April 2002

Accelerated Learning newsletter, April 2002

There is plenty of food for thought in this month's newsletter. Should boys be taught differently from girls? How can exercise improve academic performance? How does early acquisition of a second language affect the brain?

Each month we are exploding one of ten common myths about the brain and learning. In this issue, we examine the myth that male and female brains are so different we ought to teach boys and girls in different ways . In case you missed them in the November 2001 issue, you will find the myths at the end of the newsletter.

Myth number 2: Male and female brains are so different we ought to teach boys and girls in different ways!

Justification for teaching boys and girls in different ways does not come from brain research. Men and women are different, behave differently and have some difference in the organisation and structure of their brains. This does not provide a good rationale for education policy. The differences between male and female brains that are reported by many popular texts are exaggerated.

Science has demonstrated some clear physical differences between male and female brains. Male brains, although larger and heavier, are - surprisingly for some - less dense. A team from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada found that women's brains are more tightly packed with cells in the frontal lobe. This is an area that controls mental processes such as judgement, personality, planning and working memory. They found that women have up to 15 per cent more brain cell density, which controls the so-called higher mental processes. However, as they get older, women appear to shed cells more rapidly from this area than men. By middle age, the density is similar for both sexes.

Here we have in cameo the problem for researchers. What conclusions should be drawn? Could we infer from this that women naturally have better judgement, more personality, more astute planning and remember where they put things? I will leave that to you. Greater density of cells does not mean that women can out-perform men. It could be one way by which nature ensures that women can perform adequately despite the smaller size of their brain.

Male brains are larger in the anterior temporal lobes, an area that is just in front of the ears. This area includes the amygdala, an area associated with emotional arousal, and the anterior hippocampus, which is associated with long-term memory. A major study also found that the anterior cingulate cortex, another area involved in emotional sensitivity, is larger in women. In face processing tasks gifted males had significantly inhibited left hemisphere activity. The suggestion is that this specialisation allowed less interference for the right hemisphere to check for emotional context. Female subjects used both sides of the brain during face processing.

The corpus callosum is larger in women. Some writers have seized on this as evidence of women being better at communicating when under stress, multi-tasking and intuitive insight. They argue that the corpus callosum provides a more efficient relay system for whole brain integration. It is better at 'whole brain functioning', therefore the woman ought also to be better at holistic behaviours. The science behind this is weak. In general the neuroscience of gender is fascinating and sometimes conflicting. It points to a correlation between hemispheric organisation and sex differences, but it is difficult to route this through to specific behavioural patterns.

The consequences of brain injury differ between male and females. In some studies damage to the left-hemisphere of male brains resulted in impaired verbal IQ more than non-verbal IQ with damage to right hemisphere showing lowered non-verbal performance compared to verbal. Women showed no effect of side of lesion. Language and spatial abilities are more bilaterally controlled in females than in males.

Nature and nurture explanations can be made. The organisation of your brain reflects its interactions with its environment. If you constantly interact with the world around you in patterned ways, and all of your forebears who have provided you with your genetic structure have done the same, then who is able to say if your brain has shaped, or is shaped by, those interactions? Are the differences innate or have they been learned?

Despite accumulated evidence from cognitive psychologists that men and women perform in tests in very different ways, it is a bold leap to say that they are so different we should teach them in different ways. Perhaps science will eventually provide some more conclusive answers?

We'll be exploding another myth in next month's newsletter.

Fit to Succeed

Regular exercise could not only improve a child's health - but also their SATs scores. There are strong indications, from research carried out at a small-scale Fit to Succeed project at seven Exeter middle schools, of a link between physical exercise and pupil's school performance.

The project came about in response to teachers' efforts to motivate 'lethargic' pupils to reach their academic potential, and growing evidence of children's 'couch potato' lifestyles. It provides information packs for pupils, and an Activity Card Scheme, which offers them free opportunities for sports activities. Indications from the pilot project show an increased level of physical exercise among pupils taking part. But another interesting outcome is the indication of a link between exercise and SATs performance.

