. COMPARING and CONTRASTING RELATED READING – exploring likenesses and differences, reaching for empathy and pro-social intentions when making connections.

Thus in the period of 2.0, read with care. At this rate, we are all emergent readers from a collectively conscious experience that only centenarians could navigate for and with us. Reading with purpose, reading with intensity, and becoming critically literate will see us and our brains on a steady course.

The Pro-Socializing Phenomenon: Relearning Our Habits

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So, a pandemic hit, and the emergency brakes were pulled on humdrum living. Suddenly it is the freezing phenomenon that dominoes among communities, families, and economies. And just like that, the hard stop provides an unwilling reflective experience for those who had to be around the circumstances they were dealt with, especially the trio of love and belonging, economic situations, and the viral threat itself.

However, the global closure, in all its pro-socialization efforts, may have started and somewhat ‘succeeded’ in resuming sections of forward movement with life, have also stranded the emotional and psychological results of the lockdown. As essential workers strained to keep society from completely crumbling physically and economically, the abyss of hopelessness set in with each day due. Luca, et. al in their December 2020 study, Covid 19 and the Spanish Flu: From Suffering to Resilience, they posit that the time corresponding the Spanish Flu, survivors in Norway who were studied in 1929 developed sleep disorders and attention, depression, and difficulty adapting to the professional environment. There was also an increase in the death rate in the United States in the 1918-1920 period, mainly due to suicide but also to feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, anger, confusion, and abandonment both in the general population and in the medical staff.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, anxiety and fear among people have been increasing and that may be due to increasing number of confirmed and suspected cases and deaths, its enormous spread worldwide, and shortages of personal preventive materials such as facemasks and disinfectants, sensational headlines, and fake news (Bao et al., 2020; Cao et al., 2020). that humans are more than ever motivated to seek an afterlife, to act in a way to be remembered favorably after death, and to be identified with communities that will transcend the duration of their own lives; therefore, they prefer community (social gatherings, seeking close relationships, etc.) than staying at home. Therefore, they need to distract themselves from the fear by suppressing the death-thought from their conscious minds and for that reason, humans have created various symbolic psychological defense mechanisms (Cicirelli, 2002; Florian et al., 2002; Herr, 2018).

It is no surprise then that the results from a study by researchers at Oxford University and NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Center found that nearly one in five people who had Covid-19 were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder – such as anxiety, depression, or insomnia – within three months of testing positive for the SARS-COV2 virus.

Sociable beings historically, humans who have been sequestered from the routines and rituals that bind them to their communities result to the rise in antagonistic or as indicated prior, psychological breakdown of wellness. This was strongly supported in the results from the study, Behavioral limitations of individuals for coping with COVID-19: A terror management perspective (Ahmed, et al 2020) In this pandemic, though, motivating people for keeping physical distance is considered a “pro-social act,” which may reduce the chance of exposure to the virus to them and others, especially the most vulnerable ones (Pfattheicher et al., 2020), it has some behavioral limitations according to the Terror Management Theory (TMT). The theory—postulated by Greenberg et al. (1986) and for over 30 years of empirical evidence validated it time and again in different research settings—states that all human beings are instinctively driven toward survival and continued existence and at the same time consciously aware of their own inevitable mortality. The theory argues that for centuries, human beings in several societies have established their cultural worldviews, which characterized the world or universe as a meaningful, predictable, or orderly place.

Our identity as humans strongly depends on our interpersonal relationships particularly with our attachment figures such as parents, children, and romantic partners because they provide us safe havens and secure bases (Bowlby, 1988; Schimmenti et al., 2020). Interpersonal associations such as parents-children, romantic partners, and friends provide a very important buffering mechanism warding off death thoughts in the process of managing the terror of death (Cox et al., 2008; Mikulincer et al., 2003). According to TMT, when people face the reality of their own mortality and boundedness, especially when realizing that deaths may happen soon in the same way as their others’ deaths due to the disease, they crave for seeking close relationships and associations. It also says that people seek buffers to stave the paralyzing death terror scenarios in their conscious mind. People use social support as a buffer against depression during the time of crisis (McDowell & Serovich, 2007; Watanabe et al., 2004) and receiving help from others is positively related to the sense of belongingness (Hamm & Faircloth, 2005) which increase self-esteem.

Where then do the negative behaviors of individuals such as overbuying, hoarding, and not complying governments’ orders further create negative externalities for society (e.g., spreading the COVID-19 further, expansion of lockdowns, etc.) come from? Ahmed, et al (2020) also discussed that such individuals are showcasing behavior that prefer their short-term gains over society’s long-term gains may be due to their bounded rationality (BR) as individuals. Because of the influence of humans’ emotions and motivations on their mind and cognitive process, their beliefs and choices are rationally bounded and imperfect (Kahneman, 2011; Simon, 1995). To control the spread of the coronavirus and plummeting the associated human and economic losses, depending only on individual-based decisions due to their BR is, though, necessary but not sufficient. The pandemic, which is a threat to human beings physically, is also creating a social dilemma—a conflict between individual self-interests versus collective social interests. Individual either intentionally (i.e., maybe rationally) or unintentionally (maybe unethically) act in a way that maximize their short-term benefits but at the long-term cost of collective societal interests.

It should then be noted that upon re-entry there will be hiccups in relating to each other, especially when TMT driven motivation meet those who are BR driven. The effects of prosocial and antisocial personality tendencies and context-related state factors on compliance with protective behaviors to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections result in a mix between the six types of prosocial tendencies (altruism, dire, compliant, emotional, public, and anonymous), and selfishness as the antisocial tendency were included as personality factors, while fear related to the pandemic and empathy toward vulnerable groups (i.e., those in forced isolation) were context-related factors. The mediation effect of empathy and moderation effect of fear showed some correlation between personality factors and protective behaviors in socialization.

And this is where Prosocial Behaviors must be supported in the forefront during this time of pandemic push-pull reintegration. Even when locked down with familiar people, the resulting consequences of being around them for an unusual amount of time could either stimulate the amygdala’s protective mode or embolden empathy and camaraderie. As the norm from before the lockdown is not necessarily replicated in the reintegration, it is with these Prosocial behaviors that humans experience as driven by altruistic motives focused on maximizing others wins or egoistic motives focused on maximizing own wins. Dinic and Bodroza (April 2021) studied 581 Serbians in their study, COVID-19 Protective Behaviors Are Forms of Prosocial and Unselfish Behaviors. They discuss that six types of prosocial tendencies supported in the study that were seen as variables for social responses, ranging from self-oriented (i.e., public prosociality as a tendency to perform prosocial acts in front of an audience, motivated by the desire to gain the approval of others) to other-oriented (i.e., altruistic and anonymous prosociality as a tendency to perform prosocial acts without knowledge of whom helped) (Carlo and Randall, 2002.) Among the Big Five traits, the trait related to prosociality, Empathy, and helping behavior is Agreeableness (Graziano et al., 2007). While most studies reported positive relations between Agreeableness and protective behaviors during the pandemic (Aschwanden et al., 2020; Blagov, 2020; Bogg and Milad, 2020), some studies did not find significant relations (Shook et al., 2020), or they found even negative relations (Abdelrahman, 2020).

Conversely, the constellation of socially aversive traits that are on the direct opposite of Prosocial Behaviors known as the Dark Triad has been consistently linked to non-compliance with protective measures. Dark Triad traits refer to antisocial strategies that share common characteristic of manipulativeness and lack of affective responsivity or empathy (Dini´c et al., 2020). Additionally, Moshagen et al. (2018, p. 656) defined the common core of dark traits or D factor as “the tendency to maximize one’s individual utility-disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others-, accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications” which the researchers refer to as selfishness.

Dinic, et. al’s results showed that both selfishness and prosocial tendencies had effects on protective behaviors which were driven by the TMT response over and above demographic and context-related factors, but in opposite directions. Thus, selfishness had negative effects on compliance with protective measures, meaning that more selfish people are less likely to adhere to health-protective measures.

It also could be assumed that those who are more other-oriented and prone to anonymous or non-publicized prosocial behavior are less concerned with personal desires and needs and they are characterized by higher emphatic concern, which leads them to practice protective measures even when reintegrating socially with their communities. This is a key component in rebuilding a new habit loop of relating to one another. Additionally, health-irresponsible behaviors that reflect the BR behavioral response among more selfish people could be partially explained by the lack of empathy. This is important from the standpoint of formulating public communication to promote positive behavior change, which should be referred to as protection of the most vulnerable groups and finally, of all others, compared to the protection of oneself (see Jordan et al., 2020).

Whether the motivation is to protect, to participate or to cope, it is undeniable that the pandemic has indeed altered the points of view of humanity. Whatever habits that were there before this global experience have now been altered, for good or for worse.

A Review on Brain’s Health

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As much as there have been many suggestions and studies on how to cope with the pandemic using multi-modal means, such as apps, vitamins or physical exercise, or even new hobbies and food adventures. And that is on the upside of things. Coping skills when the cards are stacked against your favor hyper focuses on survival from moment to moment when the brain is overloaded and tasked with overchoice.

Multi-million-dollar industries have been built on people’s pursuits on the fountain of youth and keeping the brain young or at least to match the youthful vigor of how the body should feel. Emotionally despite our wanting for vigor, we are brought back to realization by our brain’s level of resources or how to retrieve it as the amygdala automatically pushes past the suggestion of pain or difficulty when basic needs are of the essence.

Caring for the brain’s emotions are interdependent on the human capacity for social cognition when reading body language and expressions. And in the stressful pandemic times, adaptive social behavior and mental well-being also require inferring the absence of emotional content. Of relevance during exceptional events such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic involving social distancing and isolation as well as higher levels of anxiety but also, requiring intact social communication and empathy. (Sokolove et al, 2020)

When one is required to maintain social distance and/or uses PPE while interacting with another, the interplay between the amygdala and insula is elevated as it contributes substantially to the processing of social signals that convey emotionally neutral information, underwriting a fundamental yet underestimated component of adaptive social cognition and behavior. The absence of stimulatory emotion presents a difficulty of processing in the bond communication between the amygdala and insula with the ability to infer the
absence of emotion in body language, including with the processing within the amygdala and insula have been associated with emotion perception. Ultimately, when caring for the brain’s health scanning other people’s words and delivery are what is needed for homeostasis.

So, the brain begins searching for alternates in reading and writing ’emotion’ in times of crises to maintain itself. Depending on the coping mechanisms embedded within the connections, physical and/or psychological experience that binds with an external event, this one being the lack of neurotypical emotion perception could potentially ripple into pre-existing trauma. There are growing indications that these trauma-exposed individuals show
neural alterations, even in the absence of clinical symptoms and tasks requiring the regulation of emotions and impulses seem to be particularly affected. Sabrina Golde et.al

studied 25 women (mean age 31.5 ± 9.7 years) who had suffered severe early life trauma but who did not have a history of or current psychiatric disorder, with 25 age- and education-matched trauma-naïve women by utilizing fMRI study investigated response inhibition of emotional faces before and after psychosocial stress situations in 2019. In both groups, nontraumatic stress significantly impaired response inhibition of fearful facial expressions but did not affect inhibition of happy or neutral stimuli. When inhibiting responses to fearful faces under stress, women who had experienced severe and multiple traumatic events before the age of 18 demonstrated a decreased brain signal in the left inferior frontal gyrus in the frontal lobe, but a marginally increased signal in the right anterior insula (between the frontal and temporal lobes) compared to trauma-naïve control subjects.

They also discovered that in trauma-naïve control subjects only, the inferior frontal gyrus activation was linked to a lower rate of stress-induced false alarms, whereas in women who had experienced severe and multiple traumatic events before the age of 18, insula activation was linked to a higher number of false alarms.

Of course, that begs the question, would brain health be different between a male brain in comparison to the female brain? Are brains not simply just as generic as other parts of the body such as the skeletal and muscular systems? Would the same study above if applied to men render equitable results as the women have displayed? Perhaps, as brain function is dependent on synapses and stimuli response. However as unique as every individual is, the responses can and will be varied according to the emotional pairing, regardless of assigned biological sex.

After all neuroplasticity happens to people, mostly in the background, positive or negative. The learning experience is constantly evolving, including in what is automatic such as driving, to the more complex tasks such as learning a new skill or trade. Yet in the viewpoint from a healthy brain, neuroplasticity would support neural pruning at every stage of life: keeping only the connections that are meaningful and consistently used for an end goal while allowing brain real estate to grow for additional new experiences to bind. If, however the exposure is constantly negative neuroplasticity such as death, destruction, or violence, the brain’s stress levels are increased thus decreasing overall expanded connections and brain weight.

Sandra Racionero-Plaza, et al., found in their research article, “Architects of Their Own Brain.” Social Impact of an Intervention Study for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence in Adolescence sought to review the social impact of psychology in the field of teen gender violence from participants in the MEMO4LOVE project comprised 126 adolescents attending three different high schools in Barcelona (Spain). The aim was to report on the potential social impact achieved by an intervention study consisting of seven interventions on the preventive socialization of gender violence, with specific interventions focused on seven different topics. Part of the intervention were dimensions of the influence of the dominant coercive discourse in adolescents’ sexual-affective life, accompanied by egalitarian dialogue with the adolescents on how to break free from such discourse and thus avoid violence in sporadic or stable sexual-affective relationships. Below is what they found:

1) The adolescents who took part in these interventions reported developing critical consciousness regarding the presence of the dominant coercive discourse in society and in their lives. The greater the transformation of peer interactions, the greater the prevention of gender-based violence victimization.

2) It is necessary that intervention strategies in education provide adolescents with tools that enable them to be more critical about violence in society. Interventions provided them with cognitive tools to better analyze their own and others’ sexual-affective thinking, emotions, and behaviors in ways that favor the rejection of violent males and violent sexual-affective relationships

3) Change in preferences and attraction, with greater rejection of violent men and enhanced attraction toward egalitarian masculinities. It is significant to be aware of the dominant coercive discourse, but what is even more fundamental is to change the response of attraction toward men with violent attitudes and behaviors; that is what will make a difference in terms of preventing gender-based violence victimization.

Society therefore continues to impact the neuroplasticity quality with our degrees of interaction with it. Aside from gender and age groups, it is of significance to mention that brain health across races also have complex layers affecting neuroplasticity. In the research article, Insights From African American Older Adults on Brain Health Research Engagement: “Need to See the Need” Soshana Bardach, et al., posited that African Americans (AAs) have an elevated risk of developing dementia, yet are underrepresented in clinical research. In order for the 21 AAs aged 35-86 years to agree to be part of the study, the researchers had to ensure that the facilitators were AA from their community, laying out clearly and plainly the methodology that would be used to gather data which is called Photovoice, and to be transparent about the reasons behind the data gathering.

The use of Photovoice in data collection is a community-based, participatory-action research methodology, centered on the premise that sharing perceptions and experiences through photography and discussion leads to an awareness and understanding of relevant issues (Harley et al, 2015) It was through this method that the discussion of brain health research among AAs highlighted several barriers to participation and corresponding strategies for addressing the identified barriers and encouraging engagement. The barriers and solutions were in the areas of (a) mistrust stemming from historical mistreatment and reinforced by contemporary injustices, (b) avoidance and fear of acknowledging problems such as being afraid of what they may find out or not wanting to know as barriers to seeking a diagnosis, and (c) seeing the risks of research, but not the need as they anticipate potential unpleasant aspects of research participation were more tangible than the benefits.

This then brings us to consider that brain health is not only a result of positive neuroplasticity but a contiguous history of sustainable emotions stemming from society and communities. The deterioration of the brain affected by genetics is also sped up by neurochemicals that inflame the stress response on a consistent basis thus making recovery to a biologically sound baseline unattainable. Anti-declining the brain, simply put, is to bring it to a social balance. An immediate way is to encourage pro-social behaviors between humans and/or animal species. Pro-social behaviors—actions that help others, often without regard to whether they directly benefit us—are vital for social cohesion. (Lockwood, et al, 2020) The idea is that to do acts that benefit other people, we first must learn what actions in the world will lead to something rewarding and positive happening to them, all processed in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain. When we perform an action, and it results in a reward for another person, it is easy to imagine ourselves in their shoes and vicariously experience what it would be like to get a similar reward ourselves.

If there are limited opportunities for vicarious learning or pro-social behaviors, such as when in a global crises, how can balance be achieved? Ironically, Polyphenol-Rich Interventions are in order to influence the sensitivity of natural neurotransmitters and adjust levels naturally. Polyphenol compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids and tannins, are found in varying concentrations in a range of plant-based food sources (e.g., legumes, fruit, vegetables, herbal extracts, spices, coffee, tea and cocoa), and their effects on human health have drawn considerable attention. (Ammar, et al 2020). It is the self-socializing method by virtue of self-care that supports choices of the quality of brain health. At this particular juncture, the use of the human amygdala is its response to other emotionally significant stimuli beyond threat, including positive or reward information, but also novelty and non-emotional salient stimuli with personal impact or goal-related significance. This diversity of response patterns has led to recent theoretical accounts proposing that the amygdala may actually encode the “relevance” of events, which is determined by the goals, needs, or values of the individual, in a context-dependent manner. (Guex et al, 2020) This account accords with psychological theories, such as the component process model of emotional appraisal as would in patterns of self-socialized self-care.

The anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala would need support when communicating emotions-bound signals to each other. It is with the subcortical structures of the basal ganglia (BG) and the cerebellum that support multiple domains including affective processes such as emotion recognition, subjective feeling elicitation and reward valuation. By regulating
cortical oscillations to guide learning and strengthening rewarded behaviors or thought patterns to achieve a desired goal state, these regions can shape the way an individual processes emotional stimuli. (Pierce J, et al 2020) In essence, no matter how much objective data could be presented to standardize the ideal brain health for a given time frame, developmental stage, race or gender, the conclusion will rest upon every individual’s experience or norm of how their brains are in status quo or if they are on polar opposites. Whatever the case may be, brain health is essential for quality of life.

The Faculty of Executing Wellness

Mind Matters, , , , , , ,

If there was a significant challenge in the 2020 pandemic-effected pause, it was the specific moment in time that it locally hit in a person’s city, town, household and the circumstances that that were in the immediate surroundings. If one was traveling with the masses via public transportation at the moment the mandated lockdowns occurred, scurrying as quickly as possible to safety (home base or something similar) was the priority before considering the consequentialism attached to the holding pattern.

In a moment the human condition was forced to re-examine itself; the usual was not fitting to combat what was unusual and unpredictable. After a century of having advances that enabled modern living to cohabitate with productivity and measure success, being required to stay in one place for an extended period of unknown time with a mystery virus were the plots of many a-dystopian teen novels. And so was the idea of how one’s wellness routines evolved, as wherever one may have ended up or whose household one belonged to when the world’s inadvertent Simon Says occurred, it was bound to challenge and change grit mechanisms. Besides changes in sleep schedule, there were reports and studies on progressive worsening of sleep quality during as well as imminent emotional and psychological distress, uncertainties, and unemployment People with high sleep-reactivity are specifically prone to sleep disturbances, ultimately coining the term Covid-Somnia. (Gupta, et al., 2020)

The first clear indication of the change was the swift increase in the online life. Prior to the Internet, a large body of research had convincingly demonstrated that the brain is somewhat malleable to environmental demands and stimuli, particularly with regards to learning new processes, due to its capacity for neuroplasticity. Various scenarios have been observed to induce long-term changes in the neuronal architecture of the human brain, including second-language acquisition, learning new motor skills (such as juggling), and even formal education or exam preparation (Firth et. al, 2019). Pre-pandemic, social media or gaming were options to connect with friends and family on a casual basis, the online brain emerged as a necessity for learning and research. According to The “Online Brain”: How the Internet May be Changing Our Cognition, the discovery on how the Internet affects our attentional capacities is mainly through hyperlinks, notifications, and prompts providing a limitless stream of different forms of digital media, thus encouraging us to interact with multiple inputs simultaneously, but only on a shallow level, in a behavioral pattern termed media multi-tasking.

As the days progressed, it became clear that the digital appetite for online interactivity shifted from our previous transactive memory systems. Confronted with the affordances and constraints of live synchronous meetings, when our institutions closed their doors, as teacher educators, we turned to asynchronous video applications to maintain connection and
engagement. Applications apart from Zoom and Google Classroom like Flipgrid, VoiceThread, Marco Polo, and EdConnect make it simple to have asynchronous video discussions. (Lowenthal et. al, 2020)

The Internet bypassed the transactional aspect that is inherent to other forms of cognitive offloading becoming ultimately a supernormal stimulus for transactive memory. This makes all other options for cognitive offloading (including books, friends, community) become redundant, as they are outcompeted by the novel capabilities for external information storage and retrieval made possible by the Internet. However if the only way to connect to the outside world is via the online life, would that change the brain’s cognitive relationship with the artificial means of connecting?

After all, people gravitate to social interaction. In 1943 paper, Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation outlines a set of basic human needs that are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency, anchored by physiological needs and self-actualization as the lowest order and highest order needs, respectively (Maslow, 1943). At the most basic level, humans are driven to satisfy physiological needs that sustain life, including air and food before being motivated to pursue safety, which is reflected by our preference for order, certainty, and comfort over unfamiliarity, inconsistency, and chaos. Lastly, there emerges a deep hunger for love and belonging, which becomes gratified by connecting physically and emotionally with other people followed by the need to perceive ourselves with high evaluation and to feel respect for our self and others, which Maslow labels our esteem need. Finally, when one is fortunate enough to have these foundational needs met, they will focus on meeting one’s true potential as the pursuit of self-actualization. The emergence of the unnatural lockdown circumstances brought about in the last year have created a hyperawareness of of literature suggesting that there are specific brain styles hinder human connection.

Say for example people who tend to have Rumination brain style display an overabundance of connectivity has been associated with rumination about internal concerns and worries about the future, whereas too little connectivity has been associated with an overgeneralized sense of self so that achieving an internal sense of control may be difficult (Williams, 2017) Individuals with a ruminative brain style could reasonably experience an increased need for social support while simultaneously encouraging social friction and negative perceptions from others as their ruminative tendencies become exacerbated by the health threats posed by COVID-19. (Hagerty et al, 2020) While those with an Anhedonia brain style is distinguished by a relative failure of experiencing pleasure from activities or stimuli once enjoyed. During the pandemic individuals with an anhedonic brain style may experience exacerbated threat to their core need for human connection during COVID-19. (Hagerty et al, 2020) Lastly, those who have Threat dysregulation brain style has been characterized by hyperactivation of the amygdala (Williams, 2017 and hypoactivation in the medical prefrontal, including anterior cingulate, cortex (Williams, 2017 in response to threatening stimuli. People with this brain style may experience an heighted allocation of attention to potential sources of threat during the pandemic. (Hagerty et al, 2020)

Aside from brain styles, one important factor of wellness lies on the fiber of humanity relies on the capacity to socialize. The social touch is essential to develop cognition, emotions, attachment and relationships (Cascio et al., 2019). In addition, it also contributes to the physiological regulation of the body’s responses to acute stressors as well as other short-term challenges. (de Fegueiredo, et al., 2021). Social isolation also brought elevated levels of domestic violence, including childhood maltreatment or neglect as a result of parenthood insecurities and inabilities (Fegert et al., 2020). Parenting during the pandemic is an additional challenge to deal with remote learning, home office working, and endless house chores (Spinelli et al., 2020)

Looking to specifics on children and adolescents’ wellness, studies have found that in China where the first cases of Covid-19 were originally identified evaluated 1036 quarantined children and adolescents in China with ages ranging from 6 up to 15 years, of which 112, 196, and 68 presented depression, anxiety, and both, respectively (Chen et al., 2020). Another study demonstrated a high prevalence of psychological distress in quarantined children and adolescents due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, experiencing helplessness (66.11%), worry (68.59%) and fear (61.98%), compared to non-quarantined children (Saurabh and Ranjan, 2020). Moreover, it was also reported in China that children and adolescents aged 3–18 years presented symptoms of inattention, clinging, worry and irritability during this pandemic (Jiao et al., 2020).

Apart from children and adolescents, there are cultural and minority specific situations that have been pushed to the surface with the pandemic consequences. De Zavala et al, wrote in The COVID-19 Pandemic, Authoritarianism, and Rejection of Sexual Dissenters in Poland that specific threats occurring during the pandemic (death, anxiety and pathogen threat) resulted in stricter adherence to cultural norms, greater in-group cohesion and sexual restrictiveness, as well as the prejudice and behaviors toward sexual minorities harvested reactions to viral bodily contamination. While in the UK, the data of Department of Health in United Kingdom (UK) showed an increase mortality and morbidity among the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) due to social factors, genetic and immunological factors. Metabolic factors like high prevalence of diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and hypertension were also found to contribute to the increased risk and a large number of BAME population are working in jobs that involve regular and daily contact with public, and this may increase risk of encountering COVID-19 infection.

And for those who already had pre-existing chronic medical conditions, the pandemic added to the complex layer of uncertainty. In particular, Cancer patients feel particularly isolated fighting cancer during a pandemic, enhanced by the environment in which they must navigate the health care system. If the visits are in person, patients are typically asked to present alone, without the support of family or friends as they receive information about their diagnosis, go over adverse effects, or discuss changes to their treatment plan. These interactions are conducted in a large room to facilitate social distancing (at least 6 feet apart), with all parties masked and sometimes gowned—a sterile environment. (Cook et al., 2020)

In unavoidable instances in history, the human condition adapts with the slow passing of time. After the initial shock of the pandemic and pause, society found ways to recreate unique wellness norms that otherwise would not have been reimagined, mainly because the alternative to adapting was not optional nor sustainable. A nationwide sample of American adults (N = 1,545; 45% women; ages 18 to 98, M = 53.68, SD = 15.63) was assessed on three occasions in Luchetti, et al, 2020 study of The Trajectory of Loneliness in Response to COVID-19: in late January/early February 2020 (before the outbreak), in late March (during the President’s initial “15 Days to Slow the Spread” campaign), and in late April (during the “stay-at-home” policies of most states). Contrary to expectations, there were no significant mean-level changes in loneliness across the three assessments and in fact, respondents perceived increased support from others over the follow-up period . Older adults reported less loneliness overall compared to younger age groups but had an increase in loneliness during the acute phase of the outbreak with the loneliness leveling off after the issuance of stay-at-home orders. Individuals living alone and those with at least one chronic condition reported feeling lonelier at baseline but did not increase in loneliness during the implementation of social distancing measure.

Okabe-Miyamoto et. al 2020, Changes in social connection during COVID-19 social distancing: It’s not (household) size that matters, it’s who you’re with living with, found that a romantic partner was the strongest predictor of shifts in social connection across time. This finding replicated across two different sample: a sample of undergraduates at a Canadian university and a sample of adults from mostly the U.S. and the U.K. Their findings revealed robust positive regression coefficients, indicating that people living with a partner were more likely to improve in social connection after social distancing guidelines were in place than those not living with a partner, as partners have been found to be more valuable for coping than other types of household members especially during a pandemic. The research also found that changes in loneliness were not predicted by any other aspects of household composition, and had mixed findings regarding living with pets and null findings for all other household variables.

For those who did however choose animal companionship as a wellness strategy to help reduce human loneliness and isolation, you are not alone. In fact, majority of households in the United States report having at least one companion animal, and the majority of those report that they consider their companion animal to be a family member (American Pet Products Association, 2019-2020). This finding is consistent with data from many other countries; a 2016 international study conducted by the Nuremburg-based international marketing think tank Growth from Knowledge (GfK) in 2016 concluded that over half of people internationally have at least one pet (Growth from Knowledge, 2016).

Animals provide emotional and psychological support during the pandemic to many households. Social support is often depicted along two dimensions: instrumental and emotional (Otsuka et al., 2019). Instrumental social support includes the provision of assistance
related to tasks and information; concrete and specific help; in contrast, emotional social support is understood to be more subjectively experienced and related to
comfort, affection, and other subjectively experienced emotional states (Otsuka et al.
2019). Having a companion animal has been associated with motivating self-care
behavior associated with obtaining healthy food (Rauktis, 2019) and general self-care
(Hoy-Gerlach, 2019); both of these studies indicated that participants explicitly linked
their increased self-care behavior with their animals’ dependence upon them. The relationships of people with their companion animals are a pre-existing condition and potentially invaluable support for well-being, especially during this time of confinement
to mitigate COVID-19 risk. (Hoy-Gerlach, et.al, 2020)

Lastly, but more importantly, the search for wellness has supported the rise in humanity and collective generosity. Most recently, in the context of pandemic, we see more and more ordinary people come together in the spirit of solidarity and engage in mutual support to protect the most vulnerable in their community and beyond. Mutual aid groups took on various tasks such as collecting groceries, supplying masks, sanitizers, and medicine, sharing information, offering emotional support, tutoring children. The amount donated to charities in the UK on Giving Tuesday in 2020 was up by almost half despite the restrictions on in-person fundraising activities. Support grew for causes linked to the crisis, while causes like animal shelters, disability support groups, and homeless shelters saw a big hit to donations (even while facing extraordinary new financial pressures). Similarly, 21 percent of US households indicated that their giving to charitable organizations focused on purposes besides basic needs/health and religion (e.g., education, arts, the environment) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. US households prioritized giving to meet the pressing needs of those in their area. (Kilicalp, 2020).

The Stanford Social Innovation Review (Philanthropy & Funding) in the article Household Generosity During the Pandemic perceived that conditions created by the pandemic influence how much people give, whom to give, what to give, and how to give. Several factors, such as age, gender, economic stability, and exposure to COVID-19 have an influence on our pro-social behavior, so do neural, biological, and emotional mechanisms. Sevda Kilicalp, a Policy and Incubation Manager at European Foundation Centre gathered insights below from the social and behavioral sciences can be useful for understanding why charitable giving is changing and becoming more localized and expansive:

1. Social distancing urges us to reconnect with others to cope with psychological distress. While social distancing has been effective at flattening the curve of infection, it has had significant negative effects on mental health (leading to psychological distress like depression, anxiety, and stress) as found in recent research. As neuroscientist and social psychologist Matthew Lieberman explains, evolution made us more social, more connected to and dependent on the social world to ensure that humans thrive as a species.

2. Reawakening to our collective vulnerability creates a sense of collaboration. We all react differently to stress, whether fight-or-flight or tend-and-befriend mode. Alex Evans of Collective Psychology Project suggests that the pandemic incites our “tend-and-befriend” nature to the extent that we consider ourselves part of a larger us, feel like we can shape our lives and have mental space to deliberatively reflect on and choose how to react to events instead of being driven by fear and anxiety.

3. The problem of numbers. There is a suggestion that surge of generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic is due to the sheer magnitude of the crisis, but the brain’s inability to make sense of big numbers makes it difficult to process tragedy of this scale, and concern for those in distress does not tend to rise in parallel to the increase in cases.

4. Feeling collective. The notion that “we’re all in this together” and the virus threatens everyone (although not equally) creates a collective emotional experience. Research shows sharing adverse experiences may increase cooperative behavior within groups, leading individuals to mutually seek and provide support to one another. While these negative experiences enhance ingroup cooperation, they also fuel polarization, and intergroup bias toward outgroup members, thus contribute to conflict, discrimination, and exclusion.

However one decides to move forward, there are a collective number of ways to execute the faculty of wellness. The future truly originates from the creativity of the present and with the knowledge base of today, there only can be hope renewed.

Learning is Social and Emotional (Especially in a Pandemic)

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It could have been said that the more articles or studies written these days about surviving the Pandemic have also been tied to surviving the emotional thresholds in whatever types of living situations people have been suspended in time with. Separate from the natural response to the Covid-19 viral infection and symptomatology, there is the socio-emotional toll that trickles down from early days of science catching up to the vulnerabilities of the mRNA deterioration, the ones who were not lucky (and the ones who were) to survive and tell the tale, and to even the ones who have economically been wiped out. It is safe to say that the speed of energy and technological transfer between people is toe to toe with the infection’s travels. And the only initial clear state of progress toward increasing the chances of staying healthy was to STOP and be STILL.

In effect, the world of people became hermits while the rest of the natural world wandered where people used to. In the October 2020 issue of Frontiers in Psychology, Ana Luisa Pedrosa et al. studied the Emotional, Behavioral, and Psychological Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic Measures to contain disease transmission, including quarantine, social isolation and social distancing may affect the population’s behavior and may lead to psychological disorders. Several emotional and psychological conditions including fear, anxiety, depression, and suicide ideation are triggered by the pandemic itself as well as by the adopted preventive measures. As essential workers carried on a semblance of the social structure of necessities and medical staff continued to fight for the lives of those who had the infection, a majority of the population turned inwards to their houses with relatives, roommates, pets, significant others and, well, yes, children.

The business of rearing children under normal circumstances is layered and complex. In a pandemic, it is more urgent and mind bending: children initially completing school work from any available space in the home as parents struggled to do the same as they work from home as well. Now that of course is the median, as the living situations were random and could range from either parents who could not be around their children if they were essential or medical frontline personnel to the opposite end where the parents were always home with their children that the school-work lines blurred and relationships became testy. In a paper by Priscilla de Medeiros et al, in PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND SOCIAL PAIN DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC-RELATED SOCIAL ISOLATION say that the social isolation caused by COVID-19 pandemic threatening also caused a forced poor affective behaviour during absences in traditional social events, such as funeral, weddings, and anniversaries, in addition to isolation from parents infected by COVID-19 pathogen (Danzmann et al. 2020).

Similar to many school situations across the globe, online instructional delivery was the only option for educating children in the United States. During traumatic circumstances, such as a pandemic, the need to make online educational opportunities easy to access takes on new importance because many learners might not be in an emotional state to focus on learning. (Carter Jr., Rice et al. 2020) To offset the emotional shock that came with the changes in learning, there was a push to focus on specific Goal Orientations, that are a collective of how, why and under what environmental conditions people learn (Anderman and Maehr, 1994; Pintrich and Schunk, 2002). Learning environments that consider affective aspects of learning such as learner motivation must be developed and supported (Ryan and Deci, 2000).

Goal Orientations however under the current circumstances are artificial and in a vacuum. For those learners who already had challenges pre-pandemic have not remained at the marker of where they were. The marginalization of options shrank even further for them with options that were determined by the availability of tech and Wi-Fi, the frequency of teacher follow up, and the ever increasing reliance on platforms of assignments that didn’t always meet the learners where they were at foundationally. However, the one underlying factor that Goal Orientations tested or made available is on of Self-Determination Theory by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, who first introduced their ideas in their 1985 book Self-Determination and Intrinsic Motivation in Human Behavior. In their book, they regard choice as a major factor to learner success, placing equitable responsibility on both the environment AND the Learner.

To support the learner, parents and teachers alike needed to catch up technologically to where their children were at if they were past the 3rd grade for software integration, while for those younger than 3rd grade, parents and teachers had to push limits of creativity to balance between the need for work to be shown and the online digital presence requirement. Simply being present behind the screen via a virtual environment or learning platform of choice did not necessarily mean that there was the connection between schoolmates, teachers, and caregivers. The socio-emotional condition, especially at the time of outbreak subsidizes the (re)modulation of interactive neural circuits underlying the risk assessment behavior at physical, emotional, and social levels. Experiences of social isolation, exclusion or affective loss are generally considered to be some of the most painful things that people face. In spite of the artificial components that are meant to connect the school experience, the threats of social disconnection are processed by some of the same neural structures that process basic threats to survival. (de Medeiros et al., 2020 plaudit.) The lack of social connection mimics the pain due to an overlap in the neural circuitry responsible for both physical and emotional pain related to feelings of social rejection.

So do we then say that the LEARNER, the student, is mainly the source of their own center, calm and achievement in the face of unprecedented times in tech-school enclosures?

Possibly so if paired with Positive Neuroplasticity and a Positive Emotional State. To continue with the promotion of determining one’s internal motivation, Self-regulated learning (SRL) is at the forefront for home-school relationships. It refers to how students become masters of their own learning processes, wherein self-regulation is the self-directive process through which learners transform their mental abilities into task-related skills in diverse areas of functioning, such as academia, sports, music, and health. (Zimmerman, 2015.)

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a self-determined learner effort towards academic performance (Boekaerts, 1995; Winne and Hadwin, 2010; Zimmerman and Moylan, 2009). Within the SRL framework, learners use metacognitive skills in learning to proactively think, perform and self-reflect (Dignath and Büttner, 2008; Ergen and Kanadli, 2017). Most models of SRL have major components: forethought; performance; and self-reflection. Typically, learning must not only focus on cognitive aspects but also other aspects, such as attitudes and feelings. Emotional, intellectual, and spiritual intelligence must be balanced in the learning process so that students have qualified self-qualities useful in the future. The success of students in the learning process is not only determined by intellectual intelligence but also the existence of motivation, work ethic, commitment, integrity, and communication. (Wijoyo et al., 2020) Addressing the complex relationship between the affective need for control and the cognitive need for structure seems vital to strong course design that leads to learner success in fully online learning under typical circumstances, but especially during the trauma of a global pandemic. (Carter Jr. et al, 2020.)

A prime example of how learners utilized principles of self-regulated learning however have not explicitly named it as such was highlighted in the results from a 2020 study by R. Radha et.al in the International Journal of Control and Automation, wherein they sought to find out the student’s attitude towards e-learning, via stratified sampling method. They had a total 175 samples from across the world from national and international wise through Google forms which include the student community from various schools, colleges, and universities.

Among 175 respondents, around 82.86 percent of students have reported their self-study skills to improve because of e-learning, while 12.57 percent of them were opined in somewhat they are learning from e-sources because there are no other alternatives. Since the classes and education institutions where physically unavailable due to the pandemic, the students only depended on e-learning, and the majority of the institutions where the students participated from in this survey were mostly encouraged to learn through e-sources. Only 4.57 percent of them were not supposed that the e-source alone can improve their self-study skills.

What is striking however is in the same study, 80 percent of students are supportive of conventional teaching for learning practical, hands on knowledge as opposed to if they were simply learning basic pedagogical concepts. Around 12.57 percent of them said conventional teaching is important for the practical, hands on learning, and only 7.43 percent felt that e-learning for the practical, hands on skills were not effective.

Conventional teaching, for all its imperfections, allow affect to take effect. Body language, eye contact, even the energy transfer of the student-teacher call and responses are vital to certain emotional needs that make learning stick. The bridge that teachers (and yes parents too) have created from behind the online platforms to alleviate isolation involves having a cheerful disposition when on class camera. Students tend to prefer lessons and demonstrations through videos, which can be created using mobile phone cameras or screen capturing software. Although videos by others may be beneficial, students enjoy those made by their teachers (Anderson 2020). When teachers create their own videos, they can also customize the content to ensure the appropriate rigor (Morgan 2014).

As a matter of fact, the organization International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers standards for educators and identifies 14 critical elements for using technology for learning. In The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, Hani Morgan wrote that the ISTE also created seven standards for students and for teachers respectively using technology for learning and teaching. See the standards below as they appear from the article Best Practices for Implementing Remote Learning during a Pandemic:

The ISTE Standards for Students

The ISTE Standards for Students (2016) were developed to help students succeed in today’s high-tech society. ISTE created seven standards for students:

• Empowered Learner – This standard is beneficial because it was designed to encourage students to take an active role and to demonstrate their competency to use and choose technologies to achieve their learning goals. Students acquire feedback to enhance their skills, customize their learning environments, and build networks.

• Digital Citizen – The second standard focuses on increasing student awareness of the responsibilities and rights of participating in a digital world. Students use technology in safe and legal ways. They also demonstrate a respect for the rights of sharing intellectual property.

• Knowledge Constructor – The standards for students are also designed to build knowledge. Students enhance their understanding of the world by applying effective research methods to find information for their creative and intellectual pursuits. This process encourages the development of theories and ideas.

• Innovative Designer – The fourth standard promotes creativity. Students design new solutions for real-world problems using different types of technologies. They use their critical thinking skills as they work on open-ended problems. Students also engage in activities that deal with design constraints and calculated risks.

• Computational Thinker –This standard emphasizes exploring and finding solutions to problems by using a variety of technologies. Students collect data and analyze them to make decisions and problem solve. They enhance their understanding of complex systems and automation. Automated solutions are created and tested through a series of steps.

• Creative Communicator -The sixth standard allows students to create original works. One of the ways they can achieve this goal is by remixing digital resources into new ones. Students produce new content by customizing it for their intended audiences.

• Global Collaborator -This standard focuses on broadening students’ perspectives. Learners use digital tools to connect with students from different cultures and backgrounds. They use collaborative technologies to explore global and local issues and think about possible solutions from multiple viewpoints.

The ISTE Standards for Educators

The ISTE Standards for Educators (2017) were designed to help in transforming pupils into empowered learners. Like the standards for students, ISTE created seven standards for teachers:

• Learner -This standard emphasizes the continued growth in technology skills educators need to make. They achieve this goal by working with other professionals and exploring promising practices that enhance student learning. They participate in professional networks and stay updated on research that improves student learning.

• Leader -Educators look for leadership opportunities that shape and advance teaching and learning. They urge for equal access to technology to meet the needs of all students. They also serve as models for their colleagues, exploring and identifying new technological tools for learning.

• Citizen -This standard involves creating opportunities for learners that will lead them to make socially responsible contributions. Educators mentor students on using technology safely and ethically. They teach them the importance of protecting data privacy and managing personal data.

• Collaborator – Educators also need to spend time collaborating with students and colleagues. With colleagues, they work to create learning experiences using digital tools. And with students, they use new digital tools to diagnose and troubleshoot technology problems.

• Designer – This standard encourages educators to design activities that are learner driven and that reflect learner variability. Educators use technology to personalize learning experiences that promote independent learning and accommodate students’ needs.

• Facilitator -Educators create an environment in which students take ownership of their learning. They establish learning opportunities encouraging students to problem solve and innovate. They model creative expression and manage learning strategies in digital platforms and virtual environments.

• Analyst -This standard focuses on using data to support learners. Educators use technology by designing formative and summative assessments to provide feedback for pupils. This process guides progress as educators communicate assessment data with students and parents to promote student self-direction.

As the global community will emerge slowly into a post-pandemic recovery, there will be significant changes up ahead in planning and delivering the learning experience. And based on the survey of studies that showcase how the educational and therapeutic communities have created the best of human nature in the face of devastation rivaling the period of the Spanish Flu, necessity and the human spirit continue to be the partners of all invention.

UPDATED BLACC Trauma Informed Practices PD Flyer

EVENT: The Body Expansion Seminar

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Execu-Sensory & Neuropedagogy Session 2: The Body Expansion

Date: December 14 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Venue: NYC Charter School Center – Training Room
111 Broadway, Suite 604
New York, NY 10006 United State

Participants are expected to familiarize the utilization of a teaching and learning human body as a medium between the mind and the brain; how Sensory Integration Theory, Emotional and Multiple Intelligences Theoretical applications are set the stage for an educator and learner to participate in choices affecting their learning styles and output. It will review important considerations for creating multi-sensory classroom for learners of various intelligences and learning styles. Participants will also workshop on how the isolated externalized behaviors that come from the diverse populations may originate from the way a student is processing their sensory school and community environment.
Note that attendees did not have to attend session 1 in order to attend session 2.

Presented By: Dechantal Montano, OTR/L

Strand: Staff Development

Suggested Audience: General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, ELL Teachers, Deans/Coaches, School Leaders, Operations Leads, Related Service Providers, Social Workers/Counselors, Paraprofessionals

Suggested Grade Level: All

Welcome, Jacky!

True Stories

We have now a new member of the ESNP Consulting, Jacqueline Frey! She will be our Educational Consultant and Lecturer. For more information on Jacky, please find her bio in The Consultants.

Survey Says: Kindergarten and The 5 Year Old

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The traditional learning environments in the 21st century prides itself in training to focus on the prize (usually meaning college), ignore lesser and more instinctual needs (such as horseplay with peers), and ultimately push themselves to the learning rigor that is expected of students who ascribe to the school’s philosophy.

Thing is, part of the learning culture bubble in these schools is the increasing number of students who ‘act out’ or get ‘suspended’ for being unable to successfully meter themselves per the color system of conduct. Or there are those who are sent to the Dean of Students when the behavior they display is divergent from the rigid norm – this can range from protestations to full out tantrums.

The familiar explanation among circles is that these students need more discipline and structure to survive and thrive. Ironically though, the more the external constructs are being imposed on them, the more unnatural the social-emotional fit becomes. But how then to reconcile students’ emotional expressions, most of whom are not fully developed versions of themselves, with the constructs of institutions that have no time or place to develop such skill set?

Children at a young age explore the world initially through play and social interaction. It’s been proven that without the exposure to peers and to play circles in preschool, the Kindergarten experience is more difficult and isolating which tends to set the tone for the rest of the elementary years.

Then again, more and more schools are veering away from traditional Kindergarten experiences and pushing for more teacher driven instruction laying the foundation for the expectations of the higher grades. The school days are longer, the expectations of sitting in a chair beyond 30 minutes at time to pay attention to a lesson, and for some extreme programs, no recess times for these 5-6 year olds.

CDC at 5 years

The CDC handout divides the developmental expectations of a typical 5 year old into 4 sections: Social/Emotional, Language/Communication, Cognitive, and Movement/Physical Development. This handout is part of the ‘act early’ initiative for parents to recognize what parents should be paying attention to when children are at the cusp of entering school-age.

It is also interesting to note that the CDC does NOT include in one of the bullet points to ask the pediatrician if a 5 year old can’t compose a 4 sentence paragraph during a writing session. Could that mean that the developmental gains and expectations are not hifalutin in comparison to the educational parameters?

