Category: Neuroscience

The aim of this paper is to look at the pathophysiological changes resulting from trauma and alterations in the cerebrovascular blood flow. It discusses the effects of these two to the cognitive abilities of the patient, and how the patient operates in the social, emotional and physical capacity, after suffering such misfortune. It takes into perspective recent research into better healthcare delivery, on the part of the nurse, in relation to prognosis, discharge and home based care and hoe these relate for better patient management. Lastly, it delves into the strategies employed to rehabilitate a person who has suffered trauma or has cerebrovascular disturbance in blood flow.

Neuroscience is a vast field of neurology that encompasses the dynamics and mechanisms of the brain. In life, there are situations where misfortune befalls us e.g. a car accident or a stroke and our brain suffers a terrible blow. This causes pathophysiological changes in our brain function occurs as a result of trauma or disturbances in the blood flow in the brain. This is an exploration of this subject of trauma and cerebrovascular functions, its effect on the patient and the society, and the relevance to nursing world as well as the rehabilitation efforts towards this cause.

Cognition is a “term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem solving. These are higher-level functions of the brain and encompass language, imagination, perception and planning” (Cherry, 2010). It involves processes such as abstraction and executive functions.

This paper will discuss how brain trauma resulting from stroke will affect the cognitive functions of executive functions and the abstraction.

Executive functions are referred to as “a set of cognitive abilities that control and regulate other abilities and behaviors” (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, n.d.). It encompasses the ability to initiate and stop behavior, to monitor and change our behaviors and to plan functions based on future goals. It allows for successful functioning in the work –place due to an increased ability to adapt to changes in the environment, which arbitrarily spring up. They help us to avoid stress these functions seek solutions to these unexpected occurrences. They are important for someone to fit in well in society, as it inhibits inappropriate behavior. In the case of a stroke (sometimes called a cerebrovascular accident[CA]), the patient usually lacks oxygen supply to the brain because of a blockage in the jugular artery. This may be due to a clot or thrombosis or a rupture in the artery. This leads to death of the brain cells that are mostly in the frontal lobe. In the case of non –fluent aphasia,(which is also an effect of a stroke) the patient’s temporal lobe is the one that is affected. It is a disturbance of the cerebrovascular in that the blood flow is interrupted. Other pathophysiological processes such as bleeding in the brain due to an aneurysm, or a hematoma can lead to a stroke that again leads to deficient or defective executive functions.

The effects of trauma on executive functions like motor skills, speech and memory include loss of short-term memory, trouble walking, paralysis and other speech disorders such as dysarthia or weakness of the oral muscles, as well as lack of self-control in social situations.

CA in the right hemisphere of the brain causes an inverse manifestation of the result of trauma through paralysis in the left side of the body. It may lead to different types of aphasia that retard one’s speech and language abilities. Aphasia is defined by Salter et al. “as a reduction of the patient’s ability to communicate by language expression and comprehension and can affect all aspects of communication performance, such as speaking, reading (alexia) or writing (agraphia)” (Nys et al., 2005). A person who has suffered a stroke may struggle to comprehend when being spoken to, or may struggle to communicate with him or herself. In social situations, they may not feel any restrictions to saying what they feel even if it is hurtful since they do not realize that it is in appropriate. They may also struggle with remembering some words or objects even though they know what it is e.g. they may see a ball, know that it is a ball but cannot annunciate to others that whatever is before them is in fact a ball. This creates feelings of frustration, anxiety and in extreme cases, it may result in depression in patients who struggle to communicate their wishes to others in cases of aphasia, apraxia and dysarthia (Nys et al., 2005,p.205). Erratic mood changes also characterize stoke recovery patients.

With respect to abstraction, a stroke acts in the same way as it would act with memory or attentiveness. Abstraction is defined as “absent-mindedness, inattention or mental absorption” (Abstraction, n.d.). It works such that the cerebrovascular disturbance to the right hemisphere causes the patient to struggle with keeping his/ her attention fixed to one thing for a prolonged period of time. the patient becomes preoccupied in their own thought and cannot concentrate on the task they are doing. They have difficulty discerning which task deserves their attention and which does not.

Psychosocially, it leads to reduced self-esteem, inefficiency in performing tasks and in relating with others. It may also lead to feelings of frustration and hopelessness. Physically, it has no blatant effects apart from preoccupation.

