The Learning Brain Memory and Brain Development in Children

by Klingberg, Torkel

• ISBN13: 9780199917105
• ISBN10: 0199917108
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

All learning takes place in the brain, and the key to a child's development is how its brain matures. But how can we take the step from knowledge of neurons to education? What is the cause of inattention, dyslexia, or dyscalculia? How does brain maturation affect teenage behavior? These are all important questions to ask as many statistics suggest that levels of knowledge in children have stagnated and in some cases receded. The USA, Sweden, and several European countries are losing ground against Asian nations. International assessments of children's reading and mathematical skills are conducted at regular intervals, and in one such study, the United States ranked 15th in reading, math, and science, below all participating Asian countries. It's not surprising, then, if decision-makers have started to seek new solutions, and if their gazes have turned to neuroscience. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the link between neuroscience and pedagogy, learning, and memory. The subject has been discussed in scientific papers and debate articles, at congresses and conferences the world over. Organizations, research centers, and journals have been created to deal exclusively with this issue. New methods now enable us to study how the infant brain develops and what occurs there during the learning process, and to identify the problems that cause learning difficulties. Drawing fom his and others research, and, in certain cases, stories and examples, Torkel Klingberg, a leading cognitive neuroscientist, shows how the brain is affected by genes, stress, physical exercise, and parental relationships. The result of his research,The Learning Brain,demonstrates how we can give our children and teenagers the best opportunities to learn and develop.

Author Biography

Torkel Klingberg, MD, PhD, is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Stockholm Brain Institute, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. His work on child development and brain training is at the international front line. Klingberg leads a major Swedish project on child development, lectures regularly at international conferences, is the recipient of several prizes, and a member of the Nobel Assembly. He is the author of The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory (OUP).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Being Unlucky When You Think: The Importance of Working Memory	p. 1
Remembering What to Concentrate on	p. 2
Why Do Students Daydream?	p. 3
The Working Memories of the Nynäshamn Children	p. 5
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Children with Low Working Memories	p. 8
The Growing Brain: How the Brain Develops and Matures	p. 13
The Development of the Brain	p. 15
The Brain Matures	p. 17
Genes and the Brain	p. 20
The White Matter	p. 22
Through the Pyrenees by Motorbike: The Risk-Taking Teenage Brain	p. 25
Risks and Rewards	p. 26
Neuroscience and the Law	p. 29
Now I Am Really Awake for the First Time Ever: Long-Term Memory	p. 33
Children's Long-Term Memory	p. 34
The Key to the Memory	p. 36
Improving the Long-Term Memory	p. 43
Mathematics, Memory, and Space	p. 49
Counting Babies	p. 53
Retaining Numbers in Working Memory	p. 56
The Mnemonic Map	p. 58
Mathematical Areas	p. 61
Mathematics and Gender	p. 63
Dyscalculia-Does It Exist?	p. 65
Premature Birth and Dyscalculia	p. 68
Training Programs	p. 70
Reading, Dyslexia, and Problematic Relationships	p. 73
Learning to Read	p. 74
Reading Areas of the Brain and Dyslexia	p. 76
Dyslexia: Genetics and Displaced Cells	p. 78
Why the Problems Are Interconnected	p. 80
Dyslexia Training and Neuroscientific Predictions	p. 83
The Early Environment and Brain Development: The Importance of Stimulation and Engaged Parents	p. 87
Stimulating Environments and Brain Development	p. 91
The Role of Parents in Memory and Stress	p. 94
Skydiving and Expectations: What Acute and Chronic Stress Do to Us	p. 99
Stress Hormones and Nerve Cells	p. 101
Social Stress	p. 103
Chronic Stress	p. 106
Cognitive Training, Memory Techniques, and Music	p. 111
The Dream of the Perfect Memory	p. 112
The Brain of a Memory Champion	p. 114
Working Memory Training	p. 116
The Art of Training	p. 120
Can Everything Be Trained?	p. 124
Music	p. 126
Body and Soul	p. 131
Jogging and the Brain	p. 132
Intelligence and Infections	p. 137
This Will Change Everything	p. 141
Five Themes	p. 142
A Schoolgirl of the Future	p. 145
Notes	p. 149
Bibliography	p. 161
Index	p. 173
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.