Angela Balding, researcher at Exeter Schools Health Education Unit, explained that during the project they collected information from pupils confidentially, but children's registration numbers were linked up with schools for SATs results.

She says, "We looked at the links between those who exercised three times a week and how well they did in external SATs in Maths and English. There is a strong indication that those who exercise regularly achieve higher grades. Of course, the argument that could be raised is that they achieved the highest scores because they are likely to come from the higher socio-economic groups, so we went back to the information again and looked at those on the register for free school meals. The same success story was evident".

The results from the pilot project are generating quite a deal of interest among schools, many of whom are keen to improve pupils' health and fitness levels as well as spur them on to do their best in class.

Bilingual Brains

Unlike people who become bilingual after childhood, those who learn a second language at an early age rely on the same critical patch of brain tissue when speaking either tongue, according to a new study. Adult learners of language apparently recruit nearby groups of brain cells, suggest neuroscientist Joy Hirsch of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and her colleagues.

"On the basis of our findings, the distinction between native and second languages may be less for [people who had] younger ages of exposure to a second language," Hirsch holds. According to her study, bilingual individuals who acquired a second tongue during childhood display elevated activity in the same part of Broca's area--a frontal lobe structure considered crucial for language use--regardless of which language they use. In contrast, people employing a second language acquired later exhibit neuronal bustle in another segment of Broca's area.

Wernicke's area, located in the temporal lobe and also known to perform language functions, displayed comparable responses in both groups. The researchers relied on a non-invasive technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to study changes in blood flow in the brains of 12 bilingual adults. Half of the group had learned a second language starting in infancy, while the remainder attained fluency as teenagers. Together, the volunteers speak 10 native and second languages, including English, French, and Turkish. The two groups reported roughly equal fluency and frequency of use for their second tongues.

Researchers obtained brain scans as participants silently recited, first in one language and then the other, brief descriptions of an event from the previous day. The findings may reflect either the sensitivity of part of Broca's area to language exposure during childhood or the existence of marked differences in the ways that children and adults learn languages.

The Language of Football

With the World Cup on its way our thoughts may be turning to football.. We make no reference here to the differences between the male and the female brain! We simply thought it might be a good moment to remind ourselves of the wisdom of great football managers:

1. 'The tide is very much in our court now.'
2. 'Goalkeepers aren't born today until they're in their 20's or 30's.'
3. 'In some ways cramp is worse than having a broken leg.'
4. 'England can end the millennium as it started - as the world's greatest footballing nation.'
5. 'Despite his white boots he has real pace.'

Ten fads that fooled the world

If you missed them last month, here they are again:

1) Your memory is perect
2) You only use 10% or less of your brain
3) You have three brains in one
4) Stress stops you learning
5) Your left brain is logical and your right is creative
6) You have an emotional brain
7) Mozart makes you more intelligent
8) Enriched learning environments give your child a better start in life
9) The brain cells you get at birth are those you have for life
10) Male and female brains are so different we ought to teach boys and girls in different ways

Alite 2002 - motivation and learning

Alite 2002 will take over an entire floor of the Cafe Royal in London on 21 June. There is considerable interest in the event, and places are filling up fast. We have negotiated special rates with a London hotel for those delegates wishing to stay in town for the weekend, but there are major sporting events in the South at that time and rooms are going quickly.

If you have already booked your place at Alite 2002 and would like to stay in London for the weekend after the conference, please email office@alite.co.uk for more details.

If you would like more information about Alite 2002, please follow this link or email office@alite.co.uk

Coming soon - Making It Happen (MiH)

MiH is a nine unit programme which helps individuals identify patterns of behaviour in their lives, remove those which have created barriers and replace them with a series of tools for improved personal performance. The programme has involved a large team of researchers, writers and designers. The course has a multi-cultural perspective and is bang up to date with the research it deploys. MiH will be available in September 2002. For more information please follow this link

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