Recent research into the cases of stroke , stroke recovery and rehabilitation in strokes, patients have produced the following results. The probability of occurrence of aphasia in stroke patients is 20-40%(Hoffman, 2001 Salter et al., 2005). According to the National Aphasia Association 80, 000 people acquire aphasia annually in the US with one million being reported to be suffering from it (Aphasia, n.d.).

Research has also shown that most patients (40%) who have suffered a stroke and consequently acquired aphasia, recover within a year through spontaneous recovery but those who persisted post one year were found to be chronic aphasia sufferers and they constituted about 18- 27% (Paolucci et al., 2005).

In relation to nursing, the research addresses the things that nurses can do so as to identify the probability the patient may develop aphasia by using screening tests done by nurses since they are in close contact with the patients and know their communication patterns. In addition, the speech therapists may help in training the nurse in order for them to gain the expertise in speech therapy to enhance the rehabilitation process. “A nursing intervention is any treatment based upon clinical judgment and knowledge that a nurse performs to enhance patient/client outcomes” (McCloskey & Bulechek, 2000, p. 19).

The studies have shown that nurses can help in the diagnosis by the definition of what aphasia is and it can employ the major intervention of Communication Enhancement: Speech Deficit’ (Johnson et al. 2006, p. 98). It also employs the therapeutic intervention of Speech Language Therapy(SLT). This is a continuous process of speech therapy with increased complexity of speech intervention procedures.

Below are a selection of these studies based on screening, rehabilitation, treatment and nursing interventions:

According to the Quasi Experimental Screening cited by (Edwards et al., 1006), the unscreened patients who went on with undetected aphasia were 79% with another 97% constituting those who went with undetected anomia. This research used the Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test (FAST) screening instrument for aphasia and the Boston Naming Test for anomia. The brevity of the screening tests also improved the identification of aphasia by a large margin was also a conclusion drawn by Edwards and his colleagues.

Another Study authored by (Enderson &Crow, 1996) inferred the significance of the Functional Communication Profile(FCP) and Minnesota test for the differential diagnosis of aphasia(MTTDA) SLT tests as well as FAST screening instrument in not only identifying but also in research for recovery purposes.

Thommessen et al., (1999) also gives another research report that contained details of a screening done by group of nurses in Norway who used the Ullevaal Aphasia Screening (UAS) instead of the gold standard screens given by speech pathologists. It gave the following screens in language expression, comprehension, repetition, reading, reproduction of a string of words and free communication. 86% of the researchers agreed it was a valid screen in that it gave a good prediction of probability of aphasia in the acute stage of post-stroke with a predictive value of a positive test =0.67.

On the effectiveness of the SLT, the following research studies were included:

(Bakheit et al., 2007) inferred that t intensive SLT had no significant effect in improving aphasic symptoms.

(Bartolo et al., 2003) did research in to the chronic phase of aphasia where spontaneous recovery has not taken effect. The conclusion was that the different routes were responsible for different types of gestures. If the imitation of pantomimes was not being done, it was because of the deficiency in the efficiency of the working memory.

(Paolucci et al., 2000) did research on first time stroke patients who were in the acute stage and received early SLT screening within 20 days post -stroke. His results showed that if SLT was administered, early the effectiveness of the treatment was greatly increased.

(Salter et al., 2006) found that the FAST screen was the most widely used in evaluations and the UAS, which was used among nurses, was more specific but there was need for further research into evaluation of screening tools.

To summarize the effectiveness of nursing interventions to treating aphasia, nurses can apply three speech interventions: task-specific interventions, augmentative alternative communication and computer-based therapy.

• Task specific calls for targeting specific forms of impairment such as alexia and focuses on reading and comprehension (Cherney 2004, Beeson et al. 2005).
• Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) includes non-verbal communication through gestures, cards and pantomimes. The evidence showing their effectiveness was inconclusive in most cases since the research group was small (O’ Rourke & Walsh, 2010).
• (Salter et al., 2005) provided evidence of the effectiveness of computers in improving speech language skills especially in auditory discrimination exercises for patients with difficulty distinguishing the difference between phonemes or how the words sound.

Short-term effects of trauma on the patient have been discussed above about the physical, emotional and social adjustment for the person. Long-term, the patient will have to exert him or herself into rehabilitation efforts to get over the pain, the likelihood of aphasia, problems with memory, impulsivity and inappropriateness so as to become a member of the social world again and to work effectively in working environments and other environments.

Short-term effects on the society will be of shock at the inappropriateness and bluntness of the patient as well as sympathy. Long –term, the society especially the family will work to help the patient overcome problems in the cognitive processes of the trauma patient.

