SHAPING THE DEVELOPING BRAIN: PLASTICITY AND LEARNING

The Adaptability of the Developing Brain: Plasticity, Experiences, & Critical Learning Periods in Children & Adolescents

Examine how the brain develops and the importance of the complex interplay between genes and our early experiences to our ultimate developmental outcome. This talk will describe how, from birth, connections between brain cells are made, and how, between the age of three and adolescence, some connections are selectively maintained and "hard-wired," while others are selectively eliminated, or "pruned." Also explore the idea of "windows of opportunity" in a child's early years for efficiently learning new skills and reorganizing brain pathways following injury, as well as the developing brain’s connection to autism and learning.

Keynote: Harry T. Chugani, M.D., PET Center Director; Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan; Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University

Keynote: Diane C. Chugani, Ph.D., Co-Director, PET Center, Children’s Hospital of Michigan; Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Radiology, Wayne State University

How Symbols, Language, & Intelligence Evolved from Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans: Implications for Learning & Autism

Explore research on the evolution of language development in apes and humans, what it means for intervention for learning disorders such as autism, as well as a new theory on the fundamental origins of human intelligence, culture, and society.

Keynote: Stuart G. Shanker, D.Phil., Professor of Psychology and Philosophy, York University, Toronto; expert on child and ape language development and autism; co-author with Stanley Greenspan, M.D. of The First Idea: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence Evolved from Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans (2004); co-author of Apes, Language and the Human Mind (2001)

Sex Differences in the Developing Brain: Implications for Cognition & Psychiatric Disorders

Explore how male and female brains are structurally different and lead to cognitive and skill differences. Dr. Jill Goldstein and her team found that men and women differed in the size and volume of particular brain regions and that hormonal mechanisms during fetal development may help to explain some of the sex differences in psychiatric and neurological disorders that we see in childhood and adulthood.

Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Director, Women’s Mental Health Studies, Massachusetts Mental Health Center

Understanding the Brain Through the Study of Addiction: A New Approach to Teaching Neurobiology in High School

This session explores brain function, how neurons communicate, and how drugs alter the biology and chemistry of the brain. Hands-on activities using experimental data, simulations, and case studies examine the science of drug abuse and addiction. Participants receive a copy of "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction," an NIH curriculum supplement for grades 9-12.

This session is co-sponsored by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.
Dave Vannier, Ph.D., Professional Development Coordinator, Office of Science Education, which provides brain-based curricula for teachers, National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Pathways to Healthy Child/Brain Development & Academic Success

Dr. Ed Joyner will discuss the wholistic nature of brain development and how support for physical, psychosocial, emotional, ethical and language development contributes to the construction of the mind necessary for students to succeed in school and in life.

Edward T. Joyner, Ed.D., Executive Director, School Development Program, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine; co-author of The Field Guide to Comer Schools in Action (2004); Child by Child: The Comer Process for Change in Education (1999) and Rallying the Whole Village (1996)

Brain Plasticity & Learning: Creating Optimal Learners

Find out in this lively and accessible workshop about substantive research showing how learning changes the brain and how the tools of meta-cognition can create optimal learning in all of us. Significant bodies of research in neuroscience demonstrate how human learners acquire new skills and knowledge. Correlating studies in the fields of cognitive and educational psychology reveal that optimal learners possess specific learning beliefs, and they practice distinct learning behaviors. Find out what happens when teachers combine the natural biology of human learning design with educational practices that elicit the psychology of optimal learning behaviors.

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., holds two Masters degrees, including a degree from the Mind, Brain & Education Concentration, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; Director, Brainergy, Inc, an educational consulting firm; speaker; writer; teacher working with schools to develop brain-based training materials and curricula

The Brain Science of Overcoming Dyslexia: New Research on Reading Programs

Translate new research on brain mechanisms underlying dyslexia into intervention strategies for reading. Explore the results of a brain imaging study that found, after they overcome their reading disability, the brains of formerly poor readers begin to function like the brains of good readers.

Keynote: Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Yale University; Co-Director, Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, Yale University School of Medicine; author of, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level (2003)

Keynote: Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology; Chief of Pediatric Neurology; Co-Director, Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, Yale University School of Medicine

Brain Plasticity in Reading: Brain Imaging the Impact of Reading Intervention on Children

Examine results of brain scan studies of children in a reading intervention program that show not only brain changes, but also improved performance in reading. Review Reading Works, a computer-based program designed by neuroscientists to help improve reading in children.

Bruce D. McCandliss, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University; researcher on how reading intervention changes the brain

Learning Problems, Delayed Brain Development & Puberty: Implications for Language-Based Learning, Dyslexia, & Intervention

This talk will describe new research on how delayed brain development and puberty may be key factors contributing to language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia and speech language impairment, and what it means for future diagnoses and treatment of these disorders.

