CO-SPONSORS

A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MIT

Mind, Brain & Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Comer School Development Program, Yale University School of Medicine

The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Dana Foundation

The Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara

Dept. of Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences, Sargent College, Boston University

School of Education,
Boston University

National Association of Secondary School Principals

This conference has passed. Please check the homepage for new conferences and events.

PROGRAM
Scroll down for program session details

For Educators, Parents, Clinicians, and Adult Educators

Cognitive neuroscience has discovered that the brain is not ‘hardwired’ from birth, but holds a remarkable lifelong power to change—a phenomenon called ‘plasticity.’ Positive or negative environments, exercise, nurturance, learning, and other experiences continue to change the brain throughout life.

These revolutionary findings point to new possibilities for ‘rewiring’ the brain to help overcome learning disorders and to enhance memory, learning, IQ and achievement in all learners.

Learning Objectives
You Will Gain Knowledge About:

• Brain-based teaching for children, adolescents and adults
• How stress and early adversity shape brains and later learning
• New insights into reading and math disorders and interventions
• Influences that change the brain and affect learning
• Cutting-edge environments, technology and insights into adult learning
• Techniques for treating mood, ADHD, stress and learning problems
• How the brain can be retrained to improve attention and memory
• The role of brain plasticity in resilience, empathy and teaching

>> Download conference brochure (pdf)

>> Download conference brochure for ASHA members (pdf)

>>Download conference press release (pdf)