Strategies and approaches used in treating a trauma patient include speech therapy, physical therapy, computer-based speech therapy, brain exercises to jog one’s memory, screening patients to anticipate the aphasic effects so as to treat it more effectively.

In conclusion, this paper has discussed the details of a traumatic event on the brain. It looks at CA in particular and how it affects the cognitive functions of abstraction and executive functions. In addition, the short-term and long-term effects of these trauma and cerebrovascular disturbances were discussed in reference to the patient and to the society. Research studies into the input of nursing in the discipline of neuroscience and how nurses can be of help o speech pathologists was also reviewed in the number of nursing interventions available that is SLT and FAST. It explores the future of computers in treating aphasic patients and its impediments. It discusses the importance of a nurse in treating aphasic patients as they are usually in close contact with the patient and can observe the communication patterns of the patient in the acute post-stroke stage. This therefore summarizes the paper with the realization that further research needs to be done in this area and it is important for nurses to be included in this process. They need to be trained in the delivery of speech therapy so as to work in collaboration with the therapists and the doctors in this field.

Reference List

Abstraction (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. 2010, Web.

Bakheit A. M.O., Shaw, S., Barre,t L, Wood,, J., Carrington S., Griffiths S., Searle K. & Koutsi F. (2007). A prospective, randomized, parallel group, controlled study of the effect of intensity of speech and language therapy on early recovery from post stroke aphasia. Clinical Rehabilitation, 21, 885–894.

Bartolo, A., Cubelli R., Della S.S., & Drei S. (2003). Pantomimes are special gestures which rely on working memory. Brain and Cognition, 53, 483–494.

Beeson, P.M., Magloire, J.G., & Robey, R.R. (2005). Letter-by-letter reading: natural recovery and response to treatment. Behavioural Neurology, 16, 191–202.

Cherney, L.R. (2004). Aphasia, alexia and oral reading. Top Stroke Rehabilitation, 11, 22–36.

Cherry, K. (2010). Cognition. About com. Web.

Edwards, D.F., Hahn M.G., Baum C.M., Perlmutter M.S., Sheedy C., & Dromerick A.W. (2006). Screening patients with stroke for rehabilitation needs: Validation of the post-stroke rehabilitation guidelines. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 20, 42–48.

Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. (n.d). Executive Functions. Web.

Enderby P., & Crow F. (1996). Frenchay aphasia screening test: Validity and comparability. Disability Rehabilitation, 18, 238–240.

MedicineNet.(n.d.) Aphasia. Web.

O’ Rourke, K. & Walsh C. (2010). Impact of stroke units on mortality: A Bayesian analysis. European Federation of Neurological Societies, 25-47.

McCloskey, J.C. & Bulechek G.M. (2000). Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC). IOWA Intervention Project, 3rd edn. Mosby, St Louis, p. 19.

Nys G.M.S., Van Zandvoort M.J.E., de Kort P.L.M., Jansen B.P.W., van der Worp H.B., Kappelle L.J., & de Haan E.H.F. (2005). Domain-specific cognitive recovery after first-ever stroke: A follow-up study of 111 cases. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11, 795–806

Paolucci, S., Matano A., Bragoni M., Coiro P., De Angelis D., Fusco F.R., Morelli D., Pratesi L., Venturiero V., & Bureca I. (2005). Rehabilitation of left brain-damaged ischemic stroke patients: the role of comprehension language deficits. A matched comparison. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 20, 400–406

Salter, K., Teasell R., Bhogal S., Foley N., Orange J.B., & Speechley M. (2005). Evidence-Based Review of Stroke Rehabilitation, Aphasia. Departments of Physical medicine and rehabilitation, London, Ontario, Canada.

Salter, K., Jutai J., Foley N., Hellings C.H., & Teasell R. (2006) Identification of aphasia post stroke: a review of screening assessment tools. Brain Injury, 20, 559–568

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.(2009).Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Thommessen, B., Thoresen G.E., Bautz-Holter E., & Laake K. (1999). Screening by nurses for aphasia in stroke- The Ullevaal aphasia screening (UAS) test. Disability and Rehabilitation 21, 110–115

Summary of the Case

The case of Southern NeuroScience Center (SNC) shows how institutions can benefit the most from Health Services Planning (HSP). The institution used a powerful strategy in order to achieve its goals. The first step was to collect the required data. This approach made it easier for the consultants to monitor the performance of the hospital. The consultants “analyzed SNC’s medical practices, financial statements, and personnel policies” (Thomas, 2003, p. 361). The consultants conducted several interviews to understand the issues affecting the hospital. The team also “analyzed the paper flow and patient flow” (Thomas, 2003, p. 361). The consultants observed that majority of the neurosurgeons were unhappy with their working conditions. The level of communication also affected the quality of medical services.

