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Session 2: Attention and Sleep

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1 Session 2: Attention and Sleep
[We will include the lesson’s detailed notes in the slides’ notes sections. Make sure the notes section of the slides are complete, and are updated every time you make revisions. These are not intended to be actually read by the presenters during the lesson, but should be complete and intelligible if they *were* read. The presenters should read them before the lesson and from them should have a clear idea of what to say, any background they might need to answer questions, any instructions about demonstrations and activities, and some suggestions of questions they can ask the students to check their understanding or start a discussion. Use the following codes, in BOLD, to indicate to the presenters the purpose of each note. We can leave a copy of these in the notes to the title slide to remind the presenters of their meanings.] Q: “question” – to start a new topic, lead the students to some insight, or check their understanding, write an example question. AR: “anticipated response” – for technical questions, write the correct response and any notes about what should be considered an incorrect response (this is mostly for knowledge questions with a right or wrong answer) TXT: “text” – the main things the instructor should mention for this slide, including any clarification, details, examples, or proof STRY: “story” – if a story is used as an example, this should remind the subject of all the relevant details. For example, Phineas Gage’s incident and memory ATVY: “activity” – describes goal of activity and what instructor and students should do BKGD: “background” – any additional information or links that the subject may need to review if they are not an expert in the area PURP: “Purpose” – What information is this slide supposed to convey Comments for preparing the first presentation: When organizing the first lecture with the teacher, make sure to get some info about their level of knowledge in neuroscience. There are quite big disparities between different schools. You might have to adapt the presentation to fit the level of the class. Make sure to review the full material and act it out once for yourself to make sure that get a feeling of the time needed cover the material. If you feel that there is too much or too little material, feel free to adapt the slides to your needs. Just make sure to cover the major objectives since these will be necessary for the subsequent lectures. - A very important thing to remember during the whole presentation is not to talk to the students like to kids. They will not appreciate that at all. They might not know much about the brain but they want to be considered as interesting discussion partners. It would be very diminishing for them if you start to talk to them like to kids. Just remember how you were at that age. - Never forget that your presentation is not your PowerPoint!!! Your presentation is how you transmit the concepts that are outlined in the PowerPoint. The way you present it makes all the difference PURP: This slide is meant to introduce yourself and BrainReach. TXT: Present yourself and what you kind of research you do. [Presenter name(s)]

2 Two-minute brain workout
What did we learn last class? What is the general function of the brain? How can we test the function of specific parts of the brain? Who was the doctor who stimulated the brain of awoken patients? PURP: It’s very important to review with the students what they have already learned. Start the class with the “Two Minute Brain Workout”. Ask them what they remember from the last session. No one volunteering? Try using quiz questions. You can come up with 3 questions from last class and write them on pieces of papers. Have a student pick a card and try to answer the question. If they get it wrong, they can “phone a friend” (ask another student in the class), or take a poll of the class. Alternatively, you could just have them pass the question to the next student to try. TEXT: Q: Ask the class what they remember from last time, and how to define attention TXT: Attention is how we focus our brain’s limited processing resources; It involves several different brain circuits, each related to a specific type of attention; Attention is essential for us to adequate our behaviour to the context. Q: Ask class about the importance of sleep and how it relates to attention, after waiting for answers discuss the following TXT: Sleep is a temporary state in which our body is unconscious and relaxed; It is when our body regenerates; In each of the several phases of sleep our brain works differently; During REM sleep, we dream and this is responsible for fixing selected memories to the brain. As we will learn today, attention and sleep can both influence memory BrainReach

3 Different Levels of Study
Function Circuit Network Neuron Attention Sleep PURP: Quick review that we can study the brain at different levels TEXT: Recap, what did we learn during last session? We said that Neuroscience approaches the brain from multiple directions. Today, we will spend our time at the cognitive level which studies the general functions performed by the brain during behaviour. BrainReach

4 The brain in information processing
Processing in the brain Information (visual, auditive, etc.) PURP: The general purpose of this slide is to introduce today’s main topic while linking it to contents of previous session. TEXT: We learned last session that the brain’s main function could be summarized as “information processing” Q FOR KIDS: HOW CAN WE CONTROL WHAT OUR BRAIN PROCESSES? -> ATTENTION Can the brain process all of the information around us? How can the brain choose the information it will use? BrainReach

