TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH SEMINAR CLINICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH PLATFORM 27 July 2010 School of Medical Sciences USM Health Campus Neuro Q no.2 = Neuro Quotient Dr.Muzaimi Mustapha Department of Neurosciences School of Medical Sciences
Oh, what a beautiful thing the human being is, and how extraordinary the mind! It is not divorced from the body. Rather, they are intertwined, as a successful marriage, a union and a bond. Wikiquote. Anonymous McGraw-Hill / Open University Press, 2009
General Limitations of Brain Imaging/Mapping 1. Structure function mappings are not one to one [no unambiguous neural correlates of learning difficulties, styles] 2. Surrogate measures of brain activation [activation models may be incomplete ] 3. Individual differences in brain structure function [activation maps are statistical] 4. The brain is structurally very complex; brain function is nonlinear [ it s a tough problem]
Daily Telegraph, December 1997 Brain based learning +ve media and political recognition of a role for neuroscience in social policy: education, criminology, care... ve misinterpretations that these areas which light up are solely responsible for a particular type of mental activity... Brain-based learning depends on how the brain learns and works.
Brain Mind Behaviour
Brain Mind Behaviour
Common brain functions for all acts of intelligence: Working memory <= lateral frontal cortex Long term memory <= hippocampus + Decision making <= orbitofrontal cortex Emotional mediation <= limbic subcortex Sequencing of symbolic representation <= fusiform gyrus + temporal lobe Conceptual relationships <= parietal lobe Conceptual rehearsal <= cerebellum ( Gaeke, 2009)
Neuroscience and Education A GULF between current neuroscience and classroom applications.
Neuroscience and Education Neuroimaging has enabled scientists to study the human brain at work in vivo, deepening our understanding of the very complex processes underpinning speech and language, thinking and reasoning, reading and mathematics. education problem science research question science finding education implication / application Goswami, 2004) Institute for the Future of the Mind, 21 st Century School, University of Oxford
Brain Mind Behaviour Stimulus Activation interpretation Brain activities Imaging/Recording
Electroencephalograhy (EEG) EEG: recording of the spontaneous natural electrical activity of active areas of the brain using multiple electrodes placed over the scalp EEG frequency or spectrum analysis entails: - Subdivide the different frequency bands, such as delta, theta, alpha, beta & gamma; - Estimate the absolute or relative power in a band; - Calculate the ratio between bands; - Investigate left/right symmetry and - Investigate coherence (i.e., synchronization between channels).
Event related potentials (ERP) ERP data consist of changes in the EEG in response to experimental stimuli i.e. systematic deflections in electrical activity that may occur to precede, accompany or follow the stimuli ERP enable the timing rather than localisation of neural events to be studied. ERP are thus time-locked to specific stimuli designed to study cognitive function. The waveforms of interest typically occur 100, 300 or 400 milliseconds after the stimulus onset. In other words, ERP data is temporally sensitive. ERPs are wave patterns that are characterized by three parameters: - Polarity (positive or negative, which is often indicated by the letter in the ERP name); - Latency (the moment of peak occurrence after stimulus presentation, which is often indicated with the number in the ERP name); and - Scalp distribution
Event related potentials (ERP) and Classroom Implications Language Mathematics Reading Attention/Recognition/Memory Emotion and cognition (Goswami 2004)
USM School of Distance Education: i Teacher
Brain based learning i-teacher + Event related potentials (ERP)
In Summary: Neuro Quotient I Teacher content EEG/ERP Neuro Quotient For a brain-based learning programme, you don t necessarily want a brain scientist, but you do need someone who understands brain science, and the best way to understand brain science is to work with brain scientists.