	The Brain that Changes Itself: The Neuroplasticity Revolution Norman Doidge, MD, Psychiatrist; Psychoanalyst; Researcher in neuroplasticity; Research Faculty, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; author of The Brain that Changes Itself (2007)
* Indicates that session is also applicable to adult learners
BRAIN PLASTICITY, LEARNING & EDUCATION
Brain Plasticity, Development and Early Experience Charles A. Nelson III, Ph.D., Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research; Harvard Medical School; Director, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience; Boston Children's Hospital; renowned researcher on the effects of early experience on brain and behavioral development
*The Neuroplasticity Revolution: Implications for Education and Learning Disorders Norman Doidge, MD, Psychiatrist; Psychoanalyst; Research Faculty, Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, Columbia University; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; author of The Brain that Changes Itself (2007)
Hardwired to Learn: Creating Schools That Nurture and Grow Developing Brains Sam Goldstein, PhD, Faculty Member, University of Utah Medical School and George Mason University; Neuropsychologist, Neurology, Learning and Behavior Center in Salt Lake City; co-author of Raising a Self-Disciplined Child (2007), Understanding and Managing Children’s Classroom Behavior (2007) and Seven Steps for Building Social Skills in Your Child (2006); co-editor of Handbook of Resilience in Children (2006)
*Igniting and Nurturing Student Minds and Emotions to Transform Learning and Schooling Stephanie Pace Marshall, PhD, Founding President, Illinois Mathematic and Science Academy; Founding President, National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools in Mathematics, Science and Technology; member of President Clinton’s Global Initiative; author of Power to Transform: Leadership that Brings Learning and Schooling to Life (2006) and Science Literacy for the 21st Century (2002)
*Disrupting the Brain with Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Understand and Enhance Learning Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Director, Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation; Adjunct Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Boston University; Associate at the Cognitive Neuroscience Section, Faculty of Arts and Science, Harvard University; co-author, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Neurochronometrics of Mind (2005) and “The Plastic Human Brain Cortex” (2005, Annual Review of Neuroscience)
EMOTIONS, ENVIRONMENT & RESILIENCE
*Stress and Neuroplasticity in Learning Bruce S. McEwen, PhD, Professor; Head of the Harold & Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Rockefeller University; author of The End of Stress as We Know It (2002); co-author, “Social disadvantage and adolescent stress” (2005, Journal of Adolescent Health); editor, Cerebrum 2007: Emerging Ideas in Brain Science (2007)
Developing Brains: Early Adversity in Children and Neuroplasticity Mechanisms Seth D. Pollak, PhD, Dev. Psychopathologist; Director, Child Emotion Lab; Investigator, Social & Affective Process Unit; College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Resilience in Growing Up: New Research in the Interaction of Brain & Environment Norbert Herschkowitz, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Bern, Switzerland; neuroscientist; pediatrician; advisor to the Swiss Federal Health Department on Child Development; co-author of A Young Mind in A Growing Brain (2005) and A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child’s Brain and Behavior (2004) Elinore Chapman Herschkowitz, MA, former teacher at Bern State Teachers’ College, Switzerland; co-author of A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child’s Brain and Behavior (2004)
*Mind, Mood & Memory: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise & the Brain John J. Ratey, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008) and A User’s Guide to the Brain (2002); co-author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with ADD (2005) and Driven to Distraction (1994)
*The Continuing Puzzles of Emotional Experience Jerome Kagan, PhD, Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Harvard University; renowned expert in child development; author of What is Emotion?: History, Measures, and Meanings (2007); co-author of An Argument for Mind (2006), A Young Mind in A Growing Brain (2005), and The Long Shadow of Temperament (2004)
*Connecting the Brain, Emotions and Cognition to Education and Learning Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Brain and Creativity Institute for the Neurological Study of Emotion, Decision-Making, and Creativity, University of Southern California
CHILD AND TEEN BRAINS-- LEARNING & TEACHING
The Teen Brain's Ability to Learn Frances E. Jensen, MD, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Senior Associate in Medicine; Director of Epilepsy Research, Children's Hospital Boston; researcher of age-specific mechanisms of white matter injury in the developing brain; co-founder of the program "Teen Brain 101" for teens, parents and educators
The Developing Brain: Birth to Age Eight Marilee B. Sprenger, MA, Adjunct Professor, Aurora University, former teacher; author of The Developing Brain: Birth to Age Eight (2008), Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching (2006, revised edition), How to Teach So Students Remember (2005), and Learning & Memory: The Brain in Action (1999)
A Guide to the Adolescent Brain: Periods of Vulnerabilities and Opportunities Ronald E. Dahl, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; co-editor, "Adolescent Brain Development: Vulnerabilities and Opportunities" (2004, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)
Teaching to the Teen Brain: Connecting Memory, Emotions & Actions Jeb Schenck, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming, middle and high school biology teacher; memory researcher whose studies focus on student long-term memory and learning; author of Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)
The Good Teen: Creating Positive Development in Adolescence Richard M. Lerner, PhD, Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University; Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Human Development, Brown University; author, The Good Teen: Rescuing Adolescence from the Myths of the Storms and Stress (2007); co-editor of Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (2004)
Resilience and Self-Awareness in Adolescents Thomas J. Cottle, PhD, Professor of Education, School of Education, Boston University; sociologist and licensed clinical psychologist; author of When the Music Stopped (2004), Sense of Self: A Work of Affirmation (2003), Mind Fields: Adolescent Consciousness in a Culture of Distraction (2001)
MENTAL TRAINING & LEARNING DISORDERS
Visual Processing and Learning with Persons on the Autism Spectrum Howard C. Shane, PhD, Director, Center for Communication Disorders, Children's Hospital Boston; Asssociate Proessor of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School; Faculty Member, Harvard-MIT Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Program; creator of the Electronic Screen Media Environment to enable children with autism to improve their communication skills