According to an article from greatschools.org on March 16, 2016 addressing Developmental Milestones ages 3-5, they closely align with what the CDC checklist lists as expected milestones for a 5 year old, however they align  the language closer to educational expectations. Their list goes:

Milestones: 5-year-olds

Motor development: gross motor skills : runs in an adult manner, walks on tiptoe, broad jumps, walks on a balance beam, skates and jumps rope

Motor development: fine motor skills: hand preference is established, laces (but cannot tie) shoes, grasps pencil like an adult, colors within lines, cuts and pastes simple shapes

Language and thinking development: speaks fluently; correctly uses plurals, pronouns, tenses, very interested in words and language; seeks knowledge, understands and names opposites, uses complex language, still confuses fantasy and reality at times, thinking is still naïve; doesn’t use adult logic

Social and emotional development: distinguishes right from wrong, honest from dishonest, but does not recognize intent, plays make-believe and dresses up, mimics adults and seeks praise, seeks to play rather than be alone; friends are important, plays with both boys and girls but prefers the same sex, wants to conform; may criticize those who do not

And similarly to the observation from the CDC’s list, there is nothing mentioned about the ability to write an essay. That doesn’t mean however that this is not a reality for Kindergarteners in classrooms however, especially as Common Core Standards (CCLS) are expected  to guide and drive schools’ teaching across the country. The CCLS for Speaking and Listening in Kindergarten are:

Comprehension and Collaboration:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.1.a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.1.b: Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2: Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.3: Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.4: Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.6: Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Then based off these, Education-focused organizations and schools create their own rubrics which fit to their communities or ideologies. One of the resources commonly used online for teachers created by teachers is the site time4writing.com, and they lay out what Kindergarten classrooms should be creating for the writing process (keeping in mind again that these are 5 year olds):

Kindergarten: The Writing Process

In kindergarten, students are introduced to the writing process through shared writing activities, in which the teacher writes a story and students contribute to it orally. The writing process is also taught through interactive writing activities, in which students and the teacher compose text together. In kindergarten, students are taught to use each phase of the writing process as follows:

Prewriting: Students generate ideas for writing through class discussion and by drawing pictures about their ideas for self-selected and assigned topics.

Drafting: Students participate in drafting writing by drawing, telling, or writing about a familiar experience, topic or story, and by creating a group draft, scripted by the teacher.

Revising: Students participate in revising the draft for clarity and effectiveness, by adding additional details to the draft and checking for logical thinking with prompting from the teacher.

Editing: Students participate in correcting the draft for standard language conventions according to their level of development.

Publishing: Students participate in producing, illustrating, and sharing a finished piece of writing.

Kindergarten: Written English Language Conventions

Students in kindergarten are taught Standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. In particular, kindergarten writing standards specify these key markers of proficiency:

Words and Sentences

—Recognize and use complete, coherent sentences when speaking.

—Understand relationship between sounds and letters.

—Recognize sight words such as “the” and read simple sentences.

—Use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people, objects, or events.

—Write words and brief sentences that are legible.

—Write his/her own first and last name and other important words.

Punctuation

—Use end punctuation, including periods, question marks, and exclamation points.

Capitalization

—Capitalize letters to begin “important words.”

Spelling

—Spell simple words independently by using pre-phonetic knowledge, sounds of the alphabet, and knowledge of letter names.

—Write consonant-vowel-consonant words (“cat”).

Penmanship

—Print uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet and recognize the difference between the two.

—Write from left to right and top to bottom of page.

—Recognize spacing between letters and words.

—Understand the concept of writing and identifying numerals.

Are we then, based on the survey of information, pushing 5 year old to perform educational expectations beyond their developmental capacities? Or are we erring more on the side of environmental nurture to create synaptic responses in their young brains, supporting the practice makes perfect adage?

What ever happened to meeting the student where they are at developmentally without sacrificing their education? Rigor should never be mistaken for appropriate education, nor should minimum standards be a comfortable catch phrase for those who safeguard our children’s future.

 

TRUE STORY: The Hiatus is Over!

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Has it been a year already? NO! It can’t be that long since the last post!

After over a year of not writing, we are BACK! We have been busy with projects of immense application of Execu-Sensory and Neuropedagogy principles around numerous families (and cities), we have taken back to the sharing and contributing our experiences to the journal.

What we can confirm while starting application projects and coordinating with educators, therapists and families is this: we are not done learning yet. Neuroplasticity has given us the avenues to demonstrating and imparting information on the endless possibilities of connections. We collectively are creating untraditional tools and schools of thought that, if given consistency in attention and care, will be self-sufficient in their evolution. A self-starting collective body of work expanding slowly while nurturing their brains in the process.

Another thing we can confirm is this: whatever it was that we had learned from a year ago, we have now pruned to a much more dynamic body of work. What was once the gold standard of bringing brain science into the classroom is in silver place — we have evolved and unlearned as professionals both educationally and therapeutically. We can say with conviction, for example, without a person’s state-to-temperament emotional regulation in check, neurotransmission of any kind of cognitive information is haphazard at best. Deep Brain Learning is risking, and risking requires commitment outside of Pre-Frontal Cortex comfort zones.

We have older brains, but we have richer connections. We have decided that in the long run, we will proceed to be non-neurotypical with our writing so you can appreciate the discoveries we stumble upon. Check out some of the newest people and organizations we have been working with:

Pathways Children’s Services – New York City

Pathways NYC Writers on WordPress

We will be writing again soon. Stay Tuned ESNPers.

ESNP Podcast 15: Special Education: Redesigned and Redefined

ESNP 15-Special Education Redesigned and Redefined.band

See this case study published online at the International Brain Injury Neurotrauma newsletter for June 2015!

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A CASE STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SENSORY PROCESSING SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT WITH A 14 YEAR OLD WITH ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY AND ELECTROGRAPHIC STATUS EPILEPTICUS IN SLEEP (ESES)

Authors: Dechantal C. V. Montano, OTR/L, Sara T. Naegele, MS Ed,  Ronald C. Savage, Ed.D.

Introduction

Children with acquired brain injuries face an array of cognitive, behavioral, and sensory-motor problems.   In particular, many of these children have problems with sensory processing, which, in turn, interfere with their neuro-development. Sensory processing (sometimes called “sensory integration” or SI) is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a condition that exists when sensory signals do not get organized into appropriate responses. Dr. A. Jean Ayres (Ayres, 2005), an occupational therapist and developmental psychologist, pioneered work in sensory integration dysfunction in the 1960s. She proposed that in order to function the brain needed to receive and interpret sensory information correctly using a seven-sense sensory system, which includes the tactile, visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, vestibular and proprioception systems. She likened sensory dysfunction to a neurological “traffic jam” because problems occur when sensory input is not processed or misrouted in the brain. “SPD is not one specific disorder…but rather an umbrella term to cover a variety of neurological disabilities,” explains Carol Kranowitz (Kranowtiz, 2005), an educator and expert in sensory processing and integration. Children with SPD, especially children with acquired brain injuries, will find it difficult to process and act upon information received through their senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Learning difficulties, motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.

SPD is not presently recognized as a distinct and separate group of disorders in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V but is recognized as occurring in individuals with other neurological disorders. Most research to date involving SPD has involved individuals with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Few isolated studies on how Sensory Processing Disorder manifests as an image of brain dysfunction have been conducted. This could be in part because its existence as a separate and distinct neurological disability is still quite controversial. According to a recent policy statement put forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “the amount of research regarding the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy is limited and inconclusive,” (2015). However, Owen et al. (2013) in a landmark study showed that children who met criteria only for sensory processing disorder have anatomical differences in their brain structure than children who do not present with sensory processing difficulties. Owen and her colleagues at The University of California San Francisco found that children affected specifically with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) have abnormal white matter microstructure. This is the first time that a biological basis for the disease, which sets it apart from other neuro-developmental disorders has been found. According to the researchers, one of the reasons SPD has been overlooked until now is that it often occurs in children who also have ADHD or autism. This study also shows that SPD may in fact be a distinct disorder that affects individuals with and without other neurological disabilities. Therefore, more research into this disorder as well as treatment for this disorder needs to be further explored in other populations.

As mentioned above, the common pediatric conditions of study with Sensory Processing Disorder are Autism and ADHD; therefore, the uniqueness of this study is that it focuses on SPD in a population other than those previously studied. The subject is a 14-year-old female who has had early biological insults to the developing brain via infantile stroke and the condition Electrical Status Epilepticus of Sleep (ESES). This is a rare form of epilepsy that produces subclinical (unseen) seizures during sleep. This type of epilepsy is characterized by the presence of generalized 1-3 Hz spike-wave discharges occupying 85% or more of the EEG of non-REM sleep. Overall, she presents with a neuro-developmental disorder due to an acquired brain injury (ABI) occurring both in utero and continuously due to the ESES. Ungerleider (1995) states “recent functional brain imaging studies in humans indicate that learning and memory involve many of the same regions of the cortex that process sensory information and control motor output.” This study shows that there is a potential for a positive correlation between SPD, learning and memory.      Furthermore, findings from a study by Tarapore et al (2013) support the hypothesis since “disruption of the long-range communication between brain regions, as measured by reductions in functional connectivity, would be found in patients [with TBI] compared with matched controls.” The results from this study and Owen et al show that both individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and SPD have reduced connectivity between brain regions. Therefore, SPD could be a prevalent issue either dependent or independent of the brain injury for individuals with ABI; subsequently, the intervention for SPD could be effective for individuals with ABI.

Given the lack of research in the area of SPD for acquired brain injury populations coupled with the researchers’ combined therapeutic and educational experiences an interest was taken into studying the relationship between increased sensory processing skills and academic achievement for a 14-year-old female with infantile stroke and Electrical Status Epilepticus of Sleep (ESES) among other neurological disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between an increase in sensory processing alertness/engagement and academic achievement for a subject with neuro-developmental disorders specifically ESES. Since there was evidence that Sensory Processing Disorder was indeed a neuro-developmental brain disorder, and manifested in a neurologically similar way as ABI, it was hypothesized that the similarities between the deficit manifestations could respond to an external intervention previously used for individuals with SPD and ultimately improve cognition and learning. As previously stated very few studies have been conducted to investigate this theory; however, Polatajko et al (1991) found that a sensory integrative intervention was as effective as perceptual-motor training,  “when administered for 1 hour, once a week, for 6 months…in improving academic and motor performance in children with learning disabilities associated with SI dysfunction.”

Subject Background
The subject was internationally adopted at seven months old. Her hospital records contained insufficient documentation of parental pre-adoption history; however, according to medical records, her weight was reported to be 700 grams, and she had APGAR scores of 3, 5, and 5. Her hospital birth records noted the amniotic fluid smelled fetid.  It was later that an analysis of an MRI of her brain indicated interruption in blood flow to the brain. This occurred at approximately the 23rd week of gestation.  Based upon a CT scan taken at 9 months, doctors estimated she had lost approximately 30 percent of brain matter. Subject’s current head circumference is 43.3 cm, which is considered to be in the first percentile for a 20-month-old girl and indicates microcephaly.Her motor and cognitive developmental milestones were all delayed or never occurred.  In regards to her gross motor development, her records indicated that she began standing alone while holding onto a stable object at 3.5 years; she began to walk independently on a flat surface at 4.5 years, and was able to navigate stairs with assistance at 6.5 years. In regards to her cognitive development with a focus on communication, her records indicated, she was interested and attracted to sound at 7 months, she spoke her first word at 3 years, she spoke unintelligible words and phrases at 9 years, and began speaking in some intelligible short simple sentences in combination with a high-tech communication device at 13 years.

When initial researchers’ interventions with the subject began, formal education had stopped for an entire academic year. The subject was instead receiving traditional out-patient therapies (OT, PT, and speech), and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Training for her Dynavox device for approximately 20 hours each week.

Methodology
Researchers gathered baseline academic achievement through scores indicated on her Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from September 2013. The scores were taken from an independent psycho-education evaluation. Additionally, modified testing using the Brigance Inventory of Early Development III (2013) was completed in order to corroborate results specified in her IEP. Tests included: color identification, identifies uppercase letters, identifies basic personal information, rote counting, reads words from common signs, word recognition grade placement test (modified). Subject responded to questions utilizing her AAC device and verbal responses to closed questioning. Additionally, researchers collected baseline sensory systems data. Both cognitive and sensory intervention was delivered in school and home with participation of medical, educational and technical staff.

Research clinicians used an experimenter designed 7-sense diet and tracking sheet to measure outcomes from the Experimenter Sensory Diet, based on the sensory diet theory from research conducted on subjects with sensory defensiveness by Occupational Therapist Patricia Wilbarger in 1991. “A sensory diet is a form of a home program intervention plan that incorporates organizing sensory input, or utilizes already existing sensory input, into everyday life in order to assist the person to maintain a regulated behavioral state, such as the calm, alert state required during certain school activities (Wilbarger, 1991). Multiple sensory diet strategies may be implemented at regular intervals throughout the day. In particular, these strategies may be performed prior to times that may be considered challenging, in order to prepare or set up the body to maintain an organized state throughout the activity, or they may also be used during activities in order to assist the client to maintain an organized state throughout the activity (Williams & Shellenberger, 1994). In this study, the diet tracking sheets were designed by the research clinicians to measure the observable sensory strategies via Levels of Engagement (LoE) and Levels of Alertness (LoA) on a 5-point scale, and were recorded by a trained technician on specific diet adjustments dependent upon the various phases of the research.

Direct Instruction coupled with aspects of strategy-instruction was utilized during individual/small group instruction. Glang et al (1991) found that after 12 hours of direct instruction, “both Subject made substantial academic progress in their targeted instructional areas.” Direct Instruction is a teacher-directed method of instruction in which cognitive skills are broken down into very basic components and explicitly taught. “Specific techniques include: breaking down the instructions and tasks into small steps, teaching modeling of skill or task, administering feedback repeatedly…allowing independent practice and individually paced instruction. “ In addition, aspects of Strategy Instruction such as “verbal modeling, questioning, reminders to use strategies or procedures,” (Sohlberg, M, et al, 2005) were utilized. Direct Instruction was utilized because it is one of the only researched methods of instruction shown to be effective in teaching Subjects with Acquired Brain Injury.  Glang et al (2008) concluded in a literature review that “Two instructional approaches—Direct Instruction and cognitive strategy intervention—have significant evidence supporting their use with many populations of children, with and without disabilities, and address many of the common needs and learning characteristics of Subjects with TBI, thus showing particular promise for these Subjects.”

Review of Process
Modified 7- sense (visual, tactile, auditory, vestibular, proprioceptive, olfactory, and gustatory) sensory diets were assigned in three phases: The Introductory Phase, The Second Phase (Extremity-Specific Phase), and The Third Phase (Subject Initiation Phase). In the first 4 months, diets were implemented up to 6 times a day on the subject (Head, Upper and Lower Extremities). During the next 8 months, diets were scaled back and implemented to 3 times a day.

During all of the phases, a modified 7-sense tracking sheet was aligned to the specific extremity and the protocol order with (Levels of Alertness) LoA and Levels of Engagement (LoE). Likert Scales for LoA and LoE were developed by the researchers and attached to the protocol.  LoA were measured as: 1 (deep sleep); 2 (sleepy/intentional eye closure), 3 (calm/neutral/awake); 4 (wide-awake); and 5 (hyper-active). LoE were measured as: 1 (unengaged); 2 (engaged 25%); 3 (engaged 50%); 4 (engaged 75%); 5 (engaged 100%). In addition, pictures accompanied each Likert demarcation for added clarity of the descriptions.

In the Introductory Phase, a Proximo-distal, hierarchical arrangement of the sensory protocol was performed on both upper and lower extremities at one session.  The hierarchical arrangement included, in order: modified milking massage (15 repetitions on every extremity), modified Wilbarger brushing (unidirectional, from proximal to distal, 15 repetitions on every extremity with moderate pressure), localized extremity joint vibration with battery-operated 4 prong Homemedics handheld massager (Proximal to distal: UE shoulder, elbow, wrist; LE hip, knee, ankle, 15 counts per joint), modified auditory integration program (50% volume on source, Sound Health Series mix, Sennheiser Closed 202 headphones). Each sensory diet lasted between 15 to 30 minutes in total length.  Each part of the diets was labeled and defined to the subject by provider prior, during and after the diet was completed. This lasted for the first 3 months.

The Second Phase was a division of the Introductory Phase into extremity-specific sessions. One 15- 30-minute session would be dedicated to the Upper Extremity protocol; another 15-30 minute session would be dedicated to the Lower Extremity protocol. Both types would use the modified Auditory Integration Therapy respectively. Diets lasted between 15 to 30 minutes in total length, and these were repeated up to three (3) times a day respectively. Diets were labeled and defined by provider prior, during and after the diet was completed. This was initiated immediately after the Introductory Phase, the next 3 months.

The Third Phase required Subject determination and use of communication strategies embedded in her AAC device. The provider would inquire what body extremity (UE/LE or R/L), and what specific diet was preferred. Diets lasted between 15 to 30 minutes in total length, and these were repeated up to five (5) times a day respectively.  Diets were labeled and defined by Subject choice prior, during and after the diet was completed. This came immediately after the Second Phase, the last 3 months.

Direct Instruction coupled with aspects of strategy-instruction was utilized during individual/small group instruction. The aspects of strategy-instruction included verbal modeling, questioning, and verbal reminders to use support strategies. When subject mastered content with at least 80% accuracy over five consecutive sessions, new topics were introduced. Previous skills were consistently revisited during the first five minutes of lessons as well as incorporated into lessons when applicable to the new skill being taught. Subject’s academic program took place five days a week and consisted of two-three formal 30-minute individual or small group  (2-3 Subjects) periods, and two formal 30-minute whole group (6 Subjects) periods over the course of 480 minutes per day for 12 months.

Post-Test academic achievement and sensory processing was taken one year after baseline. Post-Test academic achievement was taken again via an independent psycho-educational testing and modified Brigance testing which was completed in October 2014. Brigance testing included: knows personal information, Identifies parts of the body, word recognition grade placement test, counts by rote, reading comprehension grade placement, recognizes quantity, understands qualitative concepts, identifies common signs, reads words from common signs, recognizes quantity, adds numbers, subtracts numbers, multiplies numbers, divides numbers. Subject responded to both assessments utilizing a combination of AAC device, open and close verbal questioning and a touch screen device.  A case study by Kirsch, et al (2004) concluded, “ATC interventions can facilitate functional performance and contribute to learning of specific adaptive skills. Wireless, interactive, Web-based interventions appear particularly suited to tasks in the home and community, permitting remote intervention and monitoring of task status.”

Results
At baseline, the subject presented with aversion to the diet protocol (0% for both levels of engagement and alertness). The subject required maximal technical assistance for 2 months (October-November 2013) prior to responding positively to the diet protocol; the protocol was narrowed from a 7 sense to a 5 sense during this time period to accommodate the subject’s sensory processing needs as recorded by the technician on the LoA and LoE tracking sheets. From December 2013 to January 2014, a segmented protocol was introduced, also known as phase-two, to isolate sense stimulation with the head and extremity stimulation. From February 2014-May 2014, the subject continued with phase 2 and the technician recorded trends of responses.

It was also noted at baseline that the subject tested at a pre-kindergarten level for word recognition and kindergarten level for computation. Results corroborated with the independent psycho-education evaluation.

Evidence from assessments demonstrated a positive correlation between increased and consistent levels of alertness and engagement during improvements in segmented diets and academic achievement.

Post-Testing Sensory Diet Tracking results in May-June 2014 showed the subject to be alert at level 3 (calm/neutral/awake) for 86.7% and at level 2 (sleepy, intentional eye-closure) for 13.3% of the recorded sessions. The tracking sheets also showed the subject to be engaged at level 4 (engaged for 75% of the activity) for 68.3%, at level 3 (engaged for 50% of the activity) for 26.7% and at a level 2(engaged for 25% of the activity) for 5% of the recorded sessions. This is in comparison to the results from baseline upon introduction of the protocol for which the subject responded aversively and therefore was reported to be at 0%.

In addition, post-testing cognitive results via the modified Brigance testing had subject at a 3rd grade level on word recognition and computation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), in comparison to subject’s baseline testing which was respectively at a Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten level.

Conclusion
Based on the results, this case study shows a positive correlation between increased sensory processing alertness/engagement and increased academic achievement when sensory diets are administered. It is showing a significant change in percentage of optimal alertness and engagement for this 14-year old with neuro-developmental disorder specifically ESES Subject who displayed an 87% LoA (wide awake) and 68% LoE (engaged 75%) in the sensory diet protocol with an improvement in performance in modified Brigance testing from a Pre-K work recognition to 3rd grade, and K Comp to 3rd grade. This reveals a 4 and 3-grade level jump, respectively, over the course of one year. This case study validates the hypothesis that increased sensory processing alertness/engagement plays a part in increasing academic achievement in an adolescent female with neuro-developmental disorder specifically ESES.

This study utilized a single-subject design, which strengthens the internal validity of the study; however decreases the external validity of the study as it is not generalizable to other individuals within this population as it only pertains to the change evidenced with this particular subject. Furthermore, it needs to be noted that additional traditional therapies, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy including augmentative and alternative communication therapy as well as modified conductive education, a program designed for children with motor dysfunction, which integrates education and rehabilitation into one program with the goal of achieving ortho-function–the capacity of individuals to respond to biological and social demands (Darrah, 2003)–were performed throughout the Subject’s day, which decreases the internal validity of the study as these interventions were not controlled for and may have played a role in her overall increase in academic achievement.

However, the results of this study indicate that a comorbidity of SPD and subsequent interventions for SPD need to be further explored for individuals with ABI as a way to increase sensory processing and academic achievement. Further work on the efficacy of sensory processing skills needs to be studied within a clinical based setting to determine if the benefits are generalizable to other children within this population as well other populations. Future studies should control for factors including but not limited to therapeutic interventions and duration of interventions on a daily basis.

Finally, according to a recent policy statement put forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “the amount of research regarding the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy is limited and inconclusive,” (2015). Therefore, more clinical based research regarding SPD as a distinct diagnosis and as a co-morbidity with the ABI population needs to be conducted in clinical based settings in order to address the controversy and limitations surrounding diagnosis and interventions for SPD either as a distinct or co-morbid diagnosis. This case study and the few that proceeded serve as first step in a relatively unexplored field that stands to yield significant benefits for both individuals with and without ABI.

References
Ayres, A. Jean. (2005). Sensory integration and the child. Torrance, CA: Western Psychological
Services.

Brigance, Albert H. (2013). The inventory of early development III. North Billerica, MA:
Curriculum Associates, LLC.

Darrah, Johanna et al. (2003). Effects of conductive education intervention for children with a
diagnosis of cerebral palsy: an AACPDM evidence report.

Glang, Ann et al. “Using Direct Instruction with Brain Injured Subjects.” Direct Instruction News.
Fall 1991: 23-28.

Glang, Ann et al. (2008). Validated instructional practices: applications to Subjects with    traumatic brain injury. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 23(4), 243-251.

Kinnealey, M., Oliver, B., & Wilbarger, P. (1995). A phenomenological study of sensory defensiveness in adults. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 49(5), 444-451.

Kirsch, Ned, L. et al. (2004). Web-based assistive technology interventions for cognitive

impairments after traumatic brain injury: a selective review and two case studies. Rehabilitation Psychology, 49(3), 200-211.  

Kranowitz, Carol S. (2005). The out-of-sync- child: recognizing and coping with sensory processing disorder. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Owen, Julie, P. et al. (2013). Abnormal white matter microstructure in children with sensory
processing disorders. NeuroImage: Clinical, 2, 844-853.

Polatajko, Helene, J. et al. (1991). The effect of a sensory integration program on academic achievement, motor performance, and self-esteem in children identified as learning disabled: results of a clinical trial. The Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 11(3), 155-176.

Shellenberger, S., & Williams, M. (2002). How does your engine run?. The Alert Program for self-regulation. In A. Bundy, S. Lane, E. Murray (Eds.), Sensory integration: Theory and practice, 342-345.  

Sohlberg, McKay, M. et al. (2005). Instructional techniques in cognitive rehabilitation: a  preliminary report. Seminars in Speech and Language, 26(5).  268-279.

Tarapore, Phiroz E. et.al, (2013). Resting state magnetoencephalography functional connectivity   in traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurosurgery. 118(6), 1306-1316.

Ungerleider, Leslie, G. 1995. Functional brain imaging studies of cortical mechanisms for memory. Science, 270(5237), 769-775.

Wilbarger, J., & Wilbarger, P. (2002). Clinical application of the sensory diet. Sensory integration: Theory and practice. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: FA Davis Company, 339-341.

True Stories: “There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go. ” – Tennessee Williams

True Stories, , ,

I walked over to the shell-shocked boy. He was in his 3rd grade ELA class but it was evident that he was not concentrating on the lesson.

“Are you alright, Peter?”stagesofgrief

He shrugged his shoulders, but he didn’t look at me. His face was turning sullen, and it was becoming clearer to me that it finally hit him; the words finally settled in and shock was quickly turning into disbelief.

“I guess…I guess, I’m more sad really,” and he shrugged his shoulders again and his face, slowly flustered, gave way to tears.

I gave his shoulders a squeeze. The last thing he needed was for everyone to see the mix of emotions his body was displaying, turning up the confusion that had occurred with the staff hours earlier.

I whispered in his ear, “Let’s step outside for a moment.” He stood up and followed me into the hallway. By the time he stepped outside his door, he broke down into silent sobs. It was clear to me, he finally fully processed what had just happened into the last fifteen minutes.

“I am feeling very, very sad. I spent four years in this school!!”

th82K68TPH“I know, Peter, I can imagine this is very difficult for you,” and pulled into a bear hug. He felt comfortable enough to let his defenses down and feel vulnerable; nothing else mattered than the feeling of loss and change he knew was about to happen whether he  liked it or not. Or whether he had a say about the change to begin with.

Earlier in the day, I was doing my student rounds when my support coordinator  warned me that three siblings I see may not finish the  last 14 days of school.

“How come?”

“Well you know how they have been trying to find permanent housing? I think they finally got placed however it is not close to the school.”

“Oh wow. Are we  talking about an outer borough? Long Island?”

“Worse.  Staten Island.  They told me this morning that the commute was terrible. I am hoping they would finish the last two weeks of school.”

“I hope so too. I mean, there are three siblings here… may as well get this school year to end properly with them.”

That conversation was three hours ago… and now a sobbing Peter just had his whole world come crashing down. His father came in the afternoon and single handedly made the decision: the commute was not worth the years invested by the  kids in the school. Without proper notice, he went into his kids’ classrooms, tapped them on their shoulders and whispered: “You’re not coming back here tomorrow, do you understand??”

Fast forward to the hallway,  I released Peter from the hug. I could see he needed something or someone more than what I could give him.

“Would you like to see your counselor? Talk things through with her?”departure

He nodded. I walked with him in the noisy hallway, his head was down as he passed the lower grades. When we got to the to the counselor’s office, I could tell she was expecting him.   And with that, I gave Peter one final hug and whispered, “It may not seem like it now, but this is going to feel better somehow.”

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation Abstract May/June 2015 Publication!

Neuropedagogy, , ,
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000150
Original Articles: Abstracts

North American Brain Injury Societys 12th Annual Conference on Brain Injury

Silver, Jonathan MD; Ziejewski, Mariusz PhD

XLargeThumb.00001199-201505000-00000.CV

0018 A Case Study on the Relationship Between Sensory Processing Skills and Academic Achievement in a 14 year old Female With Electrical Status Epilepticus During Sleep (ESES)

Category: Neurorehabilitation- Case report/Clinical Research

Author’s preference: Oral

Dechantal Montano, Sara Naegele

ESNP Educational Consulting, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Introduction/Rationale

This case study shows a relationship between increased sensory processing skills and academic achievement for a 14-year-old female with infantile stroke and electrical status epilepticus of sleep (ESES) among other disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between an increase in sensory processing alertness/engagement and academic achievement for a student with ESES.

Method/Approach

An independent psychoeducational evaluation, modified Brigance Testing, and 7-sense diet tracking were used to gather baseline data. Diet measured levels of engagement (LoE) and alertness (LoA) on a 5 point scale. Modified 7- sense sensory diets were implemented up to 6 times a day in the first 4 months lasting for 15-30 minutes, and up to 3 times a day for the last 8 months. The academic program was two to three formal 30-minute individual, or small group, periods, and two formal 30-minute whole group periods for 12 months. A direct instruction model was used. Post-test academic and sensory processing achievement was measured one year after baseline was determined.

Results/Effects

At baseline, the student presented with sn aversion to the diet protocol (0% for both LoE and LoA). The student tested at the pre-kindergarten level for word recognition and computation and kindergarten level for rote counting. For post-testing the student had to be alert 86.7% at level 3 (calm, neutral/neutral/awake) and 13.3% at level 2 (sleepy, intentional eye-closure) and engaged 68.3% at level 4 (engaged for 75% of the activity), 26.7% at level 3 (engaged for 50% of the activity) and 5% at a level 2 (engaged for 25% of the activity). Modified Brigance-Testing had her at 3rd grade on word recognition and computation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).

Conclusions/Limitations

This case study shows positive correlation between increased sensory processing alertness/engagement and academic achievement when sensory diets are administered. Increased sensory processing alertness/engagement plays a part in increasing academic achievement in children with ESES. Please note that additional therapies were performed throughout the student’s day and may have played a role in her overall increase in academic achievement. Further work on the efficacy of sensory processing skills needs to be studied within a clinical based setting to determine if the benefits are generalized to other children within this population, as well as to other populations.

Electromagnets and the Servings of Hope

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So got the latest iPhone and accessories? That will definitely speed productivity and social connections. Do you have children who are electronically savvy with these devices? Depending on who is doing the research, there may be a mixed bag of OOOHS and OH NOOOs.

EMF1Here we explain. Most of our speedy, high tech devices are powered by Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs). Cindy Sage, MA, and Nancy Evans, BS explain in their handout prepared for a website called Healthy Schools in 2011 in detail the kinds of EMFs that we encounter everyday:

Extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) are generated from appliances and other items that  use electricity (power frequency fields).

Radiofrequency (RF-EMF) is generated by wireless technologies such as cellular and cordless phones.

“Dirty electricity” is a term used to describe low kilohertz frequency fields that can be thought of as an unintentional RF pollutant on electrical wiring and into living space. Power is “dirty” or polluted when it contains the high frequency signals flowing through overloaded wires, and not just the clean 60 Hz power that’s created at the source.

We are all aware of the benefits of modernization and upgrading to the latest gadgetry. We are able to cram as much work/leisure/information as possible in the shortest amount of time. It improves productivity, increases quantity of life skills, and promotes connectivity only science fiction writers used to dream about.  Ironically (good or bad), in 2010 MIT neuroscientists have now shown they can influence those judgments by interfering with activity in a specific brain region — a finding that helps reveal how the brain constructs morality. The researchers, led by Rebecca Saxe, MIT assistant professor
of brain and cognitive sciences disrupted activity brain region known as the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) by inducing a current in the brain using a magnetic field applied to the scalp.  The researchers used a noninvasive technique known as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to selectively interfere with brain activity in the right TPJ. The magnetic field applied to a small area of the skull creates weak electric currents that impede nearby brain cells’ ability to fire normally, but the effect is only temporary.

They found that the subjects’ ability to make moral judgments that require an understanding of other people’s intentions was impaired. The researchers believe that TMS interfered with subjects’ ability to interpret others’ intentions, forcing them to rely more on outcome information to make their judgments.

So EMFs literally can assist in changing our minds, literally. How about our health? And our young people’s development?

EMF2
A report commissioned by T-Mobile and Deutsche Telecom MobilNet GmbH prepared in 2000 reviews effects such as gene toxicity, cellular processes, effects on the immune system, central nervous system, hormone systems and connections with cancer and infertility. This was utilized by the Commonwealth Club of California’s Program on Health Effects of Cell Phones, Wireless Technologies & Electromagnetic Fields With Leading Experts in November 2010.

In their study, Dr Kerstin Hennies, Dr H.‐Peter Neitzke and Dr Hartmut Voigt in behalf of the Telecom companies found:

1. Given the results of the present epidemiological studies, it can be concluded that electromagnetic fields with frequencies in the mobile telecommunications range do play a role in the development of cancer. This is particularly notable for tumours of the central nervous system, for which there is only the one epidemiological study so far, examining the actual use of mobile phones.

2. Damaging effects on the immune system which can aid the development of illnesses as demonstrated higher secretions of stress hormones in humans.

3. Effects of high frequency electromagnetic fields on the central nervous system are proven for intensities well below the current guidelines.

4. The terms ‘electrosensitivity’ or ‘electromagnetic hypersensitivity’ describe disturbances of well‐being and impairments of health, such as they are suffered by certain sensitive people when working with or being in the presence of devices and equipment emitting electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic fields.

They also conclude: “A particular problem in this exposure group is posed by children and adolescents, not only because their organism is still developing and therefore particularly susceptible, but also because many cp-radiationadolescents have come to be the most regular users of mobile phones. Advertising towards this population group should be banned. Furthermore, particular efforts should be made to lower the exposures during calls. It would be recommendable to conduct (covert) advertising campaigns propagating the use of headsets. It would also be important to develop communications and advertising aiming at minimising the exposures created by carrying mobile phones in standby mode on the body.”

That was in 2000. That is not the case in 2015. Covert would not be the word for the in-your-hand ads aimed to the youngest demographic possible (e.g. no more teen data overages…hint hint). So what to do?

Here’s the practical, scientific approach recommended by experts: Use a corded phone (land line) as your regular telephone. If you need to use a cordless phone or cell phone, use a headset (wired only) whenever possible and/or use your phone on speakerphone. Text rather than talk. Keep your calls very brief, and hold your cell phone away from your head and body, especially when the phone is connecting your call. Children should not use cell phones or cordless phones. Studies show children have a five-fold risk of malignant brain tumors in a shorter time than adults. 

hope1The other recommendation? Healthy servings on Hope. The brain on hope supports a growing body of scientific evidence that points to the conclusion that optimism may be hardwired by evolution into the human brain. The science of optimism, once scorned as an intellectually suspect province of pep rallies and smiley faces, is opening a new window on the workings of human consciousness. What it shows could fuel a revolution in psychology, as the field comes to grips with accumulating evidence that our brains are constantly being shaped by the future.

Findings from a study  conducted a few years ago with prominent neuroscientist Elizabeth Phelps and Tali Sharot suggest that directing our thoughts of the future toward the positive is a result of our frontal cortex’s communicating with subcortical regions deep in our brain. The frontal cortex, a large area behind the forehead, is the most recently evolved part of the brain. It is larger in humans than in other primates and is critical for many complex human functions such as language and goal setting.

Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, the researchers recorded brain activity in volunteers as they imagined specific events that might occur to them in the future. Some of the events were desirable (a great date or winning a large sum of money), and some were undesirable (losing a wallet, ending a romantic relationship). The volunteers reported that their images of sought-after events were richer and more vivid than those of unwanted events.

This matched the enhanced activity observed in two critical regions of the brain: the amygdala, a small structure deep in the brain that is central to the processing of emotion, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), an area of the frontal cortex that modulates emotion and motivation. The rACC acts like a traffic conductor, enhancing the flow of positive emotions and associations. The more optimistic a person was, the higher the activity in these regions was while imagining positive future events (relative to negative ones) and the stronger the connectivity between the two structures.

The positive physiological effects of hope are well-documented, most recently by CNN in 2013  in Jerome Groopman’s “The Anatomy of Hope,” where he writes: “Researchers are learning that a change in mind-set has the power to alter neurochemistry.”  His research also showed that during the course of illness, belief and expectation have an impact on the nervous system which, in turn, sets off a chain reaction that makes improvement and recovery more likely. Groopman observed that hope does not just involve a mind-to-body connection, but also a body-to-mind connection, where neural input about one’s physical condition serves as a moderator of positive and negative emotions.

hope2Shane Lopez, author of the new book “Making Hope Happen,” believes hope is the stuff of change, recovery and healing. Hope is half optimism, Lopez explains. The other half is the belief in the power that you can make it so.There is a profound difference between hoping and wishing, he continues. Wishing encourages passivity, whereas hope represents an active stance.

“Wishing is the fantasy that everything is going to turn out OK. Hoping is actually showing up for the hard work.”

And it is hard work to find moderation between technological use and traditional, generalist methods of living. A line needs to be drawn for generations after us to have a chance at a future before they can manipulate it, or else all the forward thinking and efficiency cramming we did in our heyday for them is mismatched and misaligned. Balancing between picking up a book with pages AND including one or two websites for research creates a nifty scale bridging the survival rate of the future and wisdom from longevity of the past.

ESNP Podcast 14: Why Puzzles Need to Come Back to the Classroom

Play, Just to Play

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The computerized calendar shows grey dots everyday of the week. The day starts at 7:00 am and ends sometime around 9:00 pm; perhaps with 30 minutes for lunch, an hour for dinner and sometime in between it all for commutting from one obligation to the next. Sound familiar? This over-scheduled schedule not only belongs to adults, butBusy-Calendar-2 to many children as soon as their old enough to enter a school-type program. And ending around 9:00 pm may be a conservatitve estimate, especially for middle and high-school aged students. 9:00 is when some finally arrive home to begin their homework or are continuing to work on it because despite their best efforts it stillis not done. The best efforts may even include working with one, two perhaps three different tutors in one evening. What appeared to be parents encouraging natural talents in music or sports has given rise to a hyper-focus on areas of specialization and the building of child prodigies in the arts, athletics or academics. However, very little, if any, of these budding ‘careers’ are related to the child’s school day. Perhaps the long standing problem America faces with education has as much to do with poor schooling as it does with student burn-out. A burn-out that appears to be occuring much earlier and in more extreme ways than senioritis–perhaps now an obsolete term. This critical look at the extrememly scheduled, programmed and packed days of school aged children leaves one questing begging to be asked:  What ever happened to having time to play?

In the past two decades, what began as involvement in extracurriculular activities that have shifted into activities to keep children busy, out of the house or off the streets. It it challenging for working parents to be home when children are home or trust them to be able to watch thsemvles at home. Gone are the days of the latch-key kids. However, statisitics are showing that 3 out of 4 children who were involved in sports before first grade are bored, tired of and deciding to no longer participate in sports after middle school. David Elkind of Tufts University, believes that children are not simply bored, but burned out. Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, author of The Overscheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap, he believes that there is a fine, yet undefined line, between having children involved in extracurricular activities and over scheduling. Rosenfeld believes children are bored not because they don’t have anything to do, but because they have never had to develop the skills to figure out to entertain themselves, given that their lives have been scheduled from waking to sleeping. Now add the conveiences and accessiblity to technology even commuting from school to soccer provides a quiet structured activity of games on an tablet or a movie playing on the backseat of the driver and passenger sides nicely crafted with headphones so everyone can be appeased.

Dr. Suniya S. Luthar believes that scheduling extracurriculars is the problem. Porblems arise when “…what parents want is over the top…When children feel that their parents disproportionately value personal successes (in today’s grades or tomorrow’s careers), far more than they value their personal decency and kindness, the children show elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety. Parents might think it’s okay to keep the pressure on because they eat dinner together and attend all their children’s athletic events and performances. But such positive gestures do not cancel out criticism.” Over-Scheduled or the New Norm?

According to kidshealth.org children may:

  • feel tired, anxious, or depressed
  • complain of headaches and stomachaches, which may be due to stress, missed meals, or lack of sleep
  • fall behind on their schoolwork, causing their grades to drop

Dr. Luthar adds substance abuse, truancy, anxiety among other internalizing behaviors to list or problems over-pressured face.

From a brain-based perspetive, these various symtpoms cause increase in cortisol or cause damage,  which impacts access to the pre-frontal cortext and the very necessary executive functioning skills that students rely on not only during their after-school activites but during their school day and in their social relationships.

All experts agree that the solution is NOT taking away all of the extracurriculuars, but finding a balance between them, school and downtime or the expectations surrouding the activiites. Children need unstrutured activity to allow their brains to not only rest, much like the necessity of sleep, but to have truly free time to play, which research shows helps develop the higher order thinking skills.

John Hamilton from NPR.org reports, “The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain,” claims Sergio Pellis, a researcher at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. “And without play experience, those neurons aren’t changed,” he says. It is those changes in the prefrontal cortex during childhood that help wire up the brain’s executive control center, which has a critical role in regulating emotions, making plans and solving problems, Pellis says. So play, he adds, is what prepares a young brain for life, love and even schoolwork. But to produce this sort of brain development, children need to engage in plenty of so-called free play, Pellis says. No coaches, no umpires, no rule books.”

This is the same part of the brain that children are unable to access due to sleep deprivation, stress, depression. The lack of

Pressure free play

play is not only impacting the devevelopment of these essential skills, but it is preventing them from having access.  Simultaneous to this occurance is the increase in acadamic expectations and demands because adolescents are graduating from high school unprepraed for the academic standards at a collegiate level. But is it that they are not ready or simply not capable because their brains were not given the time, opportunity to develop the skills necessary to be prepared for college? Is the solution as simple as, children will be able to do more by doing less?

A shift needs to take place somewhere; because more often than not incomplete homework accompanied with a parent note detailing a child’s inabiltiy to complete it due to three hour rehearshals after school, too many other assignments or they spent

4 hours on homework and were still unable to finish it. Or even worse, when six year olds express they have too much to do. Yet the shift cannot occur in a vacumn or simply exhange extracurriculars for screen time. Perhaps part of the solution is a cultural shift. A shift in what is determined important, worthy of time and essential. Currently the focus seems to be success, financial gain, fame, a full-schedule. Maybe it is time to realize family time, play and even boredom are critical not only to prevent burn-out before the age of thirteen, but to enable the upcoming generation to be developmentally ready to take on what the current generation will ineveitably leave behind.

ESNP Podcast 13: The Powerful Necessity of Touch

ESNP Podcast 12: Love with the Brain, the Body and the Mind

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Silence.

Brain Bits, , , ,

Silence2Think of one place in the world that is still completely silent. Deep ocean perhaps? That must still be relatively silent. Is there any country in the world that is silent?

In 2011, the Finnish Tourist Board released a series of photographs of lone figures in the wilderness, with the caption “Silence, Please.” An international “country branding” consultant, Simon Anholt, proposed the playful tagline “No talking, but action.” And a Finnish watch company, Rönkkö, launched its own new slogan: “Handmade in Finnish silence.”

“We decided, instead of saying that it’s really empty and really quiet and nobody is talking about anything here, let’s embrace it and make it a good thing,” explains Eva Kiviranta, who manages social media for VisitFinland.com.

So Finland 4 years ago decided to capitalize on their silent status seeing that the world thrives on noise. However on the scientific front, the sound of silence stimulates a bigger response in the brain of a listener than music itself.  According to research, silence provides intriguing support for modern composers who put as much emphasis on a lack of sound as sound itself.

Led by Dr. Vinod Menon of Stanford University School of Medicine, the researchers published their findings in 2010 in the journal Neuron. The team showed that music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating the event in memory.

In what has to be one of the most pleasant brain studies on record, researchers asked subjects to listen to symphonies by the 18th century English baroque composer William Boyce, chosen because they are relatively short and comprise well-defined movements, punctuated by pauses.

As the subjects listened the researchers scanned their brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This widely used technique involves using harmless magnetic fields and radio waves to measure blood flow in brain regions, which reveals the amount of activity in those regions.

But while music may soothe the savage beast, the brain responds efficiently to the sound of silence. Peak brain activity occurred during a short period between musical movements, when seemingly NOTHING was happening. Two distinct networks of brain regions on the right side of the brain were involved, suggesting it was excited at the anticipation of more to come, or predicting the next movement.

“Our study suggests that silence, appropriately structured, is a device that allows the composer to achieve certain goals,” Dr. Menon told The Daily Telegraph. “It can arrest the listener’s attention and create conditions that facilitate anticipatory processes related to previously heard sequences of sounds. I suspect that silences inserted by composers such as Stockhausen and Philip Glass can elicit intense physiological and brain responses, although how long these responses can be sustained and manipulated is not yet clear. Modern brain imaging techniques might help to clarify how silence can be manipulated to create novel musical experiences.” Silence1

Karlheinz Stockhausen, a German musical composer discussed these experiences, for example in one composition where there are silences up to about one minute. “I discovered a new way to prepare for a certain duration of silence by what happens just before the silence, so that one can hear again, like an echo, the figures or structures before the silences. I think there is a very secret science of musical composition in knowing what one has to do before a silence in order to make the following silence meaningful.”

A team of University of Oregon researchers isolated an independent processing channel of synapses inside the brain’s auditory cortex that deals specifically with shutting off sound processing at appropriate times. Such regulation is vital for hearing and for understanding speech.

The discovery, found in the Feb. 2010 issue of the journal Neuron, goes against a long-held assumption that the signaling of a sound’s appearance and its subsequent disappearance are both handled by the same pathway. The new finding, which supports an emerging theory that a separate set of synapses is responsible, could lead to new, distinctly targeted therapies such as improved hearing devices, said Michael Wehr, a professor of psychology and member of the UO Institute of Neuroscience.

To do the research, Mr. Wehr and two UO undergraduate students — lead author Ben Scholl, then a graduate student at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and Xiang Gao — monitored the activity of neurons and their connecting synapses as rats were exposed to millisecond bursts of tones, looking at the responses to both the start and end of a sound. They tested varying lengths and frequencies of sounds in a series of experiments.

“It looks like there is a whole separate channel that goes all the way from the ear up to the brain that is specialized to process sound offsets,” Mr. Wehr said. The two channels finally come together in a brain region called the auditory cortex, situated in the temporal lobe.