The planning team also prioritized the objectives of the institution. The main objective was to increase the number of physicians in the facility. The team also identified different actions in order to support the facility’s objectives. The next stage was to implement the targeted plan. The team created a powerful implementation matrix. The team also identified the right individuals to execute the plan. The deadline for completing the project was also identified. The consultants also present the best resources for the project. The matrix determined “who was to do what, at what time, and how to do it” (Thomas, 2003, p. 365). The team also created a powerful vision for SNC. The team also invented a strategic future for the facility. A powerful mechanism was also created to track the progress of the implementation plan.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The agreeable fact is that the consultants focused on the best practices to have a powerful plan. The project relied “heavily on primary research” (Thomas, 2003, p. 363). The survey also analyzed the experiences of patients in different competing facilities. The plan is also comprised of powerful competitive analysis. The team evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of every competitor. The consultants also analyzed the appropriateness of every site. This strategy “made it easier for the firm to reconsider the site for two of its satellite operations” (Thomas, 2003, p. 363).

A SWOT Analysis was also undertaken to understand the issues determining the hospital’s performance. This knowledge made it easier for the managers to understand the existing opportunities and strengths. However, the consultants did not analyze most of the issues associated with the institution’s external environment (Thomas, 2003). This weakness made it impossible for the institution to deal with competition. The time plan for the project was also less effective. The planning team failed to use a Gant Chart (GC) in order to monitor every role.

My Personal Views

Healthcare planners should borrow numerous ideas from the case of Southern NeuroScience Center (SNC). The consultants used the best approaches in order to come up with a powerful plan. The team also identified the major strengths and gaps affecting the organization. The above SWOT Analysis identified the major factors supporting the organization’s goals. That being the case, every planning team should identify the best strategies in order to make the targeted organization successful. The team should identify the challenges affecting the targeted medical staff. Consultants should also gather the relevant feedbacks from different employees (Thomas, 2003). A vision is also relevant for every organization. I have borrowed numerous Health Planning (HP) ideas from the presented case study. Consultants should also use customized actions whenever implementing the best strategic plans. The above practices can make every implementation strategy successful.

Reference

Thomas, R. (2003). Health Services Planning. New York, NY: Springer.

Heritability is the process of passing personal traits from one generation to another. It never demonstrates the magnitude to which genes are passed on from a parent to a child; instead, it illustrates the reason for differences between people. The transferred traits can either impose defects or be advantageous to an organism, depending on the genes present within the parents. For example, some human conditions, such as albinism, are transmitted from fathers and mothers to their offspring. Although heritability is a wide topic, Rosa Hoekstra and her colleagues believe that the difference is seen more in close family members.

Hoekstra et al.’s concept illustrates that the only reason people possess different autistic traits is heritability. According to their research, autism is a gene that can be transferred from parents to their offspring. Therefore, it describes the extent to which an individual’s gene exposes them to a condition. Hoekstra et al.’s statement demonstrates that the traits can be witnessed within close family members. For example, monozygotic twins experience autism more than dizygotic children because the identical twins are closer since they originate from a single egg (Hoekstra et al., 2007). Freberg (2018) supports this assertion by illustrating that gene differences in people affect their response to drugs. Therefore, identical twins are more likely to experience autism traits if their parents possess the genes.

To summarize, heritability shows differences in personal traits instead of genes that are passed from one generation to another. The process is best explained by Hoekstra et al., who gives an insight into why identical twins have more similar traits compared to fraternal twins. Genes present in a person determine if a person can experience life conditions such as autism that are witnessed in many people.

References

Freberg, L. (2018). Discovering behavioral neuroscience: An introduction to biological psychology (4^th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Hoekstra, R. A., Bartels, M., Verweij, C. J., & Boomsma, D. I. (2007). Heritability of autistic traits in the general population.Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 161(4), 372-377. Web.

This essay is a comparative analysis of brain-based learning and cognitive information processing. Ideally, both methods of learning are based on neuroscience, thus, they are a continuous learning platform through which the teacher or educator should search for ways to improve their instructional techniques, to foster active learning (Immordino-Yang & Fischer, 2010). However, cognitive information processing is an essential instruction method as it is through this means of learning that teachers can understand the role of memory, information storage and recall among their students.

On the other hand, brain-based learning guides educators to tailor their instruction materials on the various developmental stages of the brain, as this helps the student understand the information relayed to them at their level. Being that both processes are affected by the changes in the environment and conditions of learning, teachers are informed of the need to create a conducive learning atmosphere to ensure high student learning and cognitive skills.

Brain-based learning is concentrated on the students’ ability to absorb and retain information given to them by educators basing on the function and structure of the brain, depending on its developmental stage (Fischer & Immordino-Yang, 2008). Ideally, most of the teachers in this type of teaching and learning emphasize the need to undergo constructive and active learning procedures (Fischer et al., 2008).

Thus, students tend to get engaged in their learning, as well as informing their construction methods. According to Fischer and Immordino-Yang (2008), brain-based learning tends to focus on various engagements, principles, and strategies to make learning effective. Two parts of the brain are involved in learning. These are the right and the left part of the brain. For instance, the right hemisphere of the brain can be used for learning purposes only if the educators can encourage the students to generate and construct mental imagery. In turn, the left part of the brain carries out verbal information coding, while the right part of the brain carries out visual information coding. Specifically, teachers must help students engage the left part of their brains by allowing them to write, read and compute data more often.

On the other hand, the cognitive form of learning emphasizes the need to foster both meaning and understanding of instruction techniques. In effect, the teachers must come up with a learning environment that exposes the students to high educational challenges while limiting the number of threats that they are likely to encounter. One thing that cognitive information processing does is that it uses the mind as a computer, forcing a student to apply the use of their memory to store and recall most of their information (Aukrust, 2011).

Thus, this mode of learning is one that tries to understand what people know, how they got to know it and how they tend to store the information that they have obtained. Essentially, the focus of this mode of learning is to ensure an examination of the storage and recollection of information in learning. However, there is limited information on cognitive information processing on how the information is processed and stored. According to Fischer and Immordino-Yang (2008), when information is received in cognitive information processing, it is coded and stored in either short term or long term memory. This is unlike the brain-based learning method which explains how information is obtained, whether through the right or the left brain and which part of the brain is responsible for coding visual and imagery cues for better learning.

An analysis of both cognitive information processing and brain-based learning shows that the two learning techniques are similar in some ways. Ideally, these two are based on neuroscience, thus, some of their teaching strategies are inter-related (Kandel, Schwartz, & Jessell, 2000). Further, the two theories require that the student is engaged in active classroom learning, as well as in feedback dissemination so that they are better-versed knowledge-wise. Thus, educators can apply the emotions of their learners to affect understanding and learning. While both learning techniques encourage teachers to use images and pictorial representations in their teaching, they tend to advocate for a different approach to affect learning.

Overall, active learning through the brain is stimulated by pictures, as well as specific word combinations, through which cognitive processes are enhanced. This activation ensures that long-term memory decoding is done and strengthened, as part of the brain activity. However, memory processes tend to react similarly to both real and false memories as relayed through images, leading to activation of similar brain sports despite the validity of the information being relayed.

Nonetheless, most of what the brain can memorize and remember are triggered through experience as these are developed through one’s mental activities. It is this information about how the brain performs memory functions that help a reader to understand the brain-based learning process. In effect, I am inclined to believe that brain-based learning is an active learning-based method as compared to cognitive information processing. It is through the explanation of how brain memory functions that an instructor can understand the learning level of the student, as well as tailor instructional materials to correspond to their level of thinking. Thus, understanding the developmental structure of the student as per the function of their brain at a given age is key to understanding the kind of information they are likely to comprehend quickly. In return, this fosters positive student engagement and learning.

References

Aukrust, V. G. (Ed.). (2011). Learning and cognition. New York, NY: Elsevier. Web.

Fischer, K. W. Fischer, K. W., & Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2008). The fundamental importance of the brain and learning for education. In the Jossey-Bass reader on the brain and learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Web.

Fischer, K., & Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2008). The Jossey-Bass reader on the brain and learning. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey –Bass. Web.

Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Fischer, K. W. (2010). Neuroscience bases of learning. International Encyclopedia of Education (3rd ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. Web.

Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M. (Eds.). (2000). Principles of neural science. New York, NY: McGraw-hill. Web.

