Post on 18-Dec-2015
Brain Fitness
Sherrelle Jiggitts Walker
Chief Education Officer
Scientific Learning Corporation
BC Circle of Learning10-23-09
Fit Brains Learn Better!
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At birth, we have an equal potential to learn any language.
By 6 months, we begin to build the phonemes specific to our native language based on experience.
Language
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Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995).
12 24 36 48(Age Child in Months)
Working-class26 Million Words
Welfare13 Million Words
Professional45 Million Words
Es
tim
ate
d C
um
ula
tiv
e W
ord
s A
dd
res
se
d t
o C
hil
d(I
n M
illi
on
s)
Language Experiences by Group
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Words Heard per
hour
Affirmatives per hour
Prohibitions per hour
High 2153 32 5
Middle 1251 12 7
Low 616 5 11
(Hart and Risley, 1995)
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Perceptual weakness
Weak phonological representations
Reading, writing, spelling problems
Learning and academic problems
Struggling students
Oral language weakness
Dr. Paula Tallal, Director; Ctr. for Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Rutgers University
Language to Literacy Continuum
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Improve Perception
Sharpen phonological representation
Strengthen reading, writing, and spelling
Reduce learning and academic problems
Successful students
Enhance oral language abilities
Dr. Paula Tallal, Director; Ctr. for Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Rutgers University
Language to Literacy Continuum
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Tallal & Piercy (1973) Nature.
Children with language impairment can’t sequence 2 tones at rapid presentation rates
Tone Duration = 75 msecTone 1 = 100 Hz, Tone 2 = 300 Hz
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
8 15 30
60
15
0
30
5
42
8
94
7
14
66
19
85
30
23
35
43
40
62
Interstimulus Interval (ISI) in milliseconds
Pe
rce
nt
Co
rre
ct
ControlLanguage Impaired40ms - Phonemes 40-350ms - Syllables
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Rapid auditory processing (RAP) can be studied in infants born into families with or without a history of language learning impairments
A conditioned head-turn procedure is used to reward an infant for discriminating a change in a 2-tone sequence
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Dr. April Benasich records electrophysiological brain activity (event-related potentials - ERPs) from infants
Home A Weak Foundation
Students often manage to work around their oral language problems and when they develop reading problems, teachers work on reading instead of language.
But no matter what approach teachers use, they have limited results because they are trying to build reading skills on a weak foundation of oral language skills.
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Now read the following…
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to the rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia :)- Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.
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• Conditions in the brain are dynamic. They change and “rewire” at any age
• The brain’s ability to change, or be trained, is known as brain plasticity
• The brain can change and learn at any age, and certain conditions encourage learning
The Learning Brain (Brain Plasticity)
Neurons and Synaptic Connections
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Behavioral Behavioral TrainingTraining
Jenkins et al (1990).
Brain Plasticity is Lifelong
Plasticity refers to the ability of the brain to change through experience and learning.
•Synchronous Neural Activity (Frequency)•Competition for Neural Space (Adaptive)•Discriminating Neural Activity (Simultaneous Development)•Rewarded Neural Activity (Timely Motivation)
Home Independent Published ResultsStanford researchers prove effectiveness of Fast ForWord products
Average ReadersAverage Readers Students with DyslexiaBefore Fast ForWord
Students with DyslexiaBefore Fast ForWord
Adapted from Temple et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003
Student with Dyslexia, After Fast ForWord
Cortical Areas Critical for Reading
Brain activation patterns actually changed after using Fast ForWord products After eight weeks students had significantly improved reading performance
Home Proven Results
• Efficient! – On average, students advance their reading skills 1-2
grade levels in 8-12 weeks*
• Effective! – 184 school-based research studies – Statistically significant student gains
• Enduring!– Proof: rate of learning increase is permanent over time– Assist in closing the literacy gap
*50-minute protocol