The research team also noted that responses to the end of a sound involved different frequency tuning, duration and amplitude than those involved in processing the start of a sound, findings that agree with a trend cited in at least three other studies in the last decade.

It became clear with the findings that one set of synapses responded “very strongly at the onset of sounds,” but a different set of synapses responded to the sudden disappearance of sounds. There was no overlap of the two responding sets, the researchers noted. The end of one sound did not affect the response to a new sound, thus reinforcing the idea of separate processing channels.

“Being able to perceive when sound stops is very important for speech processing,” Mr. Wehr said. “One of the really hard problems in speech is finding the boundaries between the different parts of words. It is really not well understood how the brain does that.”

As an example, he noted the difficulty some people have when they are at a noisy cocktail party and are trying to follow one conversation amid competing background noises. “We think that we’ve discovered brain mechanisms that are important in finding the necessary boundaries between words that help to allow for successful speech recognition and hearing,” he said.

Mandy-Hale-Silence-QuotesThe research conducted aimed to provide a general understanding of how areas of the brain function. These findings could also prove useful in working with children who have deficits in speech and learning, as well as in the design of hearing aids and cochlear implants. He also noted that people with dyslexia have problems defining the boundaries of sounds in speech, and tapping these processing areas in therapy could boost reading skills.

In the course of developing the human capacity, movement and noise require a cease and desist button for either of them to matter in the first place. In spite of the brain’s 24/7 processes, most of them we actually only experience, not hear. Thus the point of silence — it is the definition of a fulfilled experience that personalizes what otherwise would be lost in the noise.

ESNP Podcast 11: School…Stress…Shutdown

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State Testing, Tuesday Morning

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The small independent all-girls middle school in New York City bustles with activity at 8 am on a Tuesday morning in April. I am immediately greeted, “Good Morning…”Hi”…when I walk into the building.  It is the first day of the EnglELA_test_for_web_t670ish-Language Arts New York State Test–a day that has been kept in the back of students’ minds since September. The girls bustle about in their homerooms turning in homework, gathering books and pencils, highlighters and water bottles. Anything within reason that will help them sit anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours and 15 minutes answering questions about topics that bear very little relevance in their lives.

8:20: “I got chills, they’re multiplying, and I’m losing control, ‘Cause the power, you’re supplying, it’s electrifying! You better shape up, ’cause I need a man. And my heart is set on you. You better shape up; you better understand to my heart I must be true. Nothing left, nothing left for me to do. You’re the one that I want; you are the one I want, Oo, Oo, Oo honey! You’re the one that I want; you are the one I want Oo, Oo, Oo honey! You’re the one that I want; you are the one I want, Oo, Oo, Oo, the one that I need; oh yes indeed!” plays on speakers throughout the school signaling it is time for assembly–a 15 minute period that offers a chance for the entire school to come together as one, offering inspiring words, making announcements, taking attendance and closing with a prayer. The girls file out of their homerooms giggling, talking, sharing stories while streaming into the assembly room. Yellow walls, painted with inspirational quotes from the school’s namesake adorn two of the walls. The third wall houses statistics on dark blue plaques highlighting the success of the school’s girls.

as56318:23: The girls sit down in orderly fashion by grade level. The staff file in as well and sit on benches around the perimeter. Assembly begins. 4 girls get up in the front and begin to sing, “Let it Show, Let it Shooow, Let it Show!” followed by other witty lyrics referring to their ability

to succeed and do well on the upcoming tests. Overtime the chorus begins. Both staff and students start singing along and arch their right, then left arms in the air. After a giant applause, the girls return to their seats.

8:27 The principal says, Attendance.” Two sixth graders, begin “Good Morning to the staff and students. “Good Morning…and proceed to greet every staff–much to my surprise I am included, despite the fact that this is my first time in assembly in years. After staff, all 80 girls are greeted by name.  This is followed by announcements. Teachers raise their hand and are called on by the principal. They announce the beginning of track practice and the start of baseball season. They are reminded they need permission slips to start either. They are reminded there was no homework club. After announcements, the principal moves the assembly along to prayer, “It’s time for prayer,”

8:30: A teacher stands at the front of assembly room and says, “Congratulations!” She pauses briefly before continuing,  “you’re probably wondering, why I am telling you congratulations. Well, yesterday when I was thinking about prayer, I remembered when I was in the 7th grade, and my teacher came up to me before my tests and told me Congratulations. I looked at him confused; I hadn’t yet picked up a pencil to start and was actually worried I may have spelled my name wrong because I was so nervous about the test. What had I done to deserve a congratulations? He then tells me, you have done all the hard work. You were doing the hard work back in September, and on through November and into January. You continued the hard work through the early months of the new year and now here you are. Ready. You just need to show what you know. You’ve done all the hard work–Congratulations.” She paused again and finished her prayer, “Congratulations.”

8:32: The girls file out of the assembly room, giggling, talking, sharing stories while settling into lines by grade outside of their classrooms. Chatter continues, until a teacher stands in front of the two groups, “I know you all know how you need to be acting right now; you do this every morning. Once you are in line you need to be quiet so you can hear the directions.” The sixth graders quiet down and walk into their rooms to await the directions for test day one. Their teacher proceeds to read directions and in a semi-silly semi-serious voice lists all of the electronic and electronic related devices they are not allowed to have. This is followed by him passing out answer sheets, test booklets and reading more directions. I have been leaning against the doorframe observing this scene amused and impressed. It is a few minutes before a major test, and these girls are smiling and calm.

8:42: I step fully into the sixth grade classroom, before he reads the final set of directions, I interrupt, “Excuse me Mr. S, I need Julie, Maria, Ellie, Joy, and Catherine.”  The girls get out of their seats and line up armed with water bottles, sticks of gum and a granola

joybar–testing fuel. They are all entitled to take the test in a separate environment with limited students, distractions and receive extra time. Some of the girls who are staying give final “good lucks” as we walk out the door and down the stairs.

Two hours and 30 minutes later, I walk out feeling happy and light thinking about the woman who started it all over 20 years before; her spirit, her joy, her laughter live on. I turn right onto First Avenue and into the warm spring New York sunshine.

ESNP Podcast 10: At 12:30 PM

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The Burned Out State of Mind

Mind Matters, , , , , , ,

Let’s say you watch a movie in a theater where the protagonist is caught in what we would consider an abusive situation. Specifically, the hero is required to work through two situations: one bad, the other worse. Neither situation is a choice that will make the hero better, however there doesn’t seem to be any immediate relief aside from choosing between the two options. Because neither situation is optimal, our hero chooses the the lesser evil and proceeds to believe it’s the only option. The constant exposure to an abusive situation leads to his resignation of his fate, an uncaring despot, until the climax of the movie saves the day.

burn out

Ultimately our lives are far less condensed in drama, however the phenomenon of burnout  is more common in our modern lives than we recognize or give it credit for.

The term ‘burnout’ was initiated in the United States about 35 years ago. The psychoanalyst Freudenberger, for example, published one of the first scientific descriptions of the burnout syndrome as psychiatric and physical breakdown. According to one of the first more extensive characterizations by Susan E. Jackson  and  Christina Maslach, burnout is the result of chronic stress (at the workplace) which has not been successfully dealt with. It is characterized by exhaustion and depersonalization (negativism/cynicism) and is found predominantly in caring and social professions (e.g. social workers, teachers, nurses, doctors, dentists). A later definition based on the MBI and which is in widespread use today, describes exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced satisfaction in performance as the decisive elements of burnout syndrome.

Contrary to earlier observations regarding the epidemiology of burnout, it has been noted that the syndrome is not associated with certain workplaces, circumstances, sex or age. The occurrence of burnout syndrome has been described in diverse occupations, e.g. in social workers, advisors, teachers, nurses, laboratory workers, speech therapists, ergo therapists, doctors and dentists, police and prison officers, stewardesses, managers, and even in housewives, students and unemployed people. Psychological explanations assume that in most of these occupations the combination of caring, advising, healing or protecting, coupled with the demands of showing that one cares, is of central importance.

In the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10) the term ‘burnout’ was described in Problems related to life management difficulty under Z.73.0 as ‘Burnout-state of total exhaustion‘. In addition to the question of a uniform, generally accepted definition, etiological and pathogenetic aspects are the subjects of much controversy. It is generally believed today that ‘negative stress’ (distress) probably represents a key phenomenon in the etiopathogenesis of burnout. Other important pathogenetic factors are thought to be ‘being swamped by daily routine’ and ‘disappointed expectations’. Most of the theories and models for the development of burnout syndrome are published in the psychological, psychosomatic and psychiatric literature.

Burnout - Concept for Business

 A. Weber and A. Jaekel-Reinhard discuss in their paper on burnout that depending on the duration and severity of the burnout, there are often further negative social consequences. These include, from the point of view of the individual, withdrawal at the workplace (so called ‘inner resignation’) or effects on private life (partner/ sexual problems, social isolation). From the perspective of society, there is an increased risk of repeated or long periods of absence from work and early invalidity.

The Burnout Phenomenon is so prevalent that it has warranted its own branch of research. This research is being carried out in many countries around the world, so it is clear that burnout has global significance. Recently, there has been a growing interest in developing interventions to reduce burnout, from government agencies and organizations in both the public and private sectors. Without a doubt, burnout poses a major challenge for society. Given the ongoing importance of the burnout phenomenon, and the rising interest in making real progress in alleviating it, there is a need for a primary venue for the many research contributions being made.

To highlight further importance on the alarming rates of burnout, the scientific community came together in April 2015 and created the Burnout Research Journal. This is a peer-reviewed international journal aimed at presenting basic, translational and clinical high-quality research related to the phenomenon of burnout. As the first journal dedicated to understanding the causes of burnout and potential solutions to the problem, Burnout Research welcomes original research articles, review articles, case reports, and opinion pieces. The goal of the journal is to publish the top research in three major areas: Cutting-edge research that lays out new directions for the burnout field, including new research paradigms and measures, new theoretical models, and new collaborations between researchers and practitioners. Critical reviews that provide comprehensive and integrative analyses of key themes (such as cultural or occupational differences in burnout), or meta-analyses of major datasets. Translational research studies that assess promising interventions for preventing burnout and building engagement.

Burnout-cc-LINS1From an educational perspective, the days when academia was a low-stress working environment are over, with “burnout” levels now comparable with those in other service sectors, according to a 2011 study, “Burnout in university teaching staff: a systematic literature review.”  This study was published in the journal Educational Research and was led by Noelle Robertson, senior lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Leicester, and a master’s student there, Jenny Watts. The researchers, who describe their work as the first survey of the extent of burnout among full-time, non-medical university teaching staff, report that younger staff appeared more vulnerable, suffering from greater “emotional exhaustion.”

The analysis is based on 12 peer-reviewed studies in the United States, Britain, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands,  and likens levels of burnout among those who teach in higher education to those of schoolteachers and health professionals. The authors also attempt to pinpoint the key factors that push some academics into a state characterized by “the depletion of emotional reserves (emotional exhaustion), an increasingly cynical and negative approach towards others (depersonalization) and a growing feeling of work-related dissatisfaction.”

These results could also be because younger staff have more contact with students, but also because more experienced colleagues have developed better coping strategies.Gender seemed to have most impact on the way burnout revealed itself, the study suggests. Male lecturers typically had higher depersonalization scores, for example, while their female peers tended to suffer more emotional exhaustion.This probably reflected, the authors suggest, the draining effect on women who were having to “juggle multiple roles at work and at home,” on the one hand, and their reluctance to adopt “a distant, indifferent professional persona” on the other.

The research indicated that “staff exposure to high numbers of students, especially tuition of postgraduates, strongly predicts the experience of burnout.” However, they suggest that lecturers with qualities that might make them particularly suited to the job suffered more than their less engaged colleagues. The quality of “openness” may “make appealing tutors, encouraging greater interaction with students,” but it also appeared to “predispose teachers to burnout,” the paper says.

In a separate analysis of professional burnout among professors in the United States, a Texas Woman’s University Ph.D. candidate found tenure track professors had more significant symptoms of workplace frustration than their tenured and non-tenure track faculty counterparts.

Janie Crosmer, who conducted the survey of more than 400 full-time faculty across the U.S. in December 2008, said she was unsurprised that the high stresses of pursuing academia’s most coveted status led to burnout. She utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory in her survey, which measures burnout in three categories. A faculty survey found professors, on average, fell within the average burnout range. See the Inventory Table Results Below:

Emotional Exhaustion (Range 0-54)Teacher-Burnout
• < 13: Low Degree of Burnout
• 14-23: Average Degree of Burnout
• > 24: High Degree of Burnout
• Full Faculty Survey Sample: 20.1

Depersonalization (Range 0-30)
• < 2: Low Degree of Burnout
• 3-8: Average degree of burnout
• > 9: High Degree of Burnout
• Full Faculty Survey Sample: 6.3

Personal Accomplishment (Range 0-48)
• > 43: Low Degree of Burnout
• 36-42: Average Degree of Burnout
• < 35: High Degree of Burnout
• Full Faculty Survey: 35.99

Crosmer said she was struck by the candor and, at times, negativity manifested in faculty comments. Professors complained about massive red tape, inflexible mandates for holding office hours, low morale, health concerns and insufficient travel funds. And while Crosmer would still like to land a faculty position in the future, she was disheartened by what she heard.

“By reading that, you were [thinking] do I really want to teach ever? Some of the comments were, oh my goodness.”

As with just about any industry, professors also said they felt they should earn more money. One respondent opined, “We are the most highly educated people in the country and among the worst paid.”

 

Attention (is to Thinking) and Sustenance

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Stop. Listen to a song, podcast or have a conversation with a friend—for 30 seconds. That is about the length of time a child with severe attention issues is able to focus on any given piece of information coming from one sensory source at any given moment. Regardless of whether the time felt long or short, children today are required to not only pay attention, but pay_attentioncomprehend and take notes on the important information being delivered through a primarily one-dimensional sensory source for at least 5 minutes, but many times 20 or 30 minutes at a time.

Sustained attention is the ability to direct ones attention to a specified source without losing focus despite potential distractors. Children and adults greatly struggle with sustained attention today; the environment no longer demands it and, in many instances reinforces, the opposite. From the 10-second news clips, to the demands on attention from multiple sources ranging from text messages, to email, to the never-ending checklist of tasks needing to be completed. The length one is expected to pay attention has significantly decreased in the digital age of instantaneous communication and access to information. However this change has not only affected the world of adults and adult occupations. It has infested itself down to the youngest of children. Dr. Straub discusses what Dr. Dimitri Christakis found in a Baby Einstein episode “A Day on the Farm”, seven scene changes occurred in a 20 second period of time compared to no scene changes in a clip of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. Taken one step-further, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was the only show that had no impact on children’s attention span later in school when compared to children who watched no TV. Dr. Straub theorizes this is because the show was designed to increase attention span by requiring the sole focus to be on one person. Other television series, including Baby Einstein and Sesame Street had a negative impact on attention spans in school-aged children. The theory behind this is known as the overstimulation hypothesis, which states, “That is, prolonged exposure to rapid image changes during a child’s critical period of brain development preconditions their mind to expect high levels of stimulation, which leads to inattention in later life.” While pediatricians and child development experts dissuade children from being exposed to television, computers, etc., these changing demands on attention can be found in other modalities. Toys that light up, blink, play songs, talk, move all at the push of various buttons are not effectively aiding children in improving his/her sensory processing, but rather decreasing his/her ability to focus on any given stimulus sources for more than 30 seconds. This short snippet of required attention is reinforced throughout a child’s early development.

Then school happens. Children are suddenly required to pay attention for 5-15 minutes with major distractors—wiggly bodies, children and adults talking, chairs being pulled out and pushed in, etc. If these same children have been exposed to children’s so called educational programs, smartphones, electronic toys, they have essentially been set-up to fail. Their muscle for sustained attention has not be developed and it has little if anything to do with ADHD; the pace of learning is simply too slow. Their brains have been wired to expect and therefore perform in a near opposite way for the first 5 years of their life; therefore, like most new tasks, one needs to practice in order to become successful. Children today, need practice at sustaining their attention. Oftentimes these students with weakened sustained attention are automatically labeled and sometimes mislabeled as having Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); however according to Dr. C. Thomas Gualtieri, et al “ADHD is not simply a disorder of sustained attention. Indeed, impairment in sustained attention is common to a certain extent to all children with psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychological studies of ADHD children and adults reveal subtle but clear impairments in ???????????????????????????????????????several complex functional systems: Selective attention memory; reaction time and information processing speed; motor speed and visuomotor ability; and executive control functions, like set-shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory.” Therefore, since one can have sustained attention weakness without having ADHD; it is essential for educators to be well-versed in understanding executive function skills as well as the vast array of researched and identified disorders that emerge during childhood. Quick fixes such as medication may not always be the best answer, especially if the cause is has been wrongly concluded.

Before wrongly labeling every attention-deficient student, steps to strengthen the sustained attention muscle are critical. One way to effectively do this is to incorporate state changes intentionally throughout the lessons in order to allow students to set-shift before becoming disengaged with the material because the content is being presented without a scene change and/or utilizing only one sense. State changes for all intensive purposes provide that ‘scene change’ the brain has become programmed to expect. Attention spans for elementary aged students range anywhere from 4 to 6 minutes; mini lessons are targeted at 5 minutes; however can easily go up to 15 or more. These numbers are based on what is average or typical; therefore there will be students whose sustained attention can barely make it to 3 minutes. Steve Roninette defines state changes as, “continually switching the sensory focus from visual to auditory to body kinesthetic and back again. This keeps students’ attention and gives them the opportunity to learn more as they tap into all their senses.” State changes come in a variety of forms and can become integrated into the lesson to enhance a particular point. They can be kinesthetic in nature and unrelated to any lesson, in which case it’s best to use them between lessons. Examples include: Brain Gym Activities, simple yoga poses, wiggle or dance breaks. Dr. Gerard Evanski explains the scientific reason behind the necessity and effectiveness of state changes, “The human brain does not store energy. The brain needs a constant blood supply, which brings it oxygen and nutrients. Dr. David Sousa has said that blood tends to pool in “our feet and our seat” when we sit for too long. Many of my state changes for students are designed to also energize them, and get their blood full of oxygen and flowing to the brain.” While kinesthetic state changes may be the most energizing, they are not the only option. State changes can also be verbal or auditory and related to the content, and therefore should be incorporated into the lesson right before students typically tune out. Examples include: turn and talks, think, pair, share, or any form of verbal/auditory recap of the lesson content. State changes can also be more passive and simply change the way information is being presented to students. For example, showing a video to reinforce the topic that was just presented.

In addition to state changes, increasing sustained attention through sustaining attention is another way. Meditation or attending to guided imagery exercises offer a non-academic way to increase sustained attention while also decreasing the cortisol release and overall levels of stress. A study conducted by Dr. Stephani Sutherland at University of Southern California, found that mindfulness training and continued practice improved sustained attention when compared to no interventchildrenion or the practice of physical relaxation, whereas there was no difference between the two groups when measuring changes in concentration and inhibition of distraction. This shows that simple and easy to use interventions can be utilized in the classroom to target and increase student’s sustained attention.

Overall, the demands placed on people in the twenty-first century significantly inhibit our ability to pay attention for long periods of time; however, the very system that educates our children and many occupations in which those same children enter demand just the opposite—an ability to focus for a duration of time and internalize information despite distractors. Until one or the other changes. It is crucial to build in opportunities to help strengthen weakened or never developed abilities to attend. Most children simply cannot come to school ready-made with a skill that is not only not expected of them or naturally reinforced in their environment, but the exact opposite skill is being applied on a daily basis. If training and teaching does not occur for children during their school-day, like many other shifts in the field of education, this will be one more that sets up children for failure instead of success.

ESNP Podcast 9: Really Siri(us) Consciousness

Learning’s Many Costs, First Quarter 2015 Edition

Brain Bits, , , , , , , , , ,

Flipping channels, Dr. Phil comes onto the main screen and has a mother and daughter in opposite angles to him. The problems seemed to be typical psychological, reality-show formula: mom is overprotective of her teenage daughter, teenage daughter ‘rebels’ and begins a long distance relationship with a man 10 years her senior (who also happens to be a drug dealer still serving time), and the conflicts between them become unbearable. Dr. Phil in his infinite wisdom brought out his objectivity to the mother, and then to the daughter. It is however the explanation to the daughter that resonates with her: “Now remember, it is the Neocortex that develops last in the brain, and that means right now, you’re not able yet to have complete insight to all of the consequences of your actions. This is why you would need guidance with some of your decisions, including starting a relationship with a currently jailed drug dealer.”

Most of us have a familiarity with family drama played out on television.  Whether the purpose is to entertain or to educate, the family’s dysfunctional dynamic from one to the next seem to be rooted deep into social, educational and economic factors. How then is the brain development affected? Is Dr. Phil’s approach by combining the brain science with family dynamics warranted?

money-house

In the early online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience (March 30, 2015), investigators from nine universities across the country reports correlative links between family income and brain structure. Relationships between the brain and family income were strongest in the lowest end of the economic range, thus suggesting that interventional policies aimed at these children may have the largest societal impact. The study, led by researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Columbia University Medical Center.

In the largest study of its kind to date, the researchers looked at 1,099 typically developing individuals between the ages of 3 and 20 years as part of the multi-site Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics (PING) study. Associations between socioeconomic factors (including parent education and family income) and measurements of surface area of the brain were drawn from demographic and developmental history questionnaires, as well as high-resolution brain MRIs. Statistics (controlled for education, age and genetic ancestry)  showed that income was nonlinearly associated with brain surface area, and that income was more strongly associated with the brain than was parental educational attainment.

First author Kimberly G. Noble, MD, PhD says, “Specifically, among children from the lowest-income families, small differences in income were associated with relatively large differences in surface area in a number of regions of the brain associated with skills important for academic success. ” Dr. Noble is an assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the Neurocognition, Early Experience and Development (NEED) Lab of Columbia University Medical Center. She is also an associate professor of Neuroscience and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Conversely, among children from higher-income families, incremental increases in income level were associated with much smaller differences in surface area. Higher income was also associated with better performance in certain cognitive skills; cognitive differences that could be accounted for by greater brain surface area.

“While in no way implying that a child’s socioeconomic circumstances lead to immutable changes in brain development or cognition, our data suggest that wider access to resources likely afforded by the more affluent may lead to differences in a child’s brain structure,” said Elizabeth Sowell, PhD, director of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, part of the Institute for the Developing Mind at CHLA.  “Family income is linked to factors such as nutrition, health care, schools, play areas and, sometimes, air quality,” added Dr. Sowell, indicating that everything going on in the environment shapes the developing brain. “Future research may address the question of whether changing a child’s environment — for instance, through social policies aimed at reducing family poverty — could change the trajectory of brain development and cognition for the better.”

From the socio-economic factors, we take a look at socio-psychological factors, some of which affect our ability to create meaningful connections. A recent study from the University of Georgia shows differences in brain structure according to how trusting people are of others.