The located and researched website, entitled “Neuroscience for Kids,” focuses on various motivational activities that can be used by a teacher in order to enhance student’s learning experience. The activities in this website are based mainly upon a learning theory called constructivism. This theory claims that during the learning process, an individual uses current and past knowledge as a foundation for constructing new concepts and ideas. In other words, the learner fits all newly obtained information into his previous experience model, constructs that knowledge from his own event proficiency. This site offers various constructivist learning approaches that combine rules, internalized concepts, and general principles, which are applicable in the practical context of the real world. In the proposed approach, the teacher plays the role of a moderator, which encourages the students to solve realistic problems, discover various principles, and construct their knowledge. Constructivism, in general, includes such teaching methods as experimentations, research projects, field trips, films. All these approaches are followed by a detailed class discussion which is the most important aspect of constructivist teaching that in its turn intends to provide the students with the ability to freely explore within a granted structure or framework. This site offers various types of experimentations concerning neuroscience, intended for grades three through twelve. One of the most unsophisticated experiments focuses on modeling a retinal image. The students are required to take a magnifying glass the represents a convex eye-lens and look through it at a white wall that is opposite to a window, holding it 3 inches away. As the magnifying glass is a convex lens, just like the eye-lens, the students will observe an inverted image of what is outside of the window. According to Gardner’s (1983) and Banduras’ (1981) work, the child’s mind is intersected by two human ability continuums. One of those continuums represents the learning ability spectrum, ranging from high to low self-efficacy. The second continuum is not as effective in nature and represents the intelligence spectrum, ranging from unitary mind form to a much more broad cognition view. Howard Gardner claims that students in the classroom are possessed multiple intelligences and are not aware of their talents. Many may perceive themselves as dumb and hopeless educational failures. However, most are talented at least in one intelligence aspect. In order to train such concealed intelligence, the teachers are obliged to appeal to constructivist learning motivational activities, which are briefly described above. The works of Gardner and Bandura complement the aforesaid by stating that students possess a wide range of skills and abilities, and it is the job of the teacher to train their self-esteem in order to reveal the full array of their intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence involves possessing own working model that is the foundation for regulating own life, based upon being able to understand oneself, appreciate own fears, motivations and feelings. As a teacher, I am striving towards conformity to such a psychological model and am doing my best in order to build the right attitude towards the students. However, I am still experiencing difficulty understanding how to best take advantage of each unique intelligence in order to reveal it in each student.

References

Bandura, A., & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Cultivating competence, self- efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 586-598.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Introduction

Learning is considered to be a complex cognitive and collective process, with a significance of external environment, internal stimuli, and social motivation is widely affected learning processes. Teaching mathematics is a hard-core job at all levels, its complication allows other research fields to participate in finding the solutions. Knowledge acquiring perspectives in psycho-analytical areas also have been utilized to describe procedures in mathematics education.

There is a serious need for more scientific research into the areas in which children develop mathematical skills which will play a vital role in the future. Not a single research methodology can address the sensitiveness of drive for comprehensive scientific research in education. Also, there are numerous directions of extensive research in mathematics education. Each view will help in solving the ways how children learn mathematics and how this process can enhance their computing skills.

Along with these concepts being used in mathematics teaching study, this research focuses on the question that which areas of the brain deal with numeric. During the study, it will be discussed what role neuroscience plays in enhancing mathematics learning. In the following pages, I will debate that neuroscience can help us in better understanding some phenomena of concern in mathematics education. This knowledge can influence the individual’s behavior and learning practices. Mathematics learning is closely connected with study brain areas involved in memory and computation of numerals.

The implications of Neuroscience

Cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience studies suggest that an appropriate process of quantity representation is found in infants, young children, and adults, with the quantitative changes in this system, the core qualitative system specifications remain the same both across species and over progressing durations (Butterworth, 1999; Dehaene, 1997). Neuro-scientific research is conducted at different levels and in different situations and has been successfully explained typical decision processes.

The methods of neuroscience offer a variety of potential to education, including the early analysis of particular educational requirements, the monitoring and assessment of the impacts of various educational inputs on knowledge acquiring. Quantitative variations may have important well-designed roles and their stoppage or incompletion become an early indicator of mathematical difficulties in the future or even results in mathematics learning disqualification.