5 Attention and information acquisition
Let’s test how much attention we can pay! Please count how many times the team wearing white t-shirts pass the ball to each other. It is really important to get the correct number. Be very attentive. The Monkey Business Illusion Alternative: the moonwalking bear. INSTRUCTIONS: Make the instructions of this activity clear for students. EX: “Please count how many times the white team pass the ball to each other.” PURPOSE OF THE SLIDE: We are playing the video to make a point: showing that we cannot pay attention to everything, so we expect them not to see the gorilla/bear. We want them to be aware that we have a limited capacity for attention, which is entirely normal. BrainReach

6 How good is your attention?
Monkey Business Illusion Video The Monkey Business Illusion Alternative: the moonwalking bear. INSTRUCTIONS: Make the instructions of this activity clear for students. EX: “Please count how many times the white team pass the ball to each other.” PURPOSE OF THE SLIDE: We are playing the video to make a point: showing that we cannot pay attention to everything, so we expect them not to see the gorilla/bear. We want them to be aware that we have a limited capacity for attention, which is entirely normal. BrainReach

7 This is how we pay attention!
How did you do? Our brains can only concentrate on one thing at a time. When we concentrate on one thing, our brain ignores other information. Slide 4 But why did we not notice the bear? Well, attention is the ability to focus on one thing. This means that while your brain is paying attention to the task at hand, it must filter out all the “unimportant” information. It’s impossible to pay attention to more than one thing at once...your brain just can’t do it. So in this task, while you were focussing on the team in white, your brain was ignoring everything else that was going on (keeping it out of your awareness), such as the bear. This phenomenon is called inattentional blindness. Students will likely challenge you and say that they are able to pay attention to several things at the same time. Tell them that sometimes we might think we are paying attention to two things at the same time, but in fact our brain is switching its attention back and forth between the two tasks. This is how we pay attention! BrainReach

8 Today’s simple questions
What is attention? What are the factors that affect someone’s attention? How can you improve your attention span? Slide : The objective of this slide is to give an overview of this session. Outlining the key concepts that BR instructors are going to talk about could be a good way. In the next slides, you will explain how our attention works and why we focus on some things and overlook others. BrainReach

9 What is attention? Attention is a brain function!
It highlights relevant information while suppressing distractors. PURP: EXPLORATION – pose these questions, or get group discussions going on these questions. Guide discussion. Some ideas to keep in mind: Demonstrate that attention is a limited resource. Reinforce that people only can pay attention to a limited number of things and that attention is selective: you can choose what you want to focus. **Mention the computer analogy (after introducing the concept of attention) We can introduce the idea of a computer with a limited and fixed amount of RAM memory. There is a limit to the number of tasks that we can run at the same time! “Brain processing is a limited resource, so attention acts as a highlighter that determines what is priority for our brain. Attention is a process that simultaneously enhances some information in the brain while inhibiting other information”. HOW TO RE-PHRASE THIS FOR THE KIDS, FOR THE SLIDE BrainReach

10 What part of the brain do we use for attention?
Parietal lobe Frontal lobe Occipital lobe Temporal lobe Cerebellum Slide 11 Brainstorm with the students: What part of our brain to we need to pay attention? After providing the definition of attention, showing the diagram of brain is important to reinforce the brain map and to help students understand the idea “attention networks.” The key concept displays on the PowerPoint slide could easily be: “The whole brain is involved in attention.” We actually use many parts of our brain to pay attention, and we can use different parts depending on what we need to pay attention to. When we pay attention to something we must first use our senses. For instance when you read a book with attention your eyes send information to your brain. This requires us to use our visual cortex in the occipital lobe. If you pay attention to what you read, your frontal lobe will also be active. The frontal lobe is particularly important for attention. When we pay attention, it then helps us to understand things, make decisions etc. Brainstem We actually use many areas of the brain, not just one! BrainReach