The team of researchers used two measures to determine the trust levels of 82 study participants. The participants filled out TRUSTING CHILDa self-reported questionnaire about their tendency to trust others. They also were shown pictures of faces with neutral facial expressions, and were asked to evaluate how trustworthy they found each person in the picture. This gave researchers a metric, on a spectrum, of how trusting each participant was of others.

Researchers then took MRI scans of the participants’ brains to determine how brain structure is associated with the tendency to be more trusting of others. What researchers found were differences in two areas of the brain.

“The most important finding was that the grey matter volume was greater in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex, which is the brain region that serves to evaluate social rewards, in people that tended to be more trusting of others,” said the study’s lead author Brian Haas, an assistant professor in the department of psychology.

“Another finding that we observed was for a brain region called the amygdala. The volume of this area of the brain, which codes for emotional saliency, was greater in those that were both most trusting and least trusting of others. If something is emotionally important to us, the amygdala helps us code and remember it.”

The long term hope for the research may have implications for future treatments of psychological conditions such as autism. Future studies may focus on how, and if, trust can be improved and whether the brain is malleable according to the type of communication someone has with another. “There are conditions, like autism, that are characterized by deficits in being able to process the world socially, one of which is the ability to trust people,” Dr. Haas said. “Here we have converging evidence that these brain regions are important for trust; and if we can understand how these differences relate to specific social processes, then we may be able to develop more targeted treatment techniques for people who have deficits in social cognition.”

So what can we do as a community with fragile families who have young children in such a fast-paced, competitive, and digitally plugged world? Begin the developmental awareness young for a firmer foundation with research-backed programs.

Supporting this is new research from UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) revealing high-quality early education is especially advantageous for children when they start younger and continue longer. Not only does more high-quality early education significantly boost the language skills of children from low-income families, children whose first language is not English benefit even more.

“These findings show that more high-quality early education and care can narrow the achievement gap before children reach kindergarten,” said Noreen M. Yazejian, principal investigator of FPG’s Educare Learning Network Implementation Study. “Children from low-income families can improve their standing relative to their middle class peers.”

Ms. Yazejian said previous research has shown language skills are most malleable for children before age 4, which in large part explains high-quality early education’s powerful effects. Her study examined children’s receptive language skills–the ability to hear and understand words–because these particular skills are an excellent predictor of later academic success.

According to Yazejian, Educare classrooms offered the chance to study children enrolled in high-quality early education and care from the earliest ages. Educare is an enhanced Early Head Start and Head Start program for low-income, high-needs children from 6 weeks old until entry into kindergarten. The model has been replicated in 20 schools nationwide over the last 15 years.

“Educare’s comprehensive approach to early childhood education aims to level the playing field for children living in poverty,” said Portia Kennel, executive director of the Educare Learning Network. “This new study confirms that we need to include the earliest years of life as part of our nation’s education system. Quality early education prepares vulnerable children for success by preventing the achievement gap that appears long before kindergarten.”

Many people traditionally have viewed early care for infants primarily as a support for mothers who want to work and not as an essential component of early schooling. However, findings from the FPG study add to a growing body of research revealing better outcomes for children from low-income families who start high-quality education earlier and stay in it longer.

Earlier research has shown the English language skills that dual-language learners develop prior to kindergarten can predict educational achievement through eighth grade, but keeping skills in the home language also is beneficial. Home language skills are related to long-term social, emotional, cognitive, and academic outcomes.

“Most dual-language learners in this study were in classrooms where English was the primary instructional language but in which one staff member could use their home language as needed to support learning,” Ms. Yazejian explained. “It’s not surprising our findings show they quickly acquired skills in English. That’s why it’s reassuring that our study found that the acquisition of English language skills in Educare classrooms does not come at the expense of Spanish skills.”

The number of young children who speak a language other than English at home is growing, and this study contributes valuable new information to the field. “It’s encouraging to see that dual-language learners are making strides that form the critical foundation for later learning,” according to Ms. Kennel.

Ms.Yazejian encourages the thinking that more than one year of high quality early care and education brings greater benefits for children. “The differences we found in this study, extrapolated to thousands of children–especially dual-language learners–could add up to lasting effects and lower public education costs.”

cropped_77388_Royalty_Free_RF_Clipart_Illustration_Of_A_Diverse_Group_Of_Children_Spelling_The_Word_Preschool1

ESNP Podcast 8: User-Friendly Interpretation on Sensory Processing Science and The Learner’s Consciousness: Part Two

True Stories: At 12:30 PM

True Stories, , ,

This is the start of a new section in our writing…we want to share what we have found in our professional travels to be poignant, humorous, or strange. Others may just be plain appalling or sad, however whatever the case may be, they are share-worthy.

This piece we will call “At 12:30 PM.”   Under control

Second grade students walk four flights of stairs from recess to get to their floor. Their classroom is two double-doors down from the 4th floor entrance; I stand waiting by their doorway. I hear familiar chatter, and one distinct voice screaming, “But, but, but HE PUSHED ME.”  I shake my head, it’s a boy we will call Jack.  Jack is in a room with two teachers, an Integrated Co-Teaching setting. One of them, who we shall call Ms. Sophia, says to Jack, ” Would you stop touching him! I don’t want to hear it!” Jack of course pleads and begs for her to hear him but she proceeds to the front of the line and signals the class to start rolling into the classroom. All 26 of them are here today, present, chatty from lunch and recess, and are not looking forward to ELA (English Language Arts).

“HUUUUMPHHHHH! ” Jack cried. ” He wrinkled his forehead and stomped into the classroom. He folded his arms and then walked toward Liam, and without cause, pushed his back. “HUUUUUUMPPHHHH!”

“What is your deal?” Liam screamed and then pushed him back. I stood up from my chair where I had begun to work with Madelyn as I was anticipating a mini brawl. “JACK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Miss Sophia shrieked as she was heading toward his direction. At this point I had reached Liam and held him in a bear hug, whispering, “Let it go, buddy, let it go, ” over and over till I could feel his body calm down.

It was 12:40 PM; I glanced at the clock. Before Miss Sophia could reach Jack, he had stomped and marched to another student, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! HUMMMPHHHH!” This time, he pushed Madison, a girl who was no-nonsense and potentially able to take him herself if she had the opportunity. Madison didn’t say anything and instead, stood where she was, turned around and pushed him back with all her might.

“STOP! Oh my God! Madison you know better. You can’t follow what Jack does.”

“But he did it first. I was just standing there.”

The classroom paraprofessional, Miss Harper, at this time had overheard the ruckus and came over to Madison, “What’s the matter, huh? Go calm down. You know better. Here’s your paper. Have a seat.”

At this point, I had walked Liam to his chair, and he was calm, focused and ready to begin the ELA work. I glanced at the time, 12:46 PM. Sigh. This class has rough transitions up from lunch almost everyday; wish there was more that could be done to get them calm enough to settle in… As I was thinking these thoughts, I walked back to my seat by Madelyn. She had begun to make sense of her writing sheets, which were spread all over her shared desk.

“YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT! You never keep what you say! ” and with that scream I looked up and saw pencils flying from outside the door into  the classroom. That was Luke, another one of the students who came up later than the rest of the class, and who was accompanied by the other ICT teacher, Miss Mackenzie. “Luke, I don’t understand. What happened? We had a good talk downstairs, and I explained to you…”

“YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!” Luke waved his arms in the air emphatically, “I TOLD YOU I HAD AN EXTRA 5 MINUTES!! YOU TOLD ME THIS BEFORE I WENT TO RECESS!!”

“Hey, wait, calm down, I do listen to you, what do you mean I don’t listen to you…”

Luke decided to walk to his corner bookshelf and threw whiteboard markers that were lying on the floor. One of them hit his classmates leg, however it didn’t faze the classmate.  He simply kept on working on his ELA sheets as if nothing were happening in the room. The noise level at that point would be a 5 out of 10, fluctuating easily to an 8.

Miss Mackenzie bent down to where Luke was at, and proceeded to talk to him in a calm voice. His face appeared distraught and inconsolable, however no tears flowed. He walked up and out of the corner and ran out of the room; Miss Mackenzie immediately ran after him.

“Aria why are you up? Did I not tell you to stay in your seat? This is independent work!”

“But Miss Sophia, he’s bothering me!!! I told him to stop and he won’t!!”

Miss Sophia, mind you, was unable to mobilize herself momentarily as she was ensuring that Jack was sitting at his desk working. The only way this could be accomplished was for her to sit beside him, for at least 15 minutes. Aria continued to scream at the classmate who was bothering her and then, tears started flowing her face, “I HAVE NO FRIENDS!!!”

My eyes locked Miss Sophia’s and she blurted, “Can you believe my life right now?” I sighed and attempted to refocus on working with Madelyn when Aria ran toward the desk we were working at, tears streaming down her face. When she was finally in front of me she said, between sobs, “When am I going to be on YOUR LIST??? I want you to pick me up!!”

Calmly I replied to her, “Aria it is not up to me. I don’t make the list, your school does. But tell you what, you can join us when we are done working on our packet.” Madelyn at this point was irritated that her writing time has been interrupted, and that she even had to write in the first place. Miss Harper, who had been working with a different group of students, called out to Aria from where she was sitting, ” ARIA, ARE YOU SERIOUS? Wipe those tears and get over here! Don’t bother them; they’re working and so should you. Where is your packet?”

I looked up, 1 PM. It was time for me to move on to the next classroom. Another day in the second grade room of 12:30 PM.

'Your classroom management techniques work in practice but not in theory. That worries me.'

ESNP Podcast 7: User-Friendly Interpretation on Sensory Processing Science and The Learner’s Consciousness: Part One

You. Don’t. Know…

Mind Matters, , , , , , ,

It is 7:30 a.m.; you’re in your classroom, preparing the materials for the day. The classroom is quiet except for the music in the background–it’s become a routine you started a few weeks back to ground you in the day. No one ever told you teaching would be THIS hard. How does time pass by simultaneously both lightening speed and a snail’s pace? It’s your sixth week of teaching already. You glance up at the clock 7:32. Relief sweeps over you! 28 more minutes until students arrive enough time to finish what stockistockstresshelpchalkboardphotojuly2012youneed to do. You print out your lesson plans and the lay out the work for the morning periods. Another grounding staple of your day, now you know exactly what you planned to say and can see everything you planned to give. Your mind shifts to your students; will she be here today? She’s your most challenging student; feedback flashes through your mind, “Just ignore the behavior; its attention seeking.” “You’re too cold in the classroom; she’s reacting to that.” “She doesn’t like change, and you’re a new teacher.” you for her out of control behavior. What’s the right answer? None of this feedback feels reflective of your experience with this student. You’re at a loss as to what you should do. A part of you wills her to be absent today. 8:00, students walk in right on cue. You look up from the computer and see her with a big smile walk in. You remind yourself to breathe.

You don’t know what you don’t know. This idea feels almost like a theme in the field of education, administrators and educators alike–new educators in particular. It seems that the idea of not knowing or being told you don’t know is often received defensively as an offense. When in fact, it is actually more akin to a free pass for commonly made mistakes or assumptions–on made by teachers and administrators–and an invitation to learn. However, the willingness to learn means admitting to not knowing or worse: imperfection. Yet this ability to stand back and look with a critical and personal lens at the breadth of knowledge possessed and honestly admit that gaping holes exist does not come easily to many. Perhaps, because this exercise in humility requires both metacognition and mindfulness.

Metacognition according to Dr. Richard Guare and Dr. Peg Dawson is “the ability to take a birds eye view of oneself in a situation. It is the ability to observe how you problem solve. It also includes self-monitoring and self-evaluative skills  (e.g. asking: “How am I doing?” or “How did I do?”)  In order to fully be able to accept, acknowledge and understand that mind-fullyou don’t know what you don’t know you need to be able to step outside of yourself and view that self from a different perspective, yet also be able to be aware of yourself in each moment. Enter mindfulness. Dr. John Kabot-Zinn states, “mindfulness means

maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. In order to participate in these states of being, one needs intentionality, practice and an honest self-view, which is easier said than done, especially within institutions in which normed rolls have been established.

Learning, empathy and change cannot take place when conversations are entered into with established or implied hierarchical relationships, for example, the teacher and the learner. While exceptions exist, many institutions of education have an established dichotomy of superiors and inferiors. These can found throughout the school in different capacities. Yet, rather than promote an environment for learning by sharing knowledge and openly celebrating strengths and finding others to support weaknesses; a fake it until you make it attitude emerges, defenses are on high-alert and learning fails to take place.

Imagine how a conversation between an educator and administrator would go if both parties came to the table, coming clean about their knowledge gap.

The administrator would have to own up to the fact that she has very little knowledge about what happens on a daily basis in the classroom that may be enhancing or inhibiting classroom learning. A new educator may need to admit to not knowing the difference between off-task behaviors because a child is bored versus one who simply doesn’t understand. The point is both parties would be entering into a conversation with an honest self-view and the intention to truly listen and learn from the other.

Quotation-Thomas-Gray-wise-ignorance-Meetville-Quotes-50879

This begins by admitting that you don’t know what you don’t know. People are imperfect, make mistakes, react to situations without thinking and often times hold others responsible for events they had just as much stake in. Inevitably it is easier to stay on the surface of one’s thinking, examine others but never oneself with a critical lens and turn off an awareness to oneself and the environment in which he is in. If this were not the case, “Ignorance is bliss,” would never have been excavated from Thomas Gray’s poem, “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,’ written in 1742 and still commonly used today.

However, through that course of thinking, much is lost: personal growth, human connection and most importantly systemic change. So stop and think. Step outside of your mind so often on autopilot. What do you see? Ask yourself, “How am I doing today?” Do not leave this answer constrained to the cursory “good” or “fine” or related to your job. Dig deep and ask yourself, “How. Am. I. Doing. Today?” Stop.

This time, don’t think. Feel. Let your body become fully aware of the sights, sounds, and smells, physical sensations that currently surround you know. Ask yourself again, “How am I doing today?” Stay outside of your mind. Breathe. Slowly. In and out. Again. In and out. Again, in and out.

Now ask yourself, “How did I do today? Could I have done better?”

What don’t you know, that you don’t know? Imagine the possibilities if you did.

 

When the Mind is Confronted with the Hardest Yes and the Easiest No

Mind Matters, , ,

There is probably no parent in the world who tells their child not to follow their dreams. The encouragement given by a parent, as well as their approval, is what drives ambition and focus on young children even in parallel play and pretend play: occupational, dress-up games, role-playing games, and imaginary games,

Pre-School turns into School-Age and the dreams solidify into academics, socialization, and homework. Further on, there are co-curricular activities, and suddenly, more opportunities open to the maturing child. What once they thought they wanted to become and do from earlier years they may no longer want to become…from a doctor to a teacher, from a lawyer to a police offices, from an engineer to a musician.

And then there’s the climb to high school’s challenges — hormones, peers, carving of age-appropriate, stubborn independence leading to a power struggle. The senior year in itself ages a family unit by decades with these options to decide on: College? Scholarships? Hiatus? Travel?

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What had begun as a sweet, idealized bonding moment picture of what the future was going to look like between a parent and a young child transforms into momenta stressors that sometimes families never recover from. Children become estranged either physically or emotionally from parents whose messages to them can either be too strongly delivered, or the exact opposite, too softly said.

And thus the parent-child dynamic evolves from a hurricane of dreams, responsibilities, and cultures. The Parental Mind is lent to the child and never lets go, unfortunately for the child. How many of us hear our parents’ positive and negative voices in our heads? That is their endowment to their children, apart from genetics and biology. Temperament in children are based off of the endowment, the complete package from the home that they subconsciously bring with them.

The Children’s Mind starts off self-centered and then self-actualizing; first to survive and second, to be heard. There is a subtle difference in generational stages according to developmental psychology as everyone ages toward the same age, and roles are mostly dependent on the modern societies that surround the research studies (mainly civilizations that have broken into the digital age). Then their minds begin a diverse, cross-cultural adventure and begin experiments that an adult, parental mind would find objectionable and abhor to, albeit forgetting that they too had some intense experimentation in their heyday.

Whatever decisions the Children’s Mind stores in its memory bank are repeated over time; whether they were borrowed from the Parental Mind or made repelling it. Their ownership of the decision becomes owned by them and molds their identity firmly with every repetition. Sometimes, these repetitive decisions lead them to the expected, structured life after school — the 9-5 job, the car, the apartment and so on. Occasionally, these decisions catapult them to extraordinary directions, from zero to one-eighty simply by creating, reacting, doing what it is that drives them.

And there are those stuck in the middle of the two worlds. Parental Minds often label these states as lazy, discontented, underperforming, and the common underachieving the potential. Children’s Minds have the flexibility of potential and possibility however when the message from the overarching, stronger parental voice, the rigidity is easily adapted and the confusion is clear in work, play and with their personal relationships. Confusion can be released as violence, oftentimes it can be cyclothymic mood swings. Those of us outside this dual mindset can only interpret from the objectivity of a third-party: maybe it’s just the child’s nature to be reactive than proactive and they need to learn to control themselves. Period.Hard Yes and Easy No

As observers however, we too have as much responsibility as the Parental Mind to take care with what messages we tend to impart with our body language, our emotional responses, our words, and our unintended non-verbal insinuations. There is a tendency for judgment to be drawn in the sand line with our interactions with them, and no matter what the age the Child is, the mind remembers everything even when language has no access to the memory. We all have been there…a name, a place, an unsettling situation once experienced is brought up from years ago.  Suddenly, this transports us to the familiar pangs of what could only be described as an uncomfortable, painful embarrassment that feeling is still around. The point of aging and moving through the stages of development is mainly TO DEVELOP, however we seem to be masters of reaching back in repression due to our own Child’s Mind and repetition of formative (toxic or otherwise) decisions.

Part of the decision-making cycle from Parent to Child is the reminder of responsibility, often to the point of being afraid to create a life. Ever wondered why it is easier for some to switch careers cold turkey while it is paralyzing for others? Citing the experts, the preschool exposure to multiple failing situations and allowing children to emancipate themselves from such situations lead to resilience in the attitude toward failure. Parenting the parent by reminding them of how they were once children requires practice and a humility in declaring that they do not know  everything, and that is more than ok.

pgWhat of the Child to Parent Mind? That is the abyss. The Child’s Mind remind the Parental Mind of their accomplishments and their inadequacies. They show which of the previous two is driving the voice of the Parental Mind:  the overachiever or the Passing the Inadequacy Torch (AKA Live my dreams for me because you can). With just enough checked boxes in their driver’s seat, balancing the driving shifts is not just challenging. It can be plain impossible. Using the digital age as the backdrop of this scenario, the Parental Mind is also juggling with financial, marital and social expectations that have certain ceilings. Anything placed on top of that, a nuclear explosion from within will reverberate past the Children’s Mind —  to immediate communities and societies as far as the digital age can reach.

Only then is reflection and quiet made mandatory, in hindsight, instead of while there is time for the mind to shift consciousness when confronted with the hardest YES and the Easiest NO.

ESNP Podcast 6: You Need Education, Not Motivation

User-Friendly Interpretation on Sensory Processing Science and The Learner’s Consciousness: Part Two

Body Breakthroughs, , , , , , ,

In the previous article, we discussed the science behind sensory processing skills, the brain centers involved, and the signs and symptoms of the modulation disorders. We also mentioned that the most efficient ways to encourage development of these skills was through a sensory diet targeted toward executive function skills. In this article, we shall break down these skills and match them with the suggested sensory diets that will not only enhance but continue to decrease chances of modulation meltdowns and difficulties with comprehending the overall environment.

First however let us define what we mean by Sensory Diet in the first place.

The term “Sensory diet” was coined by Occupational therapist, Patricia Wilbarger (1984), and can be defined as a carefully designed, scheduled activity plan, that provides the sensory input a person’s nervous system needs to stay focused and organized throughout the day. Each sensory diet is specially designed to meet a child’s specific sensory needs. Wilbarger and Wilbarger (1991) developed the approach to provide the “just right” combination of sensory input to achieve and maintain optimal levels of arousal and performance in the nervous system. The ability to properly identify and respond appropriately to sensations can be enhanced by a proper sensory diet.

There are certain types of sensory activities that are similar to eating a “main course” and are very powerful and satisfying. The most powerful and longest lasting activities on the nervous system include deep pressure touch, joint compression or traction, movement, and heavy work (Wilbarger, 1995).

The Wilbarger Approaches target the seven senses based on a person’s defensiveness or modulation symptomatology. The difference in the Execu-Sensory Diet that we utilize is the focus on the preparation of the sensory system for cognitive input. What that means is the diet is meant to support the growth of Executive Function Skills, no matter what the age or the need for a surrogate Pre-Frontal assistance from an adult.

Here are the major sensory components and the executive function skills they target:

1. Therapeutic Massage – Response Inhibition, Sustained Attention

Acure-Organics-Body-Lotion-Calming-Lavender-and-Lotus-Flower-854049002040Therapeutic massage is utilized to improve the tactile and proprioceptive systems. We utilize this on four extremities in an orderly fashion, and is usually done in a proximal to distal motion to desensitize the sensory nerves and ultimately send messages to the brain that a particular arm and/or leg is being isolated and given feedback. Usually also during the therapeutic massage, relaxing oils or lotions such as lavender chamomile scents that are hypoallergenic and have thick consistencies help reduce the friction and improve the natural biological feedback.Therapeutic Massage stimulates Gamma-Amino Butyric acid (GABA) in the brain, which is responsible for the sense of well-being, calming the nervous system down.

Response Inhibition is the suppression of a person’s actions that are inappropriate in a given context and that interfere with goal-driven behavior. For example, it is one’s ability to control calling out, storming out of a classroom, or touching others or other people’s property. Sustained Attention, or vigilance, as it is more often called, refers to the state in which attention must be maintained over time. It would be listening and attending to a classroom lesson or mini lesson for at least 5 minutes even when there are distractions in the room.

Therapeutic massage supports the development of these two skills by giving the extremities the grounding force to be able to attend to the task and decrease impulsive responses because the brain is able to map out where the person is in space and can maneuver the environment appropriately depending on what the current demands are required of them.

2. Therapeutic Brushing – Emotional Control, Flexibility

Wilbarger brushTherapeutic Brushing is more famously associated with the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol that is commonly used for people with tactile defensiveness, and for Autism-like presentations of touch sensitivities. The Therapeutic Brushing we utilize however does use the Therapressure Brush that the WIlbarger Protocol uses, however it is similar to the Therapeutic Massage wherein it is done proximal to distal and only on four extremities in an orderly fashion; whatever arm or leg that was started on with the massage will also be the same arm/leg that will initiate the brushing as well. We strongly suggest that the brushing technique be performed ONLY AFTER the massage in order for the sensory nerves to “zero out”  and not be stimulated to a negative “high” to where the fight or flight status of the brain becomes activated. The purpose of the Therapeutic Brushing is to increase awareness centers and promotes Serotonin in the brain, which is the neurotransmitter that helps improve mood and social functioning.

