Everyone agrees that what we do in schools should be based on what we know about how the brain learns. Until recently, however, we have had few clues to unlock the secrets of the brain. Now, research from the neurosciences has greatly improved our understanding of the learning process, and we have a much more solid foundation on which to base educational decisions. In this completely revised and updated second edition, Patricia Wolfe clarifies how we can effectively match teaching practice with brain functioning. Encompassing the most recent and relevant research and knowledge, this edition also includes three entirely new chapters that examine brain development from birth through adolescence and identify the impact of exercise, sleep, nutrition, and technology on the brain. Brain Matters begins with a "mini-textbook" on brain anatomy and physiology, bringing the biology of the brain into context with teaching and learning. Wolfe describes how the brain encodes, manipulates, and stores information, and she proposes implications that recent research has for practice—why meaning is essential for attention, how emotion can enhance or impede learning, and how different types of rehearsal are necessary for different types of learning. Finally, Wolfe introduces and examines practical classroom applications and brain-compatible teaching strategies that take advantage of simulations, projects, problem-based learning, graphic organizers, music, active engagement, and mnemonics. These strategies are accompanied by actual classroom scenarios—spanning the content areas and grade levels from lower elementary to high school&mdashthat help teachers connect theory with practice.

If you had the chance to be with DaVinci, Galileo or Curie at their greatest moment of discovery, would you take it?If you said “yes,” then you're in luck. The human race is embarking on a great adventure; we are discovering how the brain works by watching it in the very act of cognition. Neuroscientists are starting to unlock the code that makes the brain works, giving educators, teachers, corporate trainers and mentors new tools to help people learn.In a series of short essays, Margie Meacham leads the reader inside the human brain and links scientific discoveries to practical applications for anyone who wants to help people learn. A self-described scholar-practitioner, Margie uses brain science in her instructional consulting practice based in Phoenix, AZ. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Educational neuroscience is one of the most hotly debated areas of research and is often misrepresented with grand claims for what it means for teaching and learning. Is each side of the brain responsible for different types of mental activity? Can listening to Mozart improve long-term brain function? Can neuroscience help with reading, or student motivation? In this book, teacher, education consultant and researcher Jon Tibke fact-checks prevailing ′neuromyths′ by shining a light on what scientific research is truly relevant for the classroom and exploring the current limits of our understanding. Evidence-informed and complemented by thought-provoking practical tasks, this book will challenge readers to think critically about the human body′s most complex organ.

This book examines philosophical and scientific implications of Neodarwinism relative to recent empirical data. It develops explanations of social behavior and cognition through analysis of mental capabilities and consideration of ethical issues. It includes debate within cognitive science among explanations of social and moral phenomena from philosophy, evolutionary and cognitive psychology, neurobiology, linguistics, and computer science. Cognitive Science (CS) provides an original corpus of scholarly work that makes explicit the import of cognitive-science research for philosophical analysis. Topics include the nature, structure, and justification of knowledge, cognitive architectures and development, brain-mind theories, and consciousness.

Leading neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd embarks on a paradigm-shifting trip through the "human brain flavor system," laying the foundations for a new scientific field: neurogastronomy. Challenging the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution, Shepherd argues that this sense, which constitutes the main component of flavor, is far more powerful and essential than previously believed. Shepherd begins Neurogastronomy with the mechanics of smell, particularly the way it stimulates the nose from the back of the mouth. As we eat, the brain conceptualizes smells as spatial patterns, and from these and the other senses it constructs the perception of flavor. Shepherd then considers the impact of the flavor system on contemporary social, behavioral, and medical issues. He analyzes flavor's engagement with the brain regions that control emotion, food preferences, and cravings, and he even devotes a section to food's role in drug addiction and, building on Marcel Proust's iconic tale of the madeleine, its ability to evoke deep memories. Shepherd connects his research to trends in nutrition, dieting, and obesity, especially the challenges that many face in eating healthily. He concludes with human perceptions of smell and flavor and their relationship to the neural basis of consciousness. Everyone from casual diners and ardent foodies to wine critics, chefs, scholars, and researchers will delight in Shepherd's fascinating, scientific-gastronomic adventures.

Why Love Matters explains why loving relationships are essential to brain development in the early years, and how these early interactions can have lasting consequences for future emotional and physical health. This second edition follows on from the success of the first, updating the scientific research, covering recent findings in genetics and the mind/body connection, and including a new chapter highlighting our growing understanding of the part also played by pregnancy in shaping a baby’s future emotional and physical well-being. The author focuses in particular on the wide-ranging effects of early stress on a baby or toddler’s developing nervous system. When things go wrong with relationships in early life, the dependent child has to adapt; what we now know is that his or her brain adapts too. The brain’s emotion and immune systems are particularly affected by early stress and can become less effective. This makes the child more vulnerable to a range of later difficulties such as depression, anti-social behaviour, addictions or anorexia, as well as physical illness.

Describes how research is showing how the mind and the body affect each other and how each individual can better manage their bodies and lives.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Gray Matter, Matters is a book that will revolutionize school and clinical practices. For the first time, professionals in the educational domain will be challenged to rethink by which method children with brain injury are to receive services. Neurodevelopmental disorders are frequently misdiagnosed as learning disabilities." These disorders of childhood are presumed to be of psychological origin. This book discusses the myth of learning disabilities, emotional disturbances and "other health impaired." The use of labels to remediate neurodevelopmental disorders is inappropriate and may lead to school dropout. Nontraumatic brain injury (NTBI) typically results from biological and/or environmental factors. As such, NTBI will be manifest as learning, speech and language, motor, emotional and behavioral disturbances. These children do not have a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The lack of knowledge of the brain-behavior relationship leads to erroneous educational practices. When these practices are applied, children are punished for their inability to attain academic mastery. Teachers may be incorrectly blamed for failing to help children move out of the cycle of failure. When children present with learning, emotional or behavioral difficulties, professionals in the schools typically overlook biological antecedents. In this book, childhood disorders will be explained from a neurodynamic perspective. Now children with nontraumatic brain injury will finally get the recognition and assistance they need. Educators are challenged to embrace the tenets of cognitive neuroscience. This is a must read for parents and professionals who desire to move children through the continuum of academic progress.

We create the present and future in our meetings and conversations every day. What can we do to increase the likelihood that we’re creating a future that we all want? We can start by talking more constructively and productively about what matters to us all. After decades of advising groups in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, process design and facilitation expert Mary V. Gelinas has integrated her best knowledge of brain and behavioral sciences, mindful awareness, and effective process to create Talk Matters! Her eight essential practices offer us ways to avoid getting hijacked by our survival instincts, engage with people who differ from us, and open ourselves, our businesses, and our communities to real, lasting change. As she explains, good process can help us work better together to do good things for the world. In this highly readable and accessible book, Gelinas uses real-world examples to illustrate the practices that can help you start achieving life-serving results in your interactions as a leader, participant, or facilitator today.