11 Look at the difference in brain activity!
Example Have you ever read something, gotten to the end of the page, and realized you weren’t paying attention? Look at the difference in brain activity! Paying attention Not paying attention  In the example shown on this slide, the brain on the left is colored to show all the areas of the brain you are using when you read the word "pigeon" and pay attention to it. As you can see there are a lot of brain areas which are activated! On the right side it is when you read the word "pigeon," but do not pay attention to it: your frontal lobe is not activated! When we pay attention we are using several parts of our brain at one time, and depending on what we are paying attention to, these areas can change. For example, the part of your brain that is activated when a flashing light catches your attention is not the same part of your brain that you use to pay attention to what the teacher is saying. Source: http/ (Dalal et al, 2009) BrainReach

12 Why do we need attention?
Processing power in your brain is limited. Attention helps us process only the most important information. It is easy to miss some sensory information when we are highly focused. “Inattentional Blindness” Competing theories about this phenomenon: Limited perceptual load: the task is attentionally demanding => processing exhaust available resources. PURP: EXPLAIN: Summarize first activity so we can smoothly transition to the next. “So… attention is a limited resource. We can’t be really aware of everything happening in that video, if we are trying to focus on the passes. Looking at passes uses up most of our attention, and the rest of our perception isn’t as precise.” Emphasize that brain processing is a limited resource, that even healthy people and adults have a limited attention span or capacity, and so there is a limited amount of time we can focus on something before getting distracted. Attention works as a highlighter, that determines what is priority for our brain. Emphasize that our choice (“pay attention to passes”) guides which thing we pay attention to, and what to ignore. BrainReach

13 What do you see? BrainReach W.E. Hill, 1915 PURP: EXPLORATION
Introduce what is attention through the explanation on how optical illusion works. TEXT: This is a very famous optical illusion by H E Hill. Ask the students about what they see (a young girl looking back, or an old woman looking left). Depending on which part of the figure you focus you might see a different picture. BrainReach W.E. Hill, 1915

14 Our attention changes what we see!
Eye Nose Chin Young Woman Eye Nose Chin Mouth Old Woman LAUREN NOTE: here say something about choosing where you focus your attention, now you can probably CHOOSE to see either image Ask if anybody can see both images alternating now. After having the answer told, some people start seeing the other figure, as they pay attention to different details of the image In general, the figure you see depends on where is the center of your attention, literally. If you center on the nose of the young lady, you will see more of the details around it, then the young lady figure prevails. If you focus on the necklace of the young lady/ mouth of the old woman, you see the second image. By changing where you focus your attention, you can see either picture. BrainReach

15 However, can we always choose what we pay attention to?
When we change focus, we can redirect our attention towards other things. However, can we always choose what we pay attention to? PURP: ENGAGEMENT Lead in to next activity. Pose this questions to the class and see what they think. Let them have their theories, but leave the conclusion open. “We’ll use a fun test to try to answer to this question. Science is about designing tests/experiments to answer questions.” Lead into the Stroop task. KEY POINT 2 – for teachers to keep in mind during the Stroop task and the “flashing lights” slide. “We are not actively choosing where our attention goes all the time. Sometimes we pay attention to certain things without meaning to.” BrainReach

16 Let’s Test Your Attention!
The Stroop Task PURP: *Interactive demo: have kids do the Stroop task* The take-home message from this task is to show the students that different stimuli can be confusing (but don’t tell them yet!) TEXT: Tell them we will do the Stroop task, which is a test (used in labs) to evaluate the ability of people to pay attention. Again, do not give them too much introduction, otherwise it will affect their performance (and spoil all the fun of doing the task). BrainReach

17 As fast as you can, say the INK COLOUR of the figure. The Stroop task
BrainReach

18 BrainReach

19 BrainReach

20 BrainReach

21 BrainReach

22 BrainReach

23 BLUE BrainReach

24 HOUSE BrainReach

25 PIZZA BrainReach

26 SCHOOL BrainReach

27 RED BrainReach

28 RED BrainReach

29 YELLOW BrainReach

30 BLACK BrainReach

31 GREEN BrainReach

32 GREEN BrainReach

33 ORANGE BrainReach

34 How did you do? Were some items easier to name than others?
Were all words equally easy to read? Why? We are used to reading, so we get distracted by the written word. The word has to be suppressed in order to say the correct colour of the text. TEXT: The Stroop test shows that apparently unimportant stimuli can affect a task; Reading is something automatic for us, so we will end up reading anything that is written even when it is not the task; It is faster to name the colours of the squares than the colors of the words if they differ (we cannot multitask); It is even faster to name the colours if we read the colours with the same name as the ink, because both stimuli help us to fixate on the same thing (have you tried reading while you listen to the audiobook?). Also, emphasize that making mistakes during this test doesn’t mean that somebody has an attention deficit. This task is used together with other test to evaluate the ability of somebody to pay attention. (Don’t panic if you made mistakes, every healthy person does it!) BrainReach