Emotional Control is defined by Dr. Richard Guare and Dr. Peg Dawson as the ability to manage emotions to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior. People who struggle with emotional control tend to have angry outbursts or behavior outbursts such as destroying or throwing objects, aggression towards self or others, and threats to harm oneself. Flexibility on the other hand is the skill that is defined as the ability to adapt to new situations, improvise, and shift strategies to meet different types of challenges. For example, a child who may be expecting to see a movie at a particular time and would not be able to due to circumstances would be able to bounce back and restructure the day or be able to find a solution to the disappointing outcome in a more proactive manner.

Therapeutic brushing supports the development of Emotional Control and Flexibility mainly due to the release of Serotonin right after the GABA process from the Therapeutic Massage. The sense of well-being meeting the sense of mood stabilization, which includes digestion, appetite and overall memory in learning. Frustration tolerance improves with different situations and thinking processes are supported efficiently by the calming effects and mood stabilization brought about by Serotonin.

3. Joint Vibration – Metacognition, Working Memory, Organization

HOmemedics handheld massagerJoint Vibration is unique to the Execu-Sensory Diet because we utilize a battery operated 4-point massager which is gives out a medium vibration cycle to the major joints of the extremities, such as the shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers for the arm and the hip, knee, ankle and toes for the leg. As with the first two techniques, the extremity that was started on the first two will also be the extremity that will be utilized to initiate this technique. Of all of the techniques, this is the one that requires the most care; some people will react to the low-medium vibration as ticklish, while others will claim that it is painful and can incite fight, flight or freeze. Usually, however, the reason why this is the third step in the diet is because GABA and Serotonin have already been activated and the sensorimotor system is in ‘trust’ mode. This may not be true for students with extreme sensory processing deficits, thus training is essential for this particular modality.

The neurotransmitter that is released by Joint Vibration is Dopamine. This is the neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us to take action to move toward rewards that we see.

Metacognition is the awareness and understanding, analysis, and control of one’s cognitive processes, especially when engaged in learning. The overused thinking about thinking is what pop culture uses to define this skill. Working Memory on the other hand, is involved in the selection, initiation, and termination of information-processing functions such as encoding, storing, and retrieving data. It is usually referred to as the RAM system of our cortices, constantly remembering tasks or sequences of skills that need to be rearranged and retrieved at any given moment. An example or using working memory is taking a test that requires one to have access to formulas in short term recall that can be used.

Lastly, Organization is considered the skill of putting things into a logical order or the act of taking an efficient and orderly approach to tasks. The ability to prioritize what should come first, next etc. is how organization is developed and displayed on a daily basis.

Now, Joint Vibration supports Metacognition, Working Memory and Organization by the release of Dopamine. With the sensation of the brain being rewarded by the experience of joint vibration, the calm of GABA and the stabilization of emotions by Serotonin, the efficiency in short-term recall, hierarchical assignment of tasks needing to be accomplished and the awareness of the processes involved in being efficient and organized are enhanced by the neurotransmission of Dopamine. Learning is equated as something pleasurable and positive.

4. Modified Auditory Integration – Goal-directed Persistence, Time-Management

Seinnheiser202Modified Auditory Integration is a modality that we use with children who have difficulty maintaining where they are spatially in relation to the environment and to others in their immediate proximity. We also tend to use the Sound Health Series at 50% volume with closed, supra-aural, dynamic hi-fi stereo headphones. Auditory Integration is based on the Tomatis Method which is to improve the auditory system, people who can hear sounds may not be able to take in the full spectrum of these sounds, which means they might find it difficult to listen properly. According to Dr Tomatis, this happens when muscles are not working properly and through auditory stimulation it is possible to retrain the muscles of the inner ear so that it can function without distortion. Overall, Auditory Integration initiates Dopamine release in the brain similarly to Joint Vibration however from a direct sensory system rather than from a joint receptor system. This is the only modality that is used from start to finish of the ESD.

Goal-directed persistence is the capacity to have a goal, follow through to the completion of the goal, and not be distracted by competing interests. A good example would be when there is a game or a toy that the child may want, and a structured process of steps are put in place in order to ‘earn points’ to get closer to earning the reward, such as doing chores efficiently, or doing well in school allows the child to delay gratification and continue to persist toward the final achievement of the goal.

Time Management is ability to plan and control how you spend the hours in your day to effectively accomplish your goals, such as being able to gauge how long an assignment will take to finish or how much longer one needs to be able to get from one place to the next. The opposite of course to efficient time management is procrastination, and for some whose sensory processing systems limit their understanding of time, rigidity in multiple step task accomplishment.

Modified Auditory Integration supports development of Goal-Directed Persistence and Time Management by continuing the Dopamine release happening with the Joint Vibration protocol. It meets the joint receptors sense of reward by allowing the auditory system to ‘listen’ not only to the music but also to the body, and ultimately provide that platform to improve and build on sitting throughout the whole diet protocol; time management on the other hand is measured by the ability of the neurotransmission to relay the benefits from Serotonin, GABA and Dopamine thus signalling indirectly the beginning, middle and end of the protocol via the use of the Modified AIT.

5. Counting and Hierarchy – Planning/Prioritization, Task Initiation

Counting and Hierarchy involves a specific rote and tonal count in a calm voice from 1-15 for every single extremity and every single modality and technique used. The Hierarchy obviously provides predictability and structure to the diet, to a point that the child can self-direct the diet and ultimately tailor the diet according to his/her needs at given points in time, ultimately breaking them down into what has been coined as Sensory Snacks. 

Planning and Prioritization is when one organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements. In this case, the counting and the order of the diets assist with determining the generalized prioritization of the diet as well as anticipation of what is next, and last without increasing Acetylcholine release.

Task Initiation is knowing how to get started on a task and sustaining the attention and effort levels needed to complete the task, which in this case again is supported by the predictability of the materials, the diet protocol from one time to the next, the language, the tone of voice up to the signaling of when it is the end.

For more detailed information on training of the Execu-Sensory Diet, or for more related literature that supports this particular methodology, please email us or check out our published abstracts related to this topic. Hopefully this will provide you with some clarity on how the sensorimotor systems play an integral part in wholistic cortical development, especially in regards to supporting the development of Executive Functioning Skills.

ESNP Podcast 5: Kindergarten Debate

An Anti-Prescription to Learned Helplessness

Mind Matters, ,

“The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe that bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do, and are their own fault. The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world, think about misfortune in the opposite way. They tend to believe that defeat is just a temporary setback or a challenge, that its causes are just confined to this one case.” – Martin Seligman, Learned Optimism, 1991.

So true. But even before one becomes a pessimist, or an optimist for that matter, there is that tiny voice at the back of everyone’s consciousness reminding them of how imperfect they are. The incessant reminder that the laundry list of things to do is so far and wide, and that urgency is of utmost priority or else the consequences will be disastrous. It is the inevitable consistent pundit making Twitter-type remarks even when things are going well….the what-to-do-if-this-happens voice so preoccupied by what hasn’t or may not happen in the first place.

This is the sense of what we will coin here as negative classical conditioning, as part of an already established habit loop of past experiences and trauma that have turned into inadvertent never agains. Some of the conditioning may be so severe that one exposure to the stimuli would be enough for permanent negative response. For example, someone who had experienced drowning in open water one time in their life may prevent them from swimming in any similar context. Or one who has been bitten by a dog unexpectedly may not only choose not to own a dog but also possibly freeze when confronted with one on the street.

The Professionals LH Excuses

And there are those of course who are flooded by certain aspects of negative classical conditioning all day at either at home or at work that what had started as a tiny voice inside the head balloons into a faux déjà vu: a repetition of servitude behavior because the only option available seems to be submission. A horrible boss who reminds you of how slow or inefficient you are to be worth the use of company resources, or a teacher at every meeting being reminded constantly about all the things they do wrong and never acknowledged for the things that have been accomplished correctly.

Let’s just say for argument’s sake that there is an ‘out’ of the negative classical conditioning that is happening, what do you think would happen? If an escape was made possible and created clearly and sincerely so one would not have to ever be subjected to the consequences again, would they take it?

Chances are, probably not. After a multitude of exposures to such conditions, a person’s mindset will end up adapting and not resisting what was unnatural to their make-up or to their consciousness. They would have crossed over to the level of Learned Helplessness.

Learned helplessness occurs when a person is repeatedly subjected to an aversive stimulus that he/she cannot escape. Eventually, the person will stop trying to avoid or negotiate the stimulus and behave in a manner that is utterly helpless to change their situation. When people feel that they have no control over their situation, they may also begin to behave in a helpless manner. This inaction can lead people to overlook opportunities for relief or change. Even when opportunities to escape are presented, this learned helplessness will prevent any further action or reaction.

Societal Learned Helplessness

The concept of learned helplessness was discovered fortuitously by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier. Initially, they had observed helpless behavior in dogs that were classically conditioned to expect an electrical shock after hearing a tone. Later on in their experiment, the dogs were placed in a shuttlebox that contained two chambers separated by a low barrier. The floor was electrified on one side, and not on the other. The dogs previously subjected to the classical conditioning made no attempts to escape, even though avoiding the shock simply involved jumping over a low barrier.

In order to further investigate this phenomenon, the researchers then did a follow up to the first experiment. They utilized three groups of dogs instead of just one. In group one, the dogs were strapped into harnesses for a period of time and then released. The dogs in the second group were placed in the same harnesses, however were subjected to electrical shocks that could be stopped by pressing a panel with their noses. The third group received the same shocks as those in group two, except that those in this group were not able to control the duration of the shock. It seemed for those dogs in the third group, the shocks were completely random and outside of their control.

Later on, the dogs were then placed in a shuttlebox from the first experiment. Dogs from the first and second group quickly learned that jumping the barrier eliminated the shock. Those from the third group, however, made no attempts to get away from the shocks in spite seeing the low barrier. The researchers concluded from both experiments that due to their previous experience, the dogs from the third group had developed a cognitive expectation that nothing they did would prevent or eliminate the shocks. (Seligman & Maier, 1967).

The Educator-Learner LH Cycle
The Educator-Learner LH Cycle

Thus it would be safe to say in education, this happens on both sides of the fence — on the educator side and on the learner side. The student who has had a negative condition from previous Math testing experiences will think, “No matter how hard I study for this test, I’ll always get a bad grade. Or a teacher who feels that there’s always struggles with the ability to enhance positive behaviors in the class he or she is assigned to be with during a transition would say, “Here it is again, the transition of this class, which I am never able to do right!” For either case, the thoughts are loud and constant that there is no escaping their destructive spiral; into anxiety, panic, cortisol, and the increase in the ACh neurotransmitter firing that ‘active’ thinking is now abandoned to reflexive autopiloting.

It is alarming, this phenomenon. While the educational system continues to evolve in whatever direction the wind blows, there are people who get so overwhelmed by the basic, the core tenets of connecting a teacher and a student via an education that the destination from the first day to the last day of school is daily battleground of repetitive mantra — usually leaning toward what is always being done wrong. Simultaneous to this interaction, there is an attempt at instruction geared at driving the students, no better yet, herding them towards the standards even as they may have needs for scaffolding, modified instruction, and/or a slew of other accommodations that may or may not warrant an Individualized Education Plan.

Is there then a solution?

Many have offered suggestions in the small victories and positive classical conditioning to reinforce the opposite of learned helplessness. This requires however a systemic change in the way of thinking from the internal classroom, to a hallway, to a school campus, to community school campuses, to city-wide school campuses and so on. Like anything else, it starts with ONE. ONE thought, and ONE person to power back up and participate in their own decision making processes again.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

–William Shakespeare, Hamlet

ESNP Podcast 4: The Auto Piloting Amygdala

Children (Both Big and Small) Learn What They Live

Neuropedagogy, , , , , , , , , ,

Children Learn What They Live


By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

Many children spend more waking time in the presence of their teachers, than their parents and caregivers.  Therefore, it may be a safe assumption that children growing up in the twenty-first century are learning what they live based on their school experience–their teachers–just as much (maybe some cases more) as they are from their caregivers.  While teachers have been taught about behavior management, best practices and given scripts for curriculums, not many are required to take college courses on developing executive functioning skills or more specifically character. Yet, they may be responsible for a large part of character development for the students they teach on daily basis.

In recent years, this is become quite obvious as there has been the push for character education to return to school curriculums and the creation of character report cards that grade children on the development of their character. This is a useful tool if character is being taught, modeled and monitored throughout the semester.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

While the intent of these two movements are originating from different sources; they are sending a similar message: children today are not naturally developing and/or aware of their character. The former was in response to the increase in bullying and ostracization of students; the latter was the rude realization that while schools were producing high school graduates capable of earning a high school diploma and acceptance into college; these same students were not only struggling once they reached college, but were dropping out.

Enter Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth. Her research uncovered that grit and self-control are better predictors for academic achievement than IQ, socio-economic status (family income) among other factors. Her research states that “Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007). Self-control is the voluntary regulation of behavioral, emotional, and attentional impulses in the presence of momentarily gratifying temptations or diversions (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Duckworth & Steinberg, in press). Her definitions for grit and self-control mirror two concepts found in executive function skills: goal-directed persistence and response inhibition. However, regardless of what they are called, the fact remains that these skills appear essential to success; yet adolescents today do not possess these traits upon graduation from high school and pay for it dearly. So some critical questions remain: Can anyone possess these characteristics or skills? How does one acquire them? Who is ultimately responsible for “teaching” them?

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If viewed from an executive functioning perspective, the answer to the fist two questions is relatively straightforward. Yes, anyone can possess them; some people appear to demonstrate more natural strengths or abilities in particular skills than others, but strategies to strengthen or accommodate areas of weakness exist and yield successful outcomes. The last question is more difficult to answer.

If viewed from a character perspective, researchers and the U.S. Education System answer the first two questions in a similar fashion. Anyone is capable of possessing these characteristics. They are acquired through direct instruction, modeling, and life experience. They also offered a straightforward answer to the third question: it is the responsibility of both schools and parents to teach character.

What happens then, if teachers themselves have never been taught or simply demonstrate a weakness in the character traits they are expected to teach and model? Or what happens if parents and teachers view these skills through different lenses?

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

Mostly likely, that is happening right now. Character traits like grit and self-control may or may not be taught in schools and in homes. If they are taught, perhaps they are taught differently which leads to children experiencing mixed-messages and putting a hybrid of the two into practice. This may work for some, but for others it leads to dropping or failing out of high school or college. The origins of character education are synonymous with an academic education. Character education changed in the 1960s and 1970s when the focus shifted to the process of making moral decisions versus the content of morality. It has now reemerged in the past decade most likely as a result of the publicized findings on college success rates of KIPP Academy students and theories as to why it was so low.

Yet, the re-introduction of the curriculum does not mean the mastery of skills by those expected to teach it. If teachers haven’t been taught, are never asked to self-reflect and evaluate their own areas of strength and weakness the result inevitably is they don’t know what they don’t know. So, how can they teach it?

The oversimplified truth is they can, just not effectively. It has been shown that children not only learn what they live, they live what they learn. Teachers are children all grown up; they too now live what they learned. And they can only be expected to teach what they have been taught. Maybe it is time to share the focus on how we teach our children with how we teach our teachers.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

The Balancing Act Homework and Extracurricular Lives in School-Aged Children

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For every generation of parents who have school age children, there is a theme that binds parents from the past to present: either there is too much homework, or too many extracurricular activities. Modern life has sped up the pace incredibly, especially in metropolitan cities around the world, making the demands after the school day on the family become even more stressful.

And it isn’t actually an unusual complaint or observation from a parent. The perception that homework has increased in recent years is supported by the results of a research study from the University of Michigan in 2000. The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan found that time spent on home study by 6- to 8-year-old children more than doubled between 1981 and 1997 (Hofferth & Sandberg, 2000). Their results found a 146% increase between 1981 and 1997 in the time that six- to eight-year-old children (generally in grades K-3) spent on home study. In 1981, time diaries that were used to record homework times indicated that primary-grade children spent an average of 52 minutes studying per week; this figure increased to 128 minutes per week in 1997 (Hofferth & Sandberg, 2000). The proportional increase seemed very large because the baseline measurement—time spent on study in 1981—was very small. Moreover, the ISR study found no substantial increase in home study time over the same period for nine to twelve-year-old children (generally third to sixth graders). Their average weekly home study time was 3:22 in 1981 and 3:41 in 1997— a difference that was not large enough to achieve statistical significance.(Hofferth & Sandberg, 2000)

homework

In 2003, The Journal of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis published a study by Brian P. Gill and Steven L. Schlossman entitled,  “A Nation at Rest: The American Way of Homework.” The researchers found that the great majority of American children at all grade levels then spent less than one hour studying on a typical day—an amount that has not changed substantially in at least 20 years. High school students in the late 1940s and early 1950s studied no more than their counterparts did in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Gill and Schlossman have also concluded that changes in educational opinion on homework over the last half century prior to 2003 have had little effect on student behavior, with only two notable exceptions: a temporary increase in homework time in the decade following Sputnik, and a new willingness in the two decades before the 2000’s to assign small amounts to primary-grade students. Does this signify then that homework is dictated by current events and/or standings of students when ranked side by side their peers from other countries?

As a standard, homework recommendations from the National Education Association conclude that, “The National PTA recommendations fall in line with general guidelines suggested by researcher Harris Cooper: 10-20 minutes per night in the first grade, and an additional 10 minutes per grade level thereafter (e.g., 20 minutes for second grade, 120 minutes for twelfth). High school students may sometimes do more, depending on what classes they take.”

They also cite that homework usually falls into one of three categories: practice, preparation, or extension; the purpose usually varies by grade. Individualized assignments that tap into students’ existing skills or interests can be motivating. At the elementary school level, homework can help students develop study skills and habits and can keep families informed about their child’s learning. At the secondary school level, student homework is associated with greater academic achievement. (Review of Educational Research, 2006).

The Review of Educational Research published a comprehensive survey of all the studies on homework and achievement performed between 1987 and 2003. A strong connection was found between the two particularly in high school. In elementary grades, homework helps youngsters establish healthy study habits and keeps parents connected to what their children are doing at school. Homework in high school also lead to higher scholastic success. However, more recently in 2014, a Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter. The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education co-authored a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education with Mollie Galloway and Jerusha Conner, found that too much homework is associated with:

• Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

• Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. 

• Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicated that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

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On the flipside, there are students who value time to engage in their interests and communities via extracurricular activities on top of homework. Participation in activities such as sports, clubs, private lessons, and religious activities enrich students’ lives by supporting social skills.  Several studies emphasize the benefits of extracurricular activities and homework, while others focus on the negative consequences of each. Overscheduled children may not have as much time to complete homework assignments, leading to a decline in academic achievement. According to the critics too much involvement in extracurricular activities takes away from time that could be spent studying or completing homework.  On the other hand there were many students who also felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

A bit of history on the extracurricular path into student lives. Extracurricular activities began in the United States in the 19th century. At first they were just an additional part to the normal academic schedule for the year and usually had some practical or vocational interest that was included into the activities. The first extracurricular activities that were well known in schools started at Harvard and Yale University. They were literacy clubs that consisted of different debate clubs and Greek systems such as fraternities and sororities.

Students in American schools were the first to initiate athletic clubs which soon became popular while literacy clubs began to decline. Around the time of World War I, schools started adding clubs such as journalism, and newspaper. (Casinger, J. 2011) Now these clubs have become popular and many public high schools and grade schools have clubs for all interests. In the year 2010, about 1 in 4 students participated in academic clubs. (Miller, Zittleman, 2010).

To determine the relationship between extracurricular involvement and homework performance,  a research study was conducted by Rachel Johnson and Ryana Moulden entitled, “A Correlational Study of Extracurricular Involvement and Homework Performance of Third Grade Students.”  Data was collected in two third grade classes for the four-week study in two elementary schools. For the first two weeks, math homework scores were recorded, and the second two weeks, language arts homework scores were recorded. No significant correlation was found between the number of hours spent in extracurricular activities and math homework performance, however the results revealed a significant negative relationship between the number of hours spent in extracurricular activities and language arts homework performance.

In his article, “Extracurricular Activities,”  Fred C. Lunenburg states, “Extracurricular activities serve the same goals and functions as the required and elective courses in the curriculum. However, they provide experiences that are not included in formal courses of study. They allow students to apply the knowledge that they have learned in other classes and acquire concepts of democratic life.”(2010)  The positive effects that extracurricular activities have on students’ education are behavior, better grades, school completion, positive aspects to become successful adults, and a social aspect. Higher grades and positive attitudes towards school are secondary effects that extracurricular activities have on students. Self esteem can be a predictor of academic performance. Students who don’t like school won’t do as well as the students who do like school because they are not motivated to succeed. The students who don’t like school usually feel as though they are not succeeding or that they can succeed.

A study done by the United States Department of Education revealed that, “Students who participate in extracurricular activities are three times more likely to have a grade point average of a 3.0 or higher. This is higher than students who did not participate in extracurricular activities. This is regardless of their previous background or achievement.” Students that participate in extracurricular activities also showed positive changes in students self confidence, teacher perception, and greater confidence, and then developed positive school related adult attachments. Extracurricular activities increases a students connection to school, raises their self esteem, and positive social natures.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,241 adults (of whom 457 have school-aged children) surveyed online between June 11 and 17, 2014. With parents of K-12 students reporting their children spend an average of 38.4 hours per week on scheduled activities during the school year (including school time, extra-curricular school activities and other scheduled commitments), while maintaining an average of 19.1 hours of free time, this finds America’s school-aged children with a roughly 2:1 ratio of scheduled to free/leisure time.  Perhaps not surprisingly, parents whose children have 15 or more hours per week of combined extracurricular and other “scheduled” time are much more likely than those whose children have under 15 hours to report feeling pressured to put their child in activities that other children are doing (21% <15 hours, 36% 15+ hours). They are then also more likely to worry their child is “over-programmed” (18% and 35%, respectively).

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At the end of the day, it is a balance between time and aptitude between homework and extracurricular activities, as both are a part of character and brain development for students. In the Harris Poll where some adults see a crowded calendar, others see the opportunity for new experiences, and nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) wish they had the opportunity to have as many varied experiences as children do today. This sentiment is significantly stronger among those with school-aged children (73%) than among those without (62%).

Please Share This Resource With Parents

Neuropedagogy, , ,

Thank you to the parents of East Harlem Scholars Academy in New York, NY for coming to a seminar today on campus.  This brochure was provided to them by one of ESNP’s therapy partners to the parents as a quick reference to help their children at home. If you would want to use this free resource, or want to use the information in the brochure, just contact us via email or through this site.