Working Memory Training for Children with ADHD Bradley S. Gibson, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame; attention researcher examining the efficiency of working memory training to improve attention deficits in children
*Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M, Master Certified Coach; Senior Certified ADHD Coach; Past President, Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA); international expert on ADHD coaching; author of The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents (2008); co-author of Coaching College Students with ADD: Issues and Answers (2000)
*fMRI and Brain Plasticity: Implications for Learning Disorders John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, Grover Hermann Professor in Health Sciences and Technology; Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Associate Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
*Using the Mind to Change the Brain: Neuroplastic Changes in Attention and Mood Associated With Mindful Meditation Sara W. Lazar, PhD, Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Psychology, Dept. of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital; Scientist, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; co-author of “Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness” (2005, NeuroReport), co-contributor, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy (2005)
*Developing An Understanding of the “Hidden Curriculum” for People with High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome Stephen M. Shore, EdD, Adjunct Instructor, Antioch College; President emeritus, Asperger’s Association of New England; Board of Directors, Autism Society of America, Unlocking Autism and the Autism Services Association of Massachusetts; author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2001), and Autism for Dummies; co-author of Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on Autism Spectrum (2004)
ADULT BRAINS -- LEARNING & TRAINING
*Adult Development and Overturning Resistance to Change in Your Environment Robert Kegan, PhD, The William and Miriam Meehan Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Educational Chair, Institute for Management and Leadership in Education; Co-director, Change Leadership Group
*Brain Plasticity and Cognitive Fitness: How Our Minds Can Grow Stronger Throughout Life Elkhonon Goldberg, PhD, Clinical Professor of Neurology; New York University School of Medicine; Director, Institute of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Performance; author of The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows Older (2006) and The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind (2002)
*A Change of Character: Using Brain Plasticity to Restore a Damaged Mind A 30-minute documentary film, followed by a Q&A, offering a dramatic look at Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg’s innovative cognitive fitness program as applied to a patient with frontal-lobe damage following a series of strokes. Neal Goodman, producer/director, specialist in producing films about mental health, brain science, and disabilities
*The Adult Brain and Memory: How Learning Protects Against Alzheimer’s Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, Co-director, Neuroscience Research Institute; Harriman Chair and Professor of Neuroscience Research, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara; winner of the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association; co-author of When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer’s (1997)
*The Neuroscience of Adult Learners: New Directions for Education and Training Kathleen Taylor, PhD, Professor, Educational Leadership, School of Education, St. Mary’s College of Education; expert in adult learning; co-editor of The Neuroscience of Adult Learning: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (2006); author of Developing Adult Learners: Strategies for Teachers and Trainers (2000)
*Using New Immersive Learning Technologies, Training and Pedagogies to Foster Adaptive, Adult Critical Thinkers Presented in cooperation with the United States Army Randall (Randy) Hill, Jr., PhD, Executive Director, Institute for Creative Technologies; Research Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Southern California; former manager, Deep Space Network Advanced Technology Program, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.; co-author, “Toward Virtual Humans” (2006, Artificial Intelligence Magazine) Michelle Zbylut, PhD, Psychologist; Research Psychologist, United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences; researcher on leader training and development, interactive and multimedia training technologies, and leadership assessment Kenneth A. Yates, EdD, Senior Research Associate, Adjunct Professor, Center for Cognitive Technology, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California; researcher in applications of cognitive task analysis methods to improve human performance, instructional design, and educational technology Sharon R. Sloane, MA, Chief Executive Officer, WILL Interactive; developer of critical thinking and decision-making education simulations, and computer-based video games, simulations and learning programs Millie Abell, PhD, Chief, Learning Strategies Division, United States Army Headquarters, TRADOC
READING, LANGUAGE & MATH INTERVENTION
Teaching Reading to Students with Learning Disorders Mary Jean Hughes, EdD, Licensed Occupational Therapist; Director, Occupational Therapy, Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Hospital School; author of The Wolf Who Cried Boy (2008)
*Inside the Reading Brain: How Neuroscience Can Contribute to Intervention Guinevere F. Eden, DPhil, Director, Center for the Study of Learning; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University; Member, Center for the Brain Basis of Cognition; author, Skill Acquisition, Reading and Dyslexia (2007)
Early Identification: Using Neuroscience to Predict Children’s Reading Problems John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, Grover Hermann Professor in Health Sciences & Technology; Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Assoc. Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain Maryanne Wolf, EdD, Director, Center for Reading and Language Research Professor of Child Development, Tufts University; author of Proust and the Squid (2007) and Dyslexia, Fluency and the Brain (2001)
*Reading & Math Instructional Handouts: From PASS Cognitive Processes to Intervention Jack A. Naglieri, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Director, School Psychology Program, Department of Psychology; Faculty, Center for Cognitive Development, George Mason University; Senior Editor, Journal of Attention Disorders; co-author of A Practitioner’s Guide to Assessment of Intelligence and Achievement (2007), and Helping Children Learn (2003)
*Reading Skills and Disabilities: What Is the Role of Educational Neuroscience? Kurt W. Fischer, PhD, Charles Bigelow Professor; Director, Mind, Brain & Education Program (MBE), Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Director, International Mind, Brain and Education Society (IMBES); editor of Mind, Brain & Education Journal; co-editor of Mind, Brain and Education in Reading Disorders (2007)

--top--