Beverly A. Wright, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Institute of Neuroscience, Northwestern University; co-author of “Learning problems, delayed development, and puberty,” (2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders: Diagnosis & Intervention

This presentation discusses the various subtypes of reading disorders from a brain-based educational model of learning. The expected learner outcomes will include being able to detect early signals of reading disorders, developing a greater understanding of the neuroanatomical features underlying reading, and gaining a greater insight toward using brain/behavior relationships for recommendations leading to the educational remediation of dyslexia. Lastly, the workshop will explain appropriate programs that can meet the diverse needs of both younger and older students with developmental dyslexia.

Steven G. Feifer, Ed.S., NCSP, Neuropsychologist; School Psychologist; co-author of The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders (2001) and The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders: Diagnosis & Intervention (2000)

Paying Attention to the Brain & Executive Function: How Learning & Memory Are Impaired by the Syndrome Called ADHD

Dr. Martha Denckla will discuss evidence that indicates children with ADHD have executive function deficits that affect verbal short-term and working memory, planning, and organization.

Keynote: Martha Bridge Denckla, M.D., Director, Developmental Cognitive Neurology Clinic; Kennedy Krieger Institute; Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Pharmacotherapy of ADHD: New & Innovative Approaches

Gain a better understanding of the latest pharmacotherapy treatments for ADHD in children and adolescents and new approaches being considered for the disorder.

Jefferson B. Prince, M.D. Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatric Psychopharmacology, North Shore Medical Center; Staff, Child Psychiatry, Pediatric Psychopharmacology Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital; Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; actively involved in research into the characterization, diagnosis,
and treatment of ADHD, other related conditions and substance use in children, adolescents, and adults

Long-Term Outcomes of ADHD Treatment: What We Know

Explore the long-term outcomes of ADHD treatment and the effectiveness of treatment. Dr. Peter Jensen was the lead NIMH investigator on the six-site NIMH and Department of Education-funded study of multimodal treatment of ADHD, commonly referred to as the MTA study, and an investigator on several other multisite studies on ADHD.

Peter S. Jensen, M.D., Ruane Professor of Child Psychiatry; Director, Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health; Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and NY State Psychiatric Institute

Brain Images & Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Children & Adolescents/Using Brain Scans to Treat Bipolar & Depression

Examine the results of brain imaging studies on childhood bipolar disorder, its impact on cognitive and language development, differences between children and adults with bipolar disorder, and the latest intervention and treatment for the disorder.

Jean A. Frazier, M.D., Director, Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry Services; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Michael Rohan, M.S., Imaging Physicist, Brain Imaging Center; McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Life on, & Slightly to the Right of, the Autism Spectrum: An Insider’s View

Stephen Shore will explain his nonverbal days and recommendations for institutionalization to the completion of his doctorate to present on many of the challenges facing children on the autism spectrum caused by differences in neural structures in the brains. Some of the topics explored include sensory integration, education, and issues of adulthood such as self-advocacy and disclosure, continuing education, employment, and relationships. The presentation will end with an interactive activity to provide a sense of what it is like to experience the environment as a person on the autism spectrum.

Stephen M. Shore, M.A., Doctoral Candidate and Graduate Assistant at Boston University, who was diagnosed with autism at age two; Executive Director of Autism Spectrum Disorder Consulting; author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2001)

The Autism Spectrum Disorders: Improving Performance in Children

Learn about the under-diagnosed medical conditions that children with autism have, and how identification and treatment can lead to improved performance in these children.

Margaret L. Bauman, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Associate Pediatrician and Assistant Neurologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Director of LADDERS (Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Service) at Massachusetts General Hospital; Director, The Autism Research Foundation in Boston; Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine; co-editor of the book, The Neurobiology of Autism (Second Edition, 2004)

Treating Autism in Children: Neuro-Gastroenterology & Autism

This talk will center on the growing data suggesting that a subgroup of children with autism have gastrointestinal conditions. Regardless of the prevalence, these conditions may, if unrecognized, contribute to behaviors such as aggression or self-injury. The consideration that these are not symptoms of autism, but may be symptoms suggesting an underlying medical illness will be illustrated. Recommendations for the medical evaluation of children with autism and other developmental issues will be given.

Timothy M. Buie, M.D., Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; Clinician and Consultant with the MGH LADDERS Program; expert in diagnosing children with GI complications and dynamic approach to treating gut issues in children with autism; researcher in carbohydrate enzyme deficiencies

The Child Brain: How Emotions & Temperament Influence Child Development

Discover how temperament influences child development and emotional development and its relationship to a sanguine or melancholic mood.

Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Harvard University; co-author of The Long Shadow of Temperament (2004); author, Surprise, Uncertainty, and Mental Structures (2002)

Adolescent Brains: Understanding Their Moods, Emotions, & Behavior

Explore how and why the brain grows and changes during adolescence. Gain a better understanding of the behaviors, beliefs, and feelings associated with normal teen development.