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ESNP Podcast 3: Education, Meet Neuro

Special Education: Redesigned and Redefined

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BFyjIO4CMAAXatbWhen a bright eyed and idealistic teacher walks into the classroom, she does not have any pre-conceived notions that the mission statement of the school will be vaguely if at all reflected in the daily battle called teaching. The act of teaching is a juggernaut of sorts: between the principals, the administrators, the board members, and/or the politics — that it may feel like a fluke if the teacher maintains sight of the student, or if the student can honestly say that the teacher is, well, teaching.

Now, add a dash of one, or maybe three of the 13 special education classifications in the mix of students in a classroom of 28 to 30 students. This teacher may or may not have any background knowledge on educational disabilities, best practices for children classified with these disabilities; however it is a safe assumption that within this classroom of students, those who are not or cannot conform will stand out. And by the year’s end, the previously idealistic teacher may be anything but. Additionally, she may have fallen into damaging stereotypical thinking and labeling because she was never given the opportunity or education to think differently.

Most education professionals are aware of the studies that reveal teachers’ negative bias toward students labeled as having a learning disability. These studies have concluded that teacher’s rate behaviors more negatively, put less effort into educating these students and recommend them less for gifted education, even when given evidence of giftedness. Unfortunately, the why behind this occurrence is relatively easy to answer. Despite the progress at the federal level for children with disabilities since the 1970s, the stereotypes associated with the Special Ed label remains engrained in the general public as well as general ed mindset. Gaining access to a free and appropriate public education has done only that. The doors have been opened and the children welcomed in. Yet, the question begs to be asked: “are these students being taught?” Perhaps it is not the students we should be labeling as disabled or unable to learn, but rather the schools and the education system as a whole.

L30009e5et’s take a snapshot of the current system: schools invest thousands of dollars in curriculums that align to the common core standards, which tout an increase reading and math proficiency. Yet these curriculums are changed yearly because student scores do not increase at the expected rate. Some schools banned use of textbooks and teachers, who have been supposedly taught how to teach are also now expected to create curriculums or piece together a decade worth of rejected curriculums oftentimes for either multiple grades or multiple subjects. And within this disorganized system, children who struggle to learn within a traditional classroom, for reasons neuropsychologists are still trying to determine, are expected to adapt and learn in the same way, at the same rate with the same retention as their typically developing peers. Administrators and teachers alike, are allowed to overlook this since their academic background never afforded them an opportunity to learn nor required it of them. Yet the perfectly typical students with atypical brains become the ones punished for this oversight. Not only do teachers have decreased expectations, which leads to decreased effort; being labeled as special ed is shown to have a negative impact on self-esteem.

Taylor et. al found that students with generic special education labels had significantly lower self esteem compared to children with specific labels such as dyslexia. Furthermore, there was no difference in self-esteem between those identified and labeled as dyslexic to those without a special education and/or disability label. The authors concluded that children with a general label “offers very little in the way of an explanation for the child’s academic difficulties and because targeted interventions are not as available for those with a less specific label” This shows that it is the lack of transparency, discussion, effective interventions given to children with non-specific learning disabilities that play a major role in decreased self-esteem. Additionally, it was noted that there was stigma from peers more often associated with classroom labels of resource room and special class than the label of a generic or specific disability.  These conclusions indicate that environment, misconception, lack of discussion, transparency, and inclusion building measures within a community are to blame for decreased self-esteem, ridicule and teasing among students with disabilities, not the disability itself.

This reinforces the notion that schools and the education system are disabled and disabling those students who learn differently. Ideally, teachers and students alike would be equipped and well versed in what ilabeling-kidst means to have a disability, the strengths and weaknesses associated with that disability and strategies in which that student can overcome barriers within academic institutions in order to find success. However, this is next to impossible when teachers are not required to learn more than simple terminology associated with educational disabilities such as IEP, learning disability, and maybe related services. In 2013, 13% of school-aged students in public school were classified as having a learning disability. That means 4 students in a class of 30 will have an IEP and receive special education services of some sort. However, there are typically students who have not been identified or whose parents do not want them classified and receiving services specifically because of the stigma associated with it; therefore, it is safe to assume that approximately 1out of every 5 within a class of 30 students will have some form of a a disability. Yet, the teacher in the general education classroom is not required to have any prior knowledge about the disability, how to teach effectively to students with that given disability or even what supports that child might need; those responsible fall to the special education teacher of the Special Education Support Services Teacher who is typically with the student for about 5 hours a week. The additional 25 -30 hours, the student is left to his or her own devices in how to mange.

In no other profession, would a business that provided an qualified employee on average 13 – 17% of the time be considered “appropriate” to meeting the needs of the business or consumers. Yet, under the current law, for students with disabilities placed in inclusion classrooms, this is considered just that. Perhaps it is time to stop dis-abelling students and start enabling our education system by educating educators to actually teach to the brains, the bodies and the minds of the learners in their classrooms. This would of course require general education teachers to take courses about educational classifications, differentiation, and special education law, but all teachers to demonstrate proficient knowledge in the developing brain, body and mind including neuroanatomy, neuropsychology and cognitive psychology to name just a few. It is time to enable not only students, but teachers and administrators, by un-labeling teachers as general or special education and in turn removing the stigmatizing labels from students. No education should just be general; in order for all students to achieve their true potential, all education should be special and built on a scientific and wholistic foundation of knowledge. 

So until the time schools either have an alleviated pressure to pack classrooms to the maximum capacity, and/or the testing rigor is substituted with individual performance aptitude (similar to portfolio based measurements), the sting of bias and the risk of a child’s learning falling through the juggernaut remains at large.

T’is the Season for Depression, And How to Shake it Off

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It is definitely the heart of winter, mid-February, and we would be lucky if we had a week that didn’t have frigid temperatures, snowfall and blizzard-type winds, and long nights. Compared to the spring and summer seasons, winter in the northeastern hemisphere of the United States challenge even the happiest of people — weather conditions force us to stay indoors as much as possible, unless we emancipate ourselves from the city during these times into a cabin in the woods with hot cocoa and recreational activities meant for the season.

I am willing to bet however we aren’t all as lucky; city life and the responsibilities that come with it keep us close to it even in the harshest winter weather conditions. Compound that feeling of being trapped with heavy layered clothing, dangerous walking and commuting conditions, and gray, dreary short days that at 5 pm remind you it is wintertime with it’s pitch black quick nightfall.

Understandably this time of year, after the holidays have passed, depression sets in full force. There are those of us, however, who suffer a more consistent, cyclical type of depression this time of year called Season Affective Disorder or SAD. SAD has been recognized and included in the diagnostic classification system of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition as major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern. In most cases, seasonal affective disorder symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer. However, for those people with the opposite pattern, meaning have symptoms that begin in spring or summer may be suffering from a major depressive disorder.

Let’s look at this table below, courtesy of information from the Mayo Clinic:

Mayo Clinic Table

There is a clear difference identified between Major Depression affected by SAD, Fall and Winter SAD stand alone, and then a category that actually has a Spring and Summer SAD! Obviously, the most popular kind is in the fall and winter, however there are those who have difficulties thriving in the Spring and Summer and display the symptoms listed above.

After serving a distinguished career at the National Institute of Mental Health researching cyclical mood patterns, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, currently a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and Medical Director of the Capital Clinical Research Associates, in Rockville, Maryland, sheds light on the topic in an interview  with Psychiatry (As published in NICH website).

Dr. Rosenthal claims, “Every year, as the days become short and dark, people with SAD develop a predictable set of symptoms. They slow down and have a hard time waking up in the morning. Their energy level decreases, they tend to eat more, especially sweets and starches, and they gain weight. Their concentration suffers, and they withdraw from friends and family. As you can imagine, their work and relationships suffer, and they can become quite depressed. This symptom cluster often lasts for four or five months until the days become longer again. Since the syndrome is linked to a lack of light, people with SAD may become depressed during cloudy weather at any time of year, or if they are confined to windowless offices or basement apartments.”

He also says that SAD in its full form affects productivity in work or school, affect interpersonal relationships, and causes a marked loss of interest or pleasure in most activities. There is a milder form of seasonal disorder which is called the winter blues and yields similar symptoms of decreased energy and increased appetite.  This can also affect enthusiasm and productivity. For instance, people with SAD report sleeping an average of 2.5 hours more in winter than in the summer, whereas people with winter blues sleep 1.7 hours more (the general population sleeps 0.7 hours more in the winter).

So how do we combat depression, SAD or otherwise?

Typical Major Depression that is not directly affected by SAD are affected by Dopamine and Serotonin levels. A Study in the International Journal of Neuroscience in 2005 by TIFFANY FIELD, MARIA HERNANDEZ-REIF, MIGUEL DIEGO, SAUL SCHANBERG, and CYNTHIA KUHN determined that in studies cortisol was assayed either in saliva or in urine, significant decreases were noted in cortisol levels (averaging decreases 31%). In studies in which the activating neurotransmitters (serotonin and dopamine) were assayed in urine, an average increase of 28% was noted for serotonin and an average increase of 31% was noted for dopamine. These studies combined suggest the stress-alleviating effects (decreased cortisol) and the activating effects (increased serotonin and dopamine) of massage therapy on a variety of medical conditions and stressful experiences. They suggest that massage therapy improves overall wellness that can be utilized as an external source of increasing the happy neurotransmitters.

In some cases, Norepinephrine was also tagged to be part of the major depression cycle. See the image below:

Norepinephrine-Dopamine-Serotonin Venn
Norepinephrine-Dopamine-Serotonin Venn

The three neurotransmitters combine to maintain mood, focus and learning. Interestingly enough however, the serotonin-norepinephrine connection is what mostly determines the increase in depression, while dopamine-serotonin here is claimed to be highly involved in learning. Would it be safe to say then if the focus was on new learning and equipping one with new skills, that this may also offset major depression with chemical intervention to stabilize the serotonin-norepinephrine channels? New learning has been related to initially boosting dopamine which attracts wellness and confidence, and in turn effects the serotonin levels and pulls away from the norepinephrine pull to depression.

However, learning something new is only a small part of the solution. There are many more complex factors in major depression such as genetics, environmental situations, lifestyle choices which includes work-rest-exercise balance, diet and sleep.

For those with SAD on either the Fall-Winter Seasons or the Spring-Summer Seasons, Dr. Rosenthal says commonly used therapies include Light therapy, psychotherapy, and medications are the main treatments for SAD. Also, stress management and exercise programs can be helpful. Although the first controlled studies of light therapy were conducted only 25 years ago, this treatment has subsequently become the mainstay of SAD therapy throughout the world.

Mayo clinic also indicates that one’s biological clock (circadian rhythm) is part of what is affected by SAD sufferers. The reduced level of sunlight in fall and winter may cause winter-onset SAD.The changes in the season can disrupt the balance of the body’s level of melatonin, which plays a role in sleep patterns and mood. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin that may trigger depression.

Dr. Rosenthal agrees with the need for therapeutic sunlight. He says, “Sixty to 80 percent of SAD sufferers benefit from light therapy. The amount of light varies from person to person. The best light therapy units are about 1ft by 1.5ft in surface areas and use white fluorescent lights behind a plastic diffusing screen, which filter out ultraviolet rays. Mornings seem the best time for light therapy to work, although the treatments can be divided during the day. Most people respond to light therapy within 2 to 4 days of initiating treatment. Although the amount of time needed varies, most people need between 30 and 90 minutes (10,000lux) of light therapy per day.”

In the New York Times article by Roni Rabin in 2011, “A Portable Glow to Help Those Winter Blues,” it quotes a 2006 multicenter double-blind randomized controlled trial that compared bright-light therapy head to head with the popular antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) in 96 subjects found the two treatments equally effective for alleviating winter depression, though light produced results faster, usually within a week, and with fewer side effects.

Presently, popular companies like Verilux, Nature Bright, and Northern Light Technologies have come up with consumer based light boxes that can be used all year round at home and in other locations with lack of light. Dr. Andrew Weil, a doctor and author who focuses on holistic health recommends SAD sufferers must sit in front of the light for about a half an hour per day. Light therapy is reputed to work in 80 percent of all cases of SAD. This treatment can relieve symptoms within a few days, but sometimes takes as long as two weeks or more. He cautions that  while light boxes can be purchased without a prescription, a physician or other mental health professional can provide guidelines as to how to use a light therapy box for maximum effectiveness and may recommend a particular light box (you may need a doctor’s prescription if you’re seeking insurance coverage for the cost of a light therapy box).

Exposure to natural sunlight as well during the long winter months is recommended as well as a walk outside during the morning hours, however that is dependent on lifestyle and weather conditions unfortunately. The bottomline is this: whether it is major depression or SAD that causes you to be frozen in your own life, aiming for the serotonin-dopamine increase will ultimately be the key to off-setting the symptoms and hopefully improve the quality of living in the long run.

ESNP Podcast 2: Sustaining Holiday-Esque Happiness Day After Day

Love with the Brain, the Mind and the Body

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Sitting at a table at Tillie’s, my favorite, independent Brooklyn café, I find myself easily distracted. The people are much more interesting to watch than my work is to complete. A guy of about 23 years walks in. He’s nearly 6 feet tall, very thing, longer, thick wavy dark hair—in a word attractive. I decide to watch him. What is his story? Does he go to school? He orders a large Raspberry Iced-Tea…or I assume that’s what he’s ordered because it looks exactly like mine, and that is what I ordered. He takes out his phone and fiddles with it. Boring. I got back to my work. About thirty minutes later, a girl walks in. Tall, dark olive skin, black long straight hair, very thin—in a word attractive. She is carrying a medium size white bag, most likely with food in it. He looks up and tries very hard to hide the smile the smile that is growing inside of him at the sight of HER, her walking through the door weaving among the chairs toward HIM. She hands him the bag and sits down in one swift smooth motion, maybe she’s a dancer, She, too, cannot hide the smile. The bag is more than a bag, perhaps an expression of love. She leaves to get something to drink. He immediately opens the bag and pulls out a small note—filled front and back—about the size of post-it—the smile trying so hard to stay hidden returns. He reads the note, more in lover with her than ever.

Love. Almost as essential as breathing. Why? Because love is ubiquitous. People love with their entire self: their brains, their minds, their bodies; No one loves with just their hearts.

According to Helen Fisher at Rutgers University, there are 3 stages; lust, attraction, and attachment. Robert Sternberg proposes a similar idea: the love triangle. The love triad includes: intimacy, commitment and passion, which Sternberg demonstrates is found in the seven different types of love determined by the power of each point of the triad:

1. Consummate: highest level of level, equal presence of intimacy, commitment and passion

2. Infatuated: Includes only passion

3. Fatuous: Includes equal amounts of passion and commitment

4. Empty: Includes only commitment

5. Companionate: Includes intimacy and commitment

6. Romantic: Includes intimacy and passion

7. Liking/friendship: Includes only intimacy

However, each researcher’s theory on love show the impact of love on they brain, the mind and the body.

The Brain on Love

Love literally changes our brain.

The brain on love is akin to the brain on drugs given the release of hormones that occur especially in Helen Fisher’s second stage of love: Attraction. In this is stage, greater than normal levels of dopamine are released in the brain. Dopamine release triggers the reward and pleasure center in the brain; the same chemical released when using cocaine. In addition, to dopamine, many other neurotransmitters and/or hormones are released: cortisol, serotonin, norepinephrine, oxytocin, and vasopressin. The release of these neurotransmitters are literally changing the wiring and firing of the neurons. Therein, changing the brain, which changes the mind and the body. In Sternberg’s love triad, commitment, the active decision to stay in the relationship, represents the brain. A connection to people’s evolved pre-frontal cortex and executive function skills such as goal-directed  or task-directed persistence. Loving only with the mind would be considered empty love according to Sternberg.

The Mind on Love

The mind on love leads to sharing, trust, and intimacy.
The mind on love leads to sharing, trust, and intimacy.

The mind on love is a result of the release of serotonin. Helen Fisher found that serotonin is responsible for the inability of one to stop thinking about his or her partner and the rose-colored glasses effect. The ability to see the object of affection as more desirable and the relationship as more unique than others. This can be equated to intimacy on Sternberg’s love triangle. Dr. Arthur Aron demonstrated the ability to create intimacy even within a lab setting when complete strangers were paired with one another and given approximately 45 minutes to discuss 36 questions. After the discussion participants were asked to look into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes without speaking. Two participants after this experiment ended up married. According to Sternberg, intimacy is critical in many types of love including: consummate, companionate, romantic and liking/friendship. Intimacy represents the mind on love because it has the ability to occur despite the absence of an end-goal or physical attraction.

The Body on Love

The Body on love is felt by the heart.
The Body on love is felt by the heart.

This is the most common reference to love because people associate love with their hearts. Indeed, loving another person involves a change in heart-rate. However, this due to the release of cortisol and norepinephrine. Yet, the bodily changes, which cue people to the fact that they are experiencing a strong and separate emotion from those on a daily basis is the most easily identifiable because it involves the body. According to Helen Fisher, body love is the first stage of love: lust. It leads to the other stages taking place. Dr. Aron, found that it takes only 90 seconds to determine if someone finds another attractive. The body on love associated with romantic love or what is perceived to be romantic love, but may in fact include: consummate, infatuated or fatuous types of love.

One does not fall ‘in’ or ‘out’ of love One grows in love. ~ Leo buscaglia

 

Regardless of how love is categorized, labeled, or defined, the experience of love, regardless of type is unique to very. Love is universally acknowledge, felt and expressed. The great equalizer so to speak; given the uncontrollable impact it has on the brain it can make the most eloquent speaker a mumbling mess or turn the introverted intellect into a dashing diva. Fall…leap…sneak…grow love in whatever form. Love is meant to be experienced with the brain, the body and the mind…not just the heart.

Celebrate. Love. Everyday.

Metacognition is to Mindfulness (Not Everyone Can Always Teach…)

Neuropedagogy, , , , , ,

Big buzz words, both of them in the title of this article. One featuring a significant process of the Pre-Frontal Cortex, and the other, affectation of awareness from the entire brain, based upon the driving of the Pre-Frontal Cortex. However, let’s simplify the language of Metacognition and veer away from the “thinking about thinking” cliché (albeit that is what that is, the repetitive use of the definition is overused).

Meta (after, or beyond) cognition (conscious mental activities : the activities of thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering) is that ten second delay before the thinking is decided upon as the last answer or decision. It is the pulling yourself out of your own awareness to look at the process that is involved in your own thinking: from the first suggestion of an idea to the last decided action. Metacognition then is the conscious mental activity that is after or beyond the activities of thinking, understanding, learning and remembering.

The Metacognition Phase
The Metacognition Phase

It’s what we commonly refer to as THINKING ON YOUR FEET. When you rely on the automatic responses of behavior that you tuck in the memory bank for the ‘rainy days’ and successfully combine these responses without reference to a specific technique or to a pattern, you have successfully practiced the art of metacognition. Most of us use the metacognitive process in its basest sense that its application is usually muted.

Labels, both rigid and tailored to testing have been directing the voice of education. Plotting one’s education based on the ability to test versus improving the quality of the inquiring mind has recently been winning the battle of what standards should look like and what ‘schooling’ should seem to be in the eyes of a successful community, and in the grander picture, what the world expects of a citizen belonging to a particular first-world geographical location. Teaching to the BRAIN inside the human being has been scoffed in skepticism and propaganda by purists of testing protocol, and worse, by those who insist that the BRAIN is a static piece of software that can only evolve in, well, the dog-eat-dog thriving situations to effectively learn (forgetting that the BODY is attached to it, inconveniently).

And yet, there are those who do acknowledge that there is a BRAIN that echoes its decisions on the shadow called a MIND (which apparently is highly controversial for those who have either no imagination, philosophical inclinations, or even quantum physical understanding of cause and effect). The MIND is not simply an artistic, metaphorical description of romantics or serialists.

The In-Between Phase: Anticipation From Metacognition to Mindfulness
The In-Between Phase: Anticipation From Metacognition to Mindfulness

Mind (the part of a person that thinks, reasons, feels, and remembers) fulness (the eventual quality or state of being full). Mindfulness then is inherently a state of consciousness. Although awareness and attention to present events and experiences are given features of the human organism, these qualities can vary considerably, from heightened states of clarity and sensitivity to low levels, as in habitual, automatic, mindless, or blunted thought or action (Wallace, 1999).  Therefore, Mindfulness is the eventual quality, state or part of a person that thinks, reasons, feels and remembers that is full.

Conscious activities of thinking lead to filling up the state of a person that thinks, feels, reasons and remembers. Conscious and purposeful filling, which is aimed at harnessing powers of understanding from genetic, evolutionary biological cognitive methods, now contrast with teaching-to-test. Conscious and meaningful activities where learning is matched with the learner’s natural aptitude while harnessing multiple abilities of learning.

Teaching with the Meta-Mind process is the ideal, not necessarily realistic. The Teacher, broken as Teach (to cause or help a person to learn how to do something by giving lessons and showing how it is done) -er (person or thing belonging to or associated with something) fulfills this process with such subconsciousness if you ask him or her the process of the real teaching, they would have to pause and trace the Meta of how they begin. And when there are words to describe this magical process (taking away the paperwork load and the political requirements), the Teacher’s Metacognition  begins with an idea, a seed, a stage either theatrical, comical, empirical or thoughtful. The Teacher  is actively immersed in the conscious mental activity that is after or beyond the activities of thinking, understanding, learning and remembering.  The preparation for every scenario entails an almost see something-say something proactiveness; student temperament will never be the same in spite of the occurrence in the exact classroom, having the exact community of students, and/or support through the same rules and regulations. Only homeostasis remains similar as learning experiences are emotionally, memory-dependent.

The students come, the dance begins of giving and taking…sometimes with upstarts and hiccups; however, with the arsenal from the Teacher’s Meta phase, the learning is curved to where it momentarily docks. After the last word on the subject, the wards attach the knowledge to a memory base, perhaps a mnemonic one for future reference. And the Teacher? He or She goes into the Mind phase: Mindfulness of students sharing, discovering, uncovering and maybe not fully comprehending what just had happened in the minutes before with the topic at hand. The Teacher in this phase enters into that eventual quality, state or part of a person that thinks, reasons, feels and remembers that is full.

The Mindfulness Phase: Is it the Silhouette or is it the Canvass?
The Mindfulness Phase: Is it the Silhouette or is it the Canvas?

How then can the teacher be unreasonably requested to match the learning of a subject that is not only too cognitively complex for the developing brain of the current roster he or she is given, but also when there is a predetermination of the worded script, the presentation of the activity or knowledge base, and/or finely trimmed boundaries they are unable to be flexible with? How is that called common core really a commonality? The Meta-Mind cycle is interrupted, the learning process is artificial, and citizens are not created, rather parrots with haphazard training preparation for the competitively overflowing sea of professional niches. The Teacher ceases to have a democratic role in the abilities and skills he or she thought was hired to use in the classroom; amazingly, all that’s needed to do this newly reinvented job are professionals with paper pedigree to continually beat down their passion or dedication…unless the latter is just a bad dream someone decided to share with us.

Please allow the teachers to teach again. Respect the Meta-Mind Process of Learning.

ESNP Podcast 1: Backtory