35 Conscious vs. unconscious attention
We are not actively choosing where our attention goes ALL the time. It is easy to be distracted by specific elements in the environment (lights, shiny or noisy objects…). How can we use this knowledge to improve attention? PURP: KEY POINT 2 – for teachers to keep in mind during the Stroop task and the “flashing lights” slide. “We are not actively choosing where our attention goes ALL the time. Sometimes we pay attention to certain things without meaning to.” EXAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR THE STUDENTS What are the situations when you need to be highly alert (e.g., riding a bike, crossing the street, etc.)? What are the things that you would automatically pay attention to (e.g., traffic light changes, your morning alarm, best friends talking during the class, etc.)? What are the factors that affect your attention (e.g., the time of the day, watching TV while studying, being upset or excited for something, being hungry or tired)? What tips did you use to improve and maintain your attention while taking an exam or studying? BrainReach

36 What are other hard to ignore things?
Where do your eyes go? PURP Just to reinforce the idea from Stroop Task. EXPLORATION: When you look at the picture, where do you eyes go? “You turn attention to flashing lights: orientating attention. You attention turns to the lights without you necessarily intending to. Some things are harder to ignore than others. What are other hard to ignore things? BrainReach

37 Conscious Unconscious
Can choose the target. Controls our thoughts and actions. Allows us to concentrate Is automatic Identifies important information in the environment Allows us to react fast Examples: Focusing during class Interacting with teachers Being social Traffic light changes Your morning alarm Emergency vehicles consciously TEXT: We can ACTIVELY choose to pay attention to the type of thing that we decide to be important. Draw the example of the Gorilla video. Echo of KEY POINT 1 “Attention is limited. When we choose one thing to pay attention to, we tend to ignore everything else.” Importance of executive attention in daily life  e.g., at school (academic performance, knowing how to behave in class). unconsciously TEXT: KEY POINT 2 “We are not actively choosing where our attention goes all the time. Sometimes we pay attention to certain things without meaning to.” Draw the example of the flashing lights and/or Stroop task from earlier. If there is time, the teacher can explain the Stroop task in this context. “Usually, in real life, the meaning of the word is more important than the colour of the word, because we use words to communicate. So, our attention is drawn to what the word says, because if you only have a second to look at it, the meaning of the word is generally more useful. That’s why we get so distracted by the meaning of the word.” BrainReach

38 Attention has a span High Attention Level Low BrainReach PURP:
Introduce them the idea that attention is not only limited by the capacity of the of processing information, it is also dependent on the time someone has being paying attention to something. TEXT: Attention decreases after 10 minutes. Then you must change your focus to regain attention. Therefore, if you are studying or reading something for too long and you feel like you cannot pay attention anymore, just take a SHORT break! (Emphasize that brain processing is a limited resource, that even healthy people and adults have a limited attention span or capacity, and so there is a limited amount of time we can focus on something before getting distracted. Attention works as a highlighter, that determines what is priority for our brain.) Low BrainReach

39 How can we reset our attention span?
Attention has a span High Reset Attention Level PURP: Introduce them the idea that attention is not only limited by the capacity of the of processing information, it is also dependent on the time someone has being paying attention to something. TEXT: Attention decreases after 10 minutes. Then you must change your focus to regain attention. Therefore, if you are studying or reading something for too long and you feel like you cannot pay attention anymore, just take a SHORT break! (Emphasize that brain processing is a limited resource, that even healthy people and adults have a limited attention span or capacity, and so there is a limited amount of time we can focus on something before getting distracted. Attention works as a highlighter, that determines what is priority for our brain.) Low How can we reset our attention span? BrainReach

40 Summary: Attention Attention is how we focus our brain’s limited processing resources: We highlight important information while suppressing distractors  the Stroop Test Intense focusing can lead to “Unintentional Blindness”  Monkey Business Illusion Video Attention decreases over time: Reset by taking short breaks (approx. 10 minutes) (Make this a discussion) What do you remember about Attention? BrainReach

41 What affects our attention?
Length of the task Difficulty of the task Food and drink intake (sugar/alcohol/caffeine) Caffeine leads to an initial increase in attention span, followed by a crash Stress Mental health (ie. ADHD) Multi-tasking Time of day Sleep PURP: The purpose of this slide is to change gears and introduce the next topic. Make this a discussion and list all the student’s in the white/black board, then show the answers Talk about factors that affect attention. Use this to transition into the next topic of sleep. Sleep deprivation impairs attention (we will discuss about sleep now), TEXT: There are several factors that affect your attention: We can only focus for about 10 minutes We cannot multitask (texting and driving is worse than drunk driving); What we eat: sugar and caffeine stimulate the brain and can cause initial increase in attention followed by a crash; Sleep deprivation impairs attention BrainReach

42 Sleep BrainReach KEY POINT 3:
“Sleeping well is essential for being able to concentrate on task, and it’s also important for general health and well-being”. Especially if you feel that there will be free time for this class, try to use this time to talk about sleep habits with the students. BrainReach

43 How does sleeping influence attention?
Sleep and attention How does sleeping influence attention? Sleeping well is essential for being able to concentrate on tasks. Lack of sleep may lead to attention impairment. Sleep is also necessary for regular function. PURP Link both parts of this class. KEY POINT 3: “Sleeping well is essential for being able to concentrate on task, and it’s also important for general health and well-being”. TEXT Sleeping well is essential for being able to concentrate on tasks : Insomnia can lead to several attention disorders. (You may need to define what is insomnia.) BrainReach

44 What is sleep? Sleep is recurrent and easily reversible!
What happens to the body and brain when we sleep? Most voluntary muscles relax Our senses are suspended Anabolism (regeneration) TEXT: State in which the consciousness is reduced or absent; Most voluntary muscles relax; Our senses are suspended; Anabolism (nerves, muscles and the immune system regenerate). Several neurotransmitters are replenished during sleep. Sleep is recurrent and easily reversible! (Some other states such as coma or hibernation may look similar to sleep, but aren’t regular and cannot be easily reversed!) Sleep is recurrent and easily reversible! BrainReach

45 The importance of sleep
Why do we shut down for several hours per day? Growth Memory consolidation Mood What happens if we don’t sleep? Weight loss/gain Infections Impaired attention and memory Death! Do all animals sleep? All animals have some sort of sleep! Sleep is not just important for attention, it is necessary for our survival. What is it important for? Can anyone name an animal that doesn’t sleep? Some animals but one side of their brain at a time to sleep; even flies sleep so EVERYONE DOES IT OKAY We do not know the exact reasons why we sleep, but we have some ideas (see slide) Theory that it clears metabolic waste out of the brain so neurons can work efficiently? It is a time for regeneration of many tissues (body) and also memory consolidation (brain) Sleep is important to grow/build bone – also why old people don’t need to sleep as much while babies do, their body no longer needs to regenerate/build new tissues as a priority Sleep debt: you need to catch up on sleep eventually – no point staying up KIDS GET A GOOD NIGHTS REST BrainReach

46 Average Daily Total Sleep Time
How many hours do humans and other mammals need to sleep? Which animals sleeps the most and the least? Species Average Total Sleep Time (hours per day) Human (infant) 16 Human (adult) 8 Human (elderly) 5.5 Cat 12.1 Dog 10.6 Giraffe 1.9 Brown Bat 19.9 Sleep is not just important for attention, it is necessary for our survival. What is it important for? Can anyone name an animal that doesn’t sleep? Some animals but one side of their brain at a time to sleep; even flies sleep so EVERYONE DOES IT OKAY We do not know the exact reasons why we sleep, but we have some ideas (see slide) Theory that it clears metabolic waste out of the brain so neurons can work efficiently? It is a time for regeneration of many tissues (body) and also memory consolidation (brain) Sleep is important to grow/build bone – also why old people don’t need to sleep as much while babies do, their body no longer needs to regenerate/build new tissues as a priority Sleep debt: you need to catch up on sleep eventually – no point staying up KIDS GET A GOOD NIGHTS REST BrainReach

