Brain Research - LTCY 199 - Summer 2009 - Brain Development

1. The Human Brain Evolved, Too. By: Laura Johnson

2. Meet Your Brain… You have three brains: The Brain Stem or “Lizard Brain” The Paleomammalian Brain or “Mammalian Brain” The Human Brain

3. The Brain is Still evolving Our Brain and our heads are evolving. They are getting bigger all the time.

4. Evolving by Adapting We were forced out of our natural habitat into a harsher environment. Had to learn how to adapt to different climate changes and different landscaping.

5. Evolving by Adapting Continued… We began in a certain area and then as climates changed, we traveled to new areas, eventually distributing humans throughout the world. Our ancestors is thought to have only about 2,000 individuals all together. Then as we expanded areas, so did our population. We now have over 7 billion people throughout the world.

6. 4 legs to 2 legs Going from 4 legs to 2 legs to walk on the savannah freed up energy to develop a complex brain. (Medina, Page 47)

7. Symbolic Reasoning Humans are able to see an object as itself and as other things as well. Also known as Dual Representation. Pentagon Shape The Pentagon

8. Symbolic Reasoning Continued… You can make any object or item into any thing you want it to be. Ex: Make a horizontal line. It doesn’t have to stay a line, you can make it into an L by adding a vertical line to it.

9. Feeling it Our ability to learn has deep roots in relationships. (Medina, page 45) For example, depending on the relationship with your teacher can determine the quality of education you receive.

10. Theory of Mind We have the ability to view the psychological interior of people. This is called theory of mind. We try to see our world in terms of motivations, ascribing motivations to our pets and even to inanimate objects. This skill is useful for selecting a mate, for navigating day-to-day issues surrounding life together, and parenting. (Medina, page 44)

11. Theory of Mind Continued… Humans have a natural instinct to try and figure out what is going through a peers mind. It is very difficult to figure out what your peer is thinking just by body language. You would have to pry into their mind to figure it out. We do this involuntary, every where we go.

13. Refrences John J. Medina (2008). brain rules (1st ed.). Seattle, WA: John J Medina. John J. Medina (2009). brain rules. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from None, Pear Press Web site: http://www.brainrules.net/ Labrecque, Jeremy (July, 2009). Neuroscience finds wisdom centers in the brain . Discovery Magazine, , .