Abigail A. Baird, Ph.D., Director, Laboratory for Adolescent Studies; Professor, Dept. of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, researcher examining the structural and physiological changes in the limbic system of adolescent brains

The Teen Brain: Influences of Emotions & Hormones on Memory

This session will examine the practical implications of teenage hormones and emotions for teachers by looking at their influences to student memory performances, including the impact of different types of instruction, and emotional impact of the material.

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming, middle and high school biology teacher; memory researcher and author of Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

Learning & Memory: From Molecules, to Mind, to Memory Pills

New tools, from brain-imaging techniques to molecular neuroscience, have opened the workings of the brain in ways never before imaginable. These tools have begun to reveal the fundamental mechanisms of how we develop, learn, and remember. This presentation will cover how we study the brain at different levels of resolution from large-scale whole-brain imaging to gene expression in individual brain cells to better understand learning and memory. Greater understanding of memory is leading to a host of new memory pills that could be on the market in the near future for cognitive deficits. Explore how this could impact disorders and education.

Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Co-Director, Neuroscience Research Institute; Harriman Professor of Neuroscience Research, University of California, Santa Barbara

Memory & the Brain: Matching Instruction & Assessment Using Memory Pathways

Understanding how memory works provides an advantage for every educator. This presentation gives participants the opportunity to differentiate the different types of memory, how to access each for instruction, and how to create assessments that match. Receiving, encoding, storing, and retrieving information can make more sense to our students when knowledge of memory and transfer are utilized. Objectives: Understand neural memory and how networks are set in the brain as patterns, learn the brain’s ten rules of memory, and understand and utilize memory pathways for instruction and assessment.

Marilee B. Sprenger, M.A., Adjunct Professor, Aurora University, former teacher; memory expert; author of How to Teach So Students Remember (2005), Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching (2001), and Learning & Memory: The Brain in Action (1999)

New Research on Emotional Memory: Implications for Education

Professor Suzanne Corkin will discuss her pioneering research findings on emotional memory and brain activation at the time of encoding and retrieval of the various memory stimuli. She will correlate memory performance with brain activation in specific regions of the brain and compare patterns of brain activation between younger and older people, and will suggest what it means for education.

Suzanne H. Corkin, Ph.D., Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-editor of “The Molecular Bases of Dementia” (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2000)

The NeuroNet Project: Listen, Talk, & Write -- A Practical Approach to Improving Attention, Memory, & Learning

Explore how the NeuroNet Listen, Talk and Write Program helps students automate handwriting. The NeuroNet LTW program strengthens memory by creating neural networks, which automatically link perception and movement for written number and letterforms. Students who automate handwriting for written letter and number forms are able to complete their work more quickly. Secondary benefits include longer auditory memory span (improved spelling), and longer language memory span (improved written language). The NeuroNet LTW program is currently being used by teachers as a classroom enrichment program, and by clinicians as an individual therapy program. Students who have benefited from this program include those with learning disabilities, auditory processing disorders, and non-verbal learning disabilities.

Nancy W. Rowe, M.S., FAAA, Founder, Neuronet Programs; Audiologist, whose interest lies in the use of temporal information processing paradigms to improve attention, memory and learning

The Neurological Basis of Intelligence: Implications for Education

One of the greatest challenges of cognitive neuroscience is to understand how the brain is intelligent. This talk will review recent neuroscientific studies of general intelligence, as well as specific forms of reasoning, and feature neuroimaging studies, which are concerned with the more creative aspects of intelligent behavior. These results have implications for educational policy and practice, but first we need to delineate the interpretive strengths and limitations of neuroimaging procedures and debunk some of the prevailing neuro-myths that currently infect education.

John G. Geake, Ph.D., Professor of Education,Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK; Research Collaborator, Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, Dept. of Neurology, University of Oxford; researcher on intelligence, creativity, and the gifted

Giftedness, IQ, & the Brain: What Do We Know?

Learn what we know about gifted children (in music, art, academic domains), and what these children are like cognitively, socially, and emotionally. Uncover evidence that talent in music and art is independent of IQ (with evidence from savants to make this point), and study existing evidence linking giftedness and the brain.

Ellen Winner, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Boston College; Senior Research Assoc. at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education; author of Gifted Children: Myths and Realities (1996)

The Effects of Music Training on Children’s Brain and Cognitive Development

Neurologist Gottfried Schlaug will discuss his long-term studies, being conducted with researcher Ellen Winner of Boston College, on tracking the brains and intellectual development of children as they learn to play musical instruments

Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Neuroimaging Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Music & IQ: New Evidence that Music Lessons Promote Intellectual Development

Examine the latest results of a groundbreaking study on the effects of extra-curricular activities on the intellectual and social development of six-year-old children and whether musical training and drama can boost child intelligence.

