Brain Fitness

Sherrelle Jiggitts Walker

Chief Education Officer

Scientific Learning Corporation

BC Circle of Learning10-23-09

Fit Brains Learn Better!

Optimal Learning Equation

Two Sides of the Coin

Teaching and Content Brain Fitness

Return on InvestmentReturn on Investment

Home

Built for pattern analysisBuilt for change

Home Neuronal communication system

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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

Home Research

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)

Home The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language on Reading Growth (Hirsch, 1996)

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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 fMRI images of the Reading Brain

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.

Home Can you read this?

• Cdnuolt

• blveiee     

• aulaclty

• rdanieg

• wouthit

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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)

HomeBrain Science & the Literacy Challenge

HomeBrain Science & the Literacy Challenge

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

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. . .Big Changes in Meaning

100milliseconds

Small Changes in Timing

Home Brain Processing Efficiency

Optimal Learning Equation

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

Home BC Circle of Learning

More information:

http://bbyfastforword.wordpress.com/

https://scientificlearning.webex.com/scientificlearning/portal/4762

http://www.scilearn.com/

John Hopkins

Scientific Learning Inc. ISR Canada

Phone: 916-442-5608 jhopkins@scilearn.com