Using Neuroscience and Technology to Build Learning Capacity

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience New area of neuroscience (15 years old) Evolving thanks to the new noninvasive technologies to study the brain (fMRI, PET etc.) …reading is the one area of the school curriculum where neuroscience has made its greatest contribution… Sousa, 2005

Neuronal communication system

Neurotransmitter Chemicals Acetylcholine: focused attention/reward Dopamine: reward, novelty Norepinephrine: novelty

This Student is Prepared to Learn: Paying Attention, Storing Multiple Commands and Assigning Meaning to What is Said

This Student is Not Prepared to Learn: Not Paying Attention, Not Storing Multiple Commands and Not Assigning Meaning to What is Said

National Institute of Health Cited Reasons for Poor Reading Ability

Causes of Poor Reading Research by National Institute of Health (after a ten-year public study) concluded: 80% of the time cognitive skill weakness… »Working memory »Ability to attend »Auditory and visual processing speed »Following sequences of directions …is the source of the difficulty

Reading is Simply WRITTEN LANGUAGE But…. “If a student cannot identify sounds in spoken words…he will have difficulty with decoding and thus reading.” Dr. G. Reid Lyon, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH 1997

1.READ 2.WRITE 3.SPEAK 4.LISTEN 5.COMPREHEND Five Domains of Language Proficiency

What are Some Causes for Poor Language Ability? Weak or missing neural maps can be caused by: Limited exposure to the language of the classroom Inner ear infections Neurological problems Processing speed Heritable factors Many other factors we haven’t identified

Perceptual weakness Weak phonological representations Oral language weakness Reading, writing, spelling problems Learning and academic problems Struggling students Language Literacy Continuum

Multiple Challenges in US

Growth of ELL Populations

Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995) (Age Child in Months) Estimated Cumulative Words Addressed to Child (In Millions) Working-class 26 Million Words Welfare 13 Million Words Professional 45 Million Words Language Experiences by Group

Reading Age Level Chronological Age Low Oral Language in Kindergarten High Oral Language in Kindergarten 5.2 years difference The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language on Reading Growth (Hirsch, 1996)

Problems with processing spoken language lead to difficulties with: Following directions Doing multiple choice tests Reading paragraphs Understanding pronouns Understanding embedded clauses Consequences in the Classroom For written material this is exaggerated by slow labored decoding

ASHA If a child has a speech or language problem, it will show up in both languages. However, these problems are not caused by learning two languages ASHA.ORG website, retrieved 9/23/07

Research has taught us: Both challenge and feedback are required for brain growth. At birth, we have an equal potential to learn any language. Literacy in the 1 st language accelerates literacy in the second. Socioeconomic level affects learning environment and vocabulary

Research has taught us: People who are functionally bilingual can delay the onset of dementia over 4 years longer than monolinguals.

Meet the Reseachers: Paula Tallal A world-recognized authority on language- learning disabilities Active on many scientific advisory boards and government committees Researches developmental language disorders and learning problems.

Students need to distinguish speech sounds correctly so they can learn the rules of language and associate sounds with letters Speech sounds can differ by as little as 10 milliseconds Fast ForWord emphasizes the differences in sounds to make them easier to distinguish Processing Speech

Tone Sequence Task Normals Language Delayed Tallal, P & Piercy, M (1973) Nature, 241 Faster (milliseconds) Slower Percent Correct Auditory Processing Differences 40

Why Processing Sound Is a Challenge For the Brain..

100 milliseconds Small Changes in Timing - Big Changes in Meaning

Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension Reading for Information “Cognitive Skills Development” MemoryAttentionProcessingSequencing Foundational Language Skills “By building a strong foundation, literacy and learning can be accelerated.” Relationships and Viewpoints The Foundations to Literacy & Learning Brain Fitness

Meet the Researchers: Michael Merzenich Considered by many to be the father of Brain Plasticity Has been conducting research that supports Brain Plasticity theories for nearly 30 years Has been using fMRI technology to take images of the brain before and after a student learns to read.

Memory Attention Processing Sequencing Memory Attention Processing Sequencing Cognitive Skills: The Foundation to Reading! LEARNING MAPS

1. Conditions in the brain are dynamic. They change and “rewire” at any age 2.The brain’s ability to change, or be trained, is known as Neuroplasticity 3.The brain can change and learn at any age, and certain conditions encourage learning Neuroscience Findings on The Learning Brain

Neuroscience Findings Struggling readers show significantly slower and less active neural activity in the areas of the brain affecting cognitive skills: working memory attention processing speed phonological awareness

Neuroscience Principles Frequency and intensity Adaptivity Simultaneous development Timely motivation

da Acoustically Modifying a Sound Creates a “Pure” Signal da

Progress Towards Natural Speech

How New Technology Helps When acoustic differences are stretched and emphasized, students can perceive them

Consistent Trials for Maximum Performance Number of 50-minute Sessions Learning Trials Fast ForWord Elementary 35,000 trials Other Software 6,000 trials Fast ForWord Middle & High 45,000 trials

Reading Skills Improve Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing; Phonological Awareness Test; Test of Phonological Awareness

Reading Scores Improve TerraNova (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program )

Improvements Are Maintained Woodcock-Johnson Revised

Processing spoken language Following directions Quality and quantity of verbal expression and conversational skills Reading and comprehending paragraphs Understanding embedded clauses Self esteem Confidence Writing longer responses and paragraphs Interest in reading Greater ability to focus and answer in class FEWER REFERRALS TO SPECIAL EDUCATION Improvements Observed By Teachers and Parents

The efficacy of the strategy crosses a variety of student populations.

Memory Improves Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing

Attention Increases ADHD Rating Scale- IV

Processing Improves Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination

Sequencing Improves TAPS-R (auditory sentence memory subtest)

Harvard Medical School Independent Study Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience 25 (2007) 295– IOS Press Neural correlates of rapid auditory processing are disrupted in children with developmental dyslexia and ameliorated with training: An fMRI study N. Gaab, ∗, J.D.E. Gabrieli, G.K. Deutsch, P. Tallal and E. Temple, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Stanford Institute for Reading and Learning, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Department of Education, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA Children’s Hospital Boston, Developmental Medicine Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Cornell University Independent Study Signature of Average Readers Signature of Dyslexic Readers, before Fast ForWord Signature of Dyslexic Readers, after Fast ForWord Dyslexic children’s reading ability had been raised to normal levels by the end of the eight (8) week remediation period. Adapted from Temple et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003

Stanford University Independent Study Right Left Dyslexic Readers Adapted from Temple et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, 2003 Normal Readers

Good Reading

Using Neuroscience and Technology to Build Learning Capacity