By Teachthought Staff
Understanding how the brain actually learns has been an AA scientific challenge for thousands of years.
Based on recent advances in neuroscience and applications to learning, there are new models of how the brain learns, unlike what is expected. It is suggested that the brain has four integrated systems that have its own memory patterns and accompaniments rather than one learning system.
8 Learning nervous system
Each system uses a different cell type and process. Educators need to have a clear understanding of how their brains learn and remember before embarking on a new pedagogy that is consistent with the demands of the 21st century.
The nervous system of learning refers to a specific system in the brain that helps you acquire, process and apply new knowledge and skills. Understanding these systems is important for education as it helps you design lessons that match the way your brain learns naturally. Below are some of the important nervous systems involved in the learning process.
1. Caution system
Description: This system helps to focus on information and eliminate distractions. Without attention, learning will not be done effectively. Related brain regions: prefrontal cortex (for decision making and focus) and parietal lobe (for recognition). Classroom Tips: Induce student attention with engaging hooks (such as stories, visuals, questions) and help you maintain focus using strategies such as chunking lessons and movement breaks.
2. Memory System
Learning depends on two types of memory.
Working Memory: A place where information is temporarily stored and manipulated (such as solving mathematical problems). Long-term memory: When knowledge and skills are preserved forever. Related brain regions: hippocampus (to store memory) and prefrontal cortex (for working memory). Classroom tips: Use repetition, storytelling and practical practice to allow students to move information into long-term memory.
3. Emotional system
Description: Strong emotions – positive or negative – can paste memories. The more emotionally recharges the lesson, the more likely the student will remember it. Related brain regions: the amygdala (process emotions) and the hippocampus (connecting emotions to memory). Classroom Tips: Create a positive learning environment and connect lessons to students’ personal interests and experiences to boost engagement.
4. Motivation and Reward System
Description: This system encourages you to search for and repeat rewarding actions. Dopamine, a brain chemical, plays an important role here. Related brain regions: nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. Classroom tips: Provide clear goals, rewards (such as tracking praise and progress), and options to motivate students.
5. Language and Symbol System
Description: This system handles the ability to process, interpret and respond to language, which is the central part of learning in many subjects. Related brain regions: Broca’s (voice production) and Wernicke’s (language understanding). Classroom tips: Use clear language, provide visual aids, encourage discussion and enhance language understanding.
6. Sensory processing system
Description: These systems take information from our senses (vision, sounds, touch, etc.) and help our brain interpret it. Multisensory learning improves understanding and retention. Related brain regions: occipital lobe (vision), temporal lobe (audulation), and sensory cortex (touch). Classroom Tips: Include activities that include visual aids, hands-on experiments and music to activate multiple senses.
7. Executive Function System
Description: This system is essential for planning, problem solving, impulse control and decision making, which are important for high-level thinking. Related brain regions: prefrontal cortex. Classroom Tips: Teach skills such as goal setting, organizing tasks, and self-monitoring to enhance executive capabilities.
8. Social learning system
Description: Humans are wired to learn from others by observing, cooperating, and imitating. Social interactions help to build deeper understandings. Related brain regions: mirror neurons (help “mirror” other people’s behavior) and mirror the prefrontal cortex. Classroom tips: Use group projects, peer education and discussions to promote collaborative learning.
Wild and crazy brain
The brain begins life, and approximately 80% of its cells are neurons. That percentage will decrease to the mid-20s, which will stabilize at around 7%. On one apocalyptic night between the ages of 8 and 10, the brain removes more than 30% of the neurons. The total number of cells in the brain remains almost constant at about 1 trillion. By the late 20s, fewer than 90 billion neurons remained.
This new model of how the brain learns confronts anecdotal, urban mythology related to thinking, remembering and learning. This solution focuses on emerging research surrounding interactions between neurons (7-8% of brain cells), astrocytes (76% of brain cells), and EEG activity. The model also integrates the role of dendritic spines and their possible memory stick qualities, and how these answer many questions surrounding the nature of memory storage and search that occur in parallel with the structure of the brain known as the hippocampus, amygdala and jillus.
We need to reaffirm that Neuroscience talks about brain functionality and how it can be used to craft a set of teaching and learning capabilities focused on building an appropriate knowledge base, and to encourage the development of conceptual frameworks of understanding. These can be applied to creatively develop these new ideas and concepts (innovation) and applications (originality) in the form of new products, systems and environments.
Teachthought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