E. Glenn Schellenberg, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, who studies the reciprocal influence of music and cognition

Shaping Minds Musically: Can Music Improve Learning Disorders & Health?

Explore the powerful potential for music to mold and shape the listener's mental structures, change behavior, improve education, and health care, and help patients with mental and physical disorders.

Tod Machover, Ph.D., Professor of Music and Media, Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, composer of five operas, including the celebrated Brain Opera; inventor of Hyperinstruments, a technology that uses smart computers to augment virtuosity

Music Therapy: The Effects of Music on Dyslexia, Aphasia, and Parkinson's
Neurologist Gottfried Schlaug will discuss new research on the effects of music in treating disorders such as dyslexia, Aphasia, Parkinson's Disease and other neurological disorders.

Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Neuroimaging Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

How Cognitive Science Can Inform Curriculum and Assessment

Explore research on teaching and learning and its connection to the cognitive sciences, cognitive development, learning, and assessment.

Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D., Charles Bigelow Professor; Director, Mind, Brain & Education Concentration (MBE), Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; co-author of “Building general knowledge & skill,” Emergence and Transformation in the Mind: Modeling and Measuring Cognitive Change (2004)

Theo L. Dawson-Tunik, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Education, Cognitive Science, Hampshire College

Where Do I Begin? Strategies for Successfully Applying Brain Research

Learn how to successfully apply brain/mind theory in the classroom for all ages. This is a highly practical application of fourteen strategies that create real change in the classroom from the moment students walk in, to their final assessment.

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming, middle and high school biology teacher; author of Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

Mind, Brain, & Education for Teachers: Pitfalls & Promises of Brain-Based Teaching

This session will focus on exploring the role of neuroscience, as it currently stands, in the classroom. In addition to exploring potential misuses, we will explore the utility of applying nueroscientific findings to the classroom, discovering the principles derived from neuroscience that could positively impact teaching, and discussing the all-important role of the teacher within the emerging field of Mind, Brain and Education. This session will be especially relevant to teachers and teacher educators.

David B. Daniel, Ph.D., Trustee Professor, Dept. of Psychology, University of Maine at Farmington; Associate Research Scientist, New England Research Institutes

Spatial Skills Development in Boys & Girls: Implications for Teaching & Assessment

This talk will define spatial skills and discuss the early brain development in humans, a new theory of gender specific spatial skills, how to increase spatial learning in the classroom, and new assessment techniques for spatial learning.

J. Gail Armstrong-Hall, Ph.D., Middle School Teacher; author of Understanding Children’s Successes and Frustrations in School (2002), Understanding and Practicing the Female Spatial Skills, and Understanding and Practicing the Male Spatial Skills (2000)

How Teaching Changes Learning: Linking Teacher Practice Directly to Student Achievement

One of the most powerful factors in student learning is feedback since it reinforces neurons in the brain. Research studies report between 21% and 41% impact on student achievement outcomes-- when used with certain criteria. This talk demonstrates how two schools have used a new method to dissect curricular standards/objectives and converted them into simple 3-5" classroom assessments, generating representations of student and class achievement levels within minutes.

Robert K. Greenleaf, Ed.D., Professional Development Specialist, The Education Alliance @ Brown University; President, Greenleaf Learning Center; author of The Power of Two and Brain-Based Teaching: Building Excitement for Learning; author of "The adolescent brain: Still ready to learn" (2002, Principal Leadership)

The Neuroscience of Innate Wisdom: Using Metacognition, Meditation, & Mind-Body Practices to Enhance Emotional Development

We live in a nervous world at a nervous time, and it is wreaking havoc with our children’s minds, brains, and bodies. Educators must develop curricular practices and classroom strategies that can help children restore their emotional equanimity and strengthen and maintain the integrity of their central nervous systems. Learn simple tools to reduce daily stress, increase mental flexibility and alertness, and provide emotional resilience in children.

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., holds two Masters degrees, including a degree from the Mind, Brain & Education Concentration, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; Director, Brainergy, Inc, an educational consulting firm; speaker; writer; teacher working with schools to develop brain-based training materials and curricula

Using Brain Research and Data for Student Success

Learning to use a brain-compatible system can allow educators to better identify and address students' learning needs, special interests, learning style and talent differences. Dr. Ron Fitzgerald will present an overview of a tested system of using brain research and data-based management in the classroom. The K-12 system is based on more than a decade of successful use of brain-based principles in schools including his regional high school in Lexington, MA. The system will soon be published in a handbook by the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Ronald Fitzgerald, Ed.D., Consultant, former Superintendent, Minuteman Regional High School, MA, author of Using Brain Research and Data for Teaching Success (2005, the American Society for Quality)