My pedagogy teacher said that doctors have it easy. Their failures die and they move on. Ours meets us on the street and years later shares that failure with their chat group long after the teacher is gone with failure following him even into the other world. It's tough being a teacher.
REH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 9:12 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Survival of the Busiest > Ray, > > I think you are right. > > He was the one under a strain. > > Did I hear sobbing as I left after my lesson? > > Harry > -------------------------------------------------- > > Ray wrote: > > >His brain got rewired, not yours Harry. Imagine what would have happened > >if yours had. > > > >REH > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 12:19 PM > >Subject: Re: [Futurework] Survival of the Busiest > > > > > > > Karen, > > > > > > Amazing! > > > > > > My sole contribution to the musical world is the result of my brain not > > > rewiring. > > > > > > Henry Holst - brother of Gustav - tried to teach me the violin. The > > > experience was so nerve-racking he stopped teaching and became a soloist > > > with many of the world's great orchestras. > > > > > > If my brain had been capable of rewiring, he might still be teaching > >violin. > > > > > > HARRY > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >------ > > > > > > Karen wrote: > > > > > > >I do not remember where this article came from (perhaps FW since I do not > > > >have the source) but remembered it during this latest discussion on the > > > >brain and thought to add it to the menu. It s fairly long, but > > > >interesting reading for those who are keeping up with the debate over > > > >Nature vs Nurture and research applications. If anyone would prefer it > > > >formatted in a doc, please let me know. The book is now available and > > > >Amazon.com has reviews. Karen Watters Cole > > > > > > > >Survival of the Busiest > > > >Parts of the Brain That Get Most Use Literally Expand And Rewire on > >Demand > > > > > > > >Adapted from the book The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the > > > >Power of Mental Force. > > > >Copyright © 2002 by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., and Sharon Begley. (Oct > > > >2002 ReganBooks, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Reprinted by > > > >permission). ISBN: 0060393556. > > > > > > > >For the conventional wisdom on our gray matter, just open any lavishly > > > >illustrated brain book. There, detailed diagrams map out specialized > >brain > > > >structures: areas that generate speech and areas that process vision, > > > >areas that sense sound and areas that detect when you touch your left big > >toe. > > > > > > > >The diagrams resemble nothing so much as zoning maps produced by the most > > > >rigid land use board. Every bit of neural real estate is assigned a job, > > > >reflecting the decades-long belief that different parts of the brain are > > > >hardwired for certain functions. > > > > > > > >This view of the brain dates back to 1857, when French neurosurgeon Paul > > > >Broca discovered that particular regions are specialized for particular > > > >functions, such as language. His and subsequent discoveries gave rise to > > > >the dogma of the hard-wired adult brain, and it had profound real-world > > > >consequences. It held that if the brain sustained injury through stroke > > > >or trauma to, say, a region responsible for moving the left arm, then > > > >other regions could not step up to the plate and pinch-hit. The function > > > >of the injured region would be lost forever. And it implied that if, by > > > >the age of 12 or so, you had not recruited neurons to the specialized > >task > > > >of playing the violin, for instance, or learning a second language, then > > > >you might as well give up: your old brain was simply not going to learn > > > >new tricks. > > > > > > > >But that dogma has been under assault in recent years. Although specific > > > >portions of the brain do, usually, specialize in certain tasks, the brain > > > >is much more adaptable and renewable than previously thought-and that s > > > >true throughout life. > > > > > > > >Animal experiments provided the first hints that the brain is able to > > > >change dramatically after childhood. When lab monkeys practiced - and > > > >practiced - the trick of using a single finger to reach into a tiny dish > > > >and grab a morsel of food, the brain region devoted to fine motor control > > > >of that finger grew like suburban sprawl. And these were grown-up > >monkeys. > > > > > > > >Even the adult brain is plastic, able to forge new connections among its > > > >neurons and thus rewire itself. Sensory input can change the brain, and > > > > > >the brain remodels itself in response to behavioral demands. Regions > >that > > > >get the most use literally expand. In terms of which neural circuits > > > >endure and enlarge, you can call it survival of the busiest. > > > > > > > >In 1993, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, then at the National Institute of > > > >Neurological Disorders and Stroke, led the search for what would become > > > >one of the earliest findings in human neuroplasticity. Does anyone, he > > > >wondered, habitually experience powerful tactile stimulation to a > > > >particular portion of their body? Of course: blind people who read > > > >Braille with their fingertips. > > > > > > > >Dr. Pascual-Leone recruited 15 proficient Braille readers and wired them > > > >up so he could measure their somatosensory cortex-the part of the brain > > > >that registers and processes the sense of touch. Then he administered > > > >weak electrical shocks to the tip of their right forefingers (the reading > > > >finger ), recording which parts of the somatosensory cortex registered > >the > > > >sensation. He did the same thing to the blind people s left index > >finger, > > > >and to fingers in non-Braillereaders that don t get exceptional use. > > > > > > > