Brain Learning Log

WHAT

It is amazing that our brains can do so much in such a small area. I am always amazed when I learn about the brain how each part "controls" something different and yet all of the areas work together and can compensate for each other. I will describe the major parts of the brain and give a brief definition.

• The frontal lobe which is located in the front of the brain is in charge of planning, organizing, problem solving, selective attention, personality, behavior, and emotion. Any injury to the frontal lobe can damage any of these functions. It can change personality, thinking ability, and emotions.
• The temporal lobes are located on each side of the brain. The temporal lobe controls the ability to tell one smell or sound from another. It helps sort new info and controls short term memory. Damage can cause short term memory loss and make it harder to remember faces or understand words.
• The parietal lobe which sits behind the frontal bone controls sensation. When damages it can cause visio-spatial deficits and damage the ability to understand spoken or written language.
• The occipital lobe is in the back of the brain and processess visual information and causes vision problems if damaged.
• The Cerrebellum is located at the back of the brain above the brain stem. It controls movement and moscle coordination. When damaged there can be a loss of balance and muscle control
• The Brainstem is where the brain connects to the spinal cord. It controls neorological functions such as breathing, and survival and arousal functions. If damaged there can be difficulty breathing, swallowing, and sleeping.

In class we also learned about how the brain develops (connecting synapses). In adolescents the brain works much differently than it does in an adult. Adults are more balanced between being ruled by emotions, hormones, motivation and judgment. The judgement area of a teenagers brain has not fully developed, so they are more ruled by emotion and motivation. That is why many teenagers don't make good decisions.

One thing that really caught my attention in class was talking about exercise and how it relates so psychology. As a PE major I am always looking for new things that will help motivate people to exercise.

SO WHAT

It is important to know how the brain works to learn how to understand teenagers. I sometimes have a hard time with teenagers because I don't understand the decisions that they make sometimes. Learning about the development of their brains and knowing that everything they do is not entirely their fault, helps me have a little more compassion for them.

NOW WHAT

As a teacher I will be dealing directly with the teenage brain. Learning about different ways to teach that will work better for the specific mind of students will be a great help. I need to learn a lot more and go deeper into the research, especially that of exercise and psychology.