47 Are there disorders related to sleep?
Sleep disorders can really impair our function in life, not to mention our attention as well… Rusty the Narcoleptic Dog video Talk about: why? We don’t know 100% but it has something to do with the BRAIN – which has our master clock BrainReach

48 Sleep and attention BrainReach
ie: What is the physical mechanism behind it Circadian Rhythm stuff: Clocks in all your organs Master clock in your brain that tells you when to be tired (get a better image than the overly busy one in next slide) PURP: Explain the circadian cycle, its importance and highlight how sleeping is important to regulate our whole body, not only the brain function. TEXT: During the day exposure to light and the production of hormones lead us to have 24h life cycles. Explain what is the circadian cycle. Start talking about melatonin, a hormone that is used by many animals as a seasonal clock. It is produced during periods of darkness and has an important role for the regulation of sleep, immune function, learning and memory. We stop producing it in the early morning. Talk about how our body change after we wake up (bowel function, testosterone peaks, etc.). BrainReach

49 What happens in our brain during sleep?
NREM (75% of night): As we begin to fall asleep, we enter NREM sleep, which is composed of stages 1-4 Stage 1 * Between being awake and falling asleep * Light sleep Stage 2 * Onset of sleep * Becoming disengaged from surroundings * Breathing and heart rate are regular * Body temperature drops (so sleeping in a cool room is helpful) Stages 3 and 4 * Deepest and most restorative sleep * Blood pressure drops * Breathing becomes slower * Muscles are relaxed * Blood supply to muscles increases * Tissue growth and repair occurs * Energy is restored * Hormones are released, such as: Growth hormone, essential for growth and development, including muscle development REM (25% of night): First occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and recurs about every 90 minutes, getting longer later in the night * Provides energy to brain and body * Supports daytime performance * Eyes dart back and forth Body becomes immobile and relaxed, as muscles are turned off * Brain is active and dreams occur BrainReach

50 Dreams Dreams are created through random electric activity sent from the brainstem. The cortex tries to transform this random activity in something logical. Dreams tell a story involving you and incorporate what happened to you recently, your wishes and fears. The brain creates dreams through random electrical activity, during the REM phase. The forebrain, area of the brain that is responsible for logical thinking, tries to transform this random activity in something logical. Dreams tell a story. Dreams are egocentric. They almost always involve you. Dreams incorporate things that have happened to you recently. They can also incorporate deep wishes and fears. A noise in the environment is often worked in to a dream in some way, giving some credibility to the idea that dreams are simply the brain's response to random impulses. BrainReach

51 Dreams You cannot control your dreams.
Important for the consolidation of some memories and disposal of the unwanted memories. Without dreaming, people tend to become impatient and uncomfortable over time. Dreaming is important. In sleep experiments where a person is woken up every time he/she enters REM sleep, the person becomes increasingly impatient and uncomfortable over time. BrainReach

52 What have we learned today?
The brain has a limited processing power. conscious vs. unconscious attention What affects our attention span? Sleep is important for attention. PURP: Put this session into the context of the students life. Use this time to review what was seen during the class. Expand on each of the bullet points, briefly summarize what was presented. BrainReach

53 Some sleep hygiene tips:
Take Home Messages When studying, take “brain breaks” to recover attention! Sleep ~8h every night to keep your brain healthy! Some sleep hygiene tips: Maintain a regular sleep routine Avoid long naps Use the bed to sleep! Not watch TV or surf the web. PURP Use this slide to reinforce the idea that science is related to everyday life. Engage the students to think of more examples of application based on concepts from today (e.g., plan physical activity in the afternoon based on the circadian rhythm findings, etc.) Ressource: BrainReach

54 Next session: See you next time! Learning and Memory
Why is learning important for animals? How does the brain store information? Can we lose memories? See you next time! BrainReach


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