Parts of the brain deals with Numeric

The human brain controls the flow of information throughout the body, both voluntary actions like running, writing, and reading, and involuntary responses like sensing and listening. The brain stem joins the spinal cord with the brain. Nerve fibers of medulla oblongata lie in this brain stem transmit every message from brain to spinal cord. The right side of the brain controls the left part of the body while the left part of the brain controls the right part of the body. The cerebrum, which constitutes approximately 90% of the brain, is divided into distinct areas that illustrate sensory responses. The cerebrum is divided into the left hemisphere and right hemispheres. The left hemisphere supports speech, reasoning, writing, and calculation. The right hemisphere on the other hand is related to imaginative powers, arts and crafts, and symbolic structures. In general, this part of the brain involves in all computation and mathematical analyses.

At present, the main apprehension of cognitive neuroscience is the inner depiction of mind actions. Electrophysiological models have provided perception and association studies possible. In addition, intricate cognitive processes like concentration and management have been proved to be associated with action patterns of special cells groups in certain portions of the brain. The neural origin of cognition initiates with complex brain operations.

For mathematics, cognitive neuroscience is launching to go beyond present cognitive models. It has been challenged that there are several neural systems for the demonstration of numbers. An old ‘number sense’ system, established in animals and children as well as older people, appears to support understanding of numbers and their associations (Dehaene, 1999). A diverse kind of numerical data is considered to be stored orally in the language system. (Dehaene, 1999).

Simple arithmetical problems like addition, subtraction are so over-educated that these are considered declarative knowledge. More compound computation seems to occupy visual-spatial regions (Zago, 2001).

More recent studies have revealed new ways of how quantitative information is processed by the brain. According to Science Daily ( Cell Press, 2007), one study shows that the parietal cortex of the brain just above the forehead is used for abstract quantities and numerical symbols. In another paper:

“Roi Cohen Kadosh and colleagues conducted experiments demonstrating that the two hemispheres of the parietal lobe function differently in processing numbers. While the left lobe harbors abstract numerical representations, the right shows a dependence on the notation used for a number, they found. The researchers concluded that “results challenge the commonly held belief that numbers are represented solely in an abstract way in the human brain.” The authors also concluded that their results “advocate the existence of distinct neuronal populations for numbers, which are notation dependent in the right parietal lobe.” (Cell Press, 2007)

In the end, a discrete parietal pre-motor area of the brain is activated for the period of finger computation. This study may put forward that the brain areas initiated during finger counting which acts as a developmental strategy in learning mathematics, finally come to partly emphasize numerical development skills in adults.

Neuroscience and mathematics learning

As we have studied the neural processes implicated in mathematics learning, our target is to recognize the most fundamental and widespread Neuro-psychological processes that underlie computing skills. When we consider numeracy, we commence by exploring the capability to contrast the value of two numbers and the capacity to spot the number of items in an assortment.

The importance of the collaboration between mathematics education in cognitive and neuro-scientific sciences lies in the grounding of research from theory and practical basis from which testable forecasts can be made. Many latest types of research have emphasized how scientists from multiple disciplines of mathematics, cognitive, and neuro-psychology should contribute to each other’s research.

Number and Spatial sense

Young children possess spatial and numerical skills that should be enhanced in education. This spatial sense of and skills could function to stimulate the development of more formal mathematical skills that require number sense. Each person has got an instinctive number intellect, this allows him or her to examine the outer environment in conditions of quantitative distinctiveness, through which people can discriminate small numbers and identify an alteration in a small number of stuff (Dehaene, 1997). The number intellect is a structure for an initial estimate: its output is typically not quick, although it approximates the quick answer.

The growth of figurative number systems was a vital step for mankind. Lack of these abilities may lead an individual to a condition of Dyscalculia. This inability limits us to surmount the boundaries of the natural number sense and to build up edifying mathematics. Children have to be taught number terms, use this terminology to count items and to do computations. But some students experience developmental dyscalculia, apparently an undefeatable discrepancy in arithmetic acquirement.

Implications of Neuroscience in Education

Neuro-scientific study of the development in the human brain has shown that growth in cognitive abilities continues until late childhood. Studies on adult brain images indicate that there are continuing improvements in the developed human brain. The tradition about the brain which are found in education is about working of the brain and each hemisphere, important periods during infancy and childhood, and the importance of enriched surroundings for growing children. These concepts include the continued development of the human brain and the prospects of responsive periods playing role in the simplification of certain types of learning. These sensitive intervals extend as a minimum into the adolescent years, and possibly more. Neuroscience can also propose precise insights into several aspects of skills growth and is commencing to recommend new avenues of investigation in the development of some skills discrepancies. Neuroscience has confirmed earlier psychosomatic theories about the consequence of emotional influences in learning (Goswami, 2004). The students who received enriched educational environments are found to have a greater synaptic density in their brains. It is highly prescribed from this fact that young children should be taught in a suitable environment to augment their learning perspective.

Effective teaching methods should focus on both segments and whole structures because the brain physically associates confined neural activity to circuits that are connected to diverse experimental areas. For instance, in initial mathematics teaching, teaching the addition of numbers independently of mathematical operation and their meaningful daily life use is expected to be less successful than teaching both simultaneously. Opinions for teaching simple skills in segregation presume that scholars can only originally grip simple data and the complex ways should proceed slowly and progressively. But research in this area indicates that the higher-order brain synthesizes the intricate and intangible information and simple information simultaneously.

Conclusion

The prospective for neuroscience to make contributions to educational study is great. Nevertheless, bridges need to be built between neuroscience and basic education research. Cognitive psychologists are commendably placed to put up these bridges. In my view, there can be many ways that enable neuroscience to affect education up to a great extent.

In the first step, an interface should be developed among the fields of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Educational Psychology. This interaction could be widely anticipated and enhance the role of cognitive sciences could play in education. Education would have a neural tool for comparing the effectiveness of different approaches to the teaching of preliminary mathematics learning. This is only one case of the creative application of presently available neuroscience techniques to significant issues in education.

Another way would be the use of recent advances in neurology like increased resolution provided by neural imagery and other latest technologies will impact education by taxing our basic philosophical theories about child development and as a result provide ways to how we train educational researchers, professionals, and eventually instructors.

As education is an applied field that tremendously affects children’s lives, another step is to develop skills like literacy or language in a small period. Neuroscience research put forward positive interventions which can be proved to be efficient. Effective instructional interventions should not be delayed while we develop a complete understanding of the underlying neurological and psychological processes.

References

1. Cell Press (2007). Studies Yield Insight Into The Numerical Brain. ScienceDaily.
2. Dehaene, S. (1997). Number Sense. New York/Oxford. Oxford University Press.
3. Butterworth, B. (1999). The Mathematical Brain. London: Macmillan. p. 183-215.
4. Goswami, U. (2004). Neuroscience, education and special education. British journal of Special Education. Vol 31. No 4. p. 175-183

At present, it has become evident that unconscious motifs determine people’s decision-making much larger than the conscious value system. This fact is confirmed not only by recent neuroscience research data. One of the frequently occurring unconscious biases is implicit racial discrimination. In the educational system, like in any other field, it is important to be aware not only of conscious drivers for our decision-making but also of unconscious ones.

The mentioned problem is the subject of the TED talk The Neuroscience of Decision-Making by Kimberly Papillon. She discusses that, despite people’s established values, they may have an approach based on their implicit biases. Neuroscience provides the data that some parts of the brain are responsible for judging others as pleasant, kind, or intelligent. In the case of people with a bias toward racial belonging, these parts are activated in different ways while addressing the representatives of various races, not in favor of the underestimated one. At the same time, people seem to be unbiased consciously, yet they judge and act influenced by bias. For example, I have witnessed the underrating of students of Afro-American origins compared with Caucasian ones, despite the number of mistakes in their works being the same. Simultaneously, the teachers were explicitly expressing the idea of equality.

In my opinion, the discussed situation depicts an obvious problem. In the words of Papillon, “an approach to civil rights work that focuses exclusively on identifying the consciously-biased actors in a government institution or private company will overlook most of the biased decisions that occur in our society on a daily basis” (Papillon, 2019, para. 27). I agree with the point that at present, those who try to discredit prejudice still tend to “overemphasize intentional discrimination and ignore implicit bias” (Holder, 2020, p. 9). However, as Papillon speaks in the TED talk (2019), neuroscience not only points out a problem but also gives a solution. It demonstrates that our minds can be controlled by us, which is physiologically proven.

In summary, I think that solution lies in providing more attention to these unconscious motifs. We can take the help of various psychological tests that would uncover such motifs in our minds, which will help to control the process of decision-making and modify the behavior. The efforts in this direction are important for each of us on the way to justice and humanness in nowaday society.

References

Holder, L. (2020). A paradigm shift in race consciousness drives the growing demand for diversity, equity, and inclusion consultation. California Labor and Employment Law Review, 34(5), 8-12.

Papillon, K. (2020). The hard science of civil rights: How neuroscience changes the conversation. Equal justice society. Web.

Papillon, K. (2019). The neuroscience of decision-making: Are we foul or fair? | Kimberly Papillon | TEDxNashvilleWomenAPA[Video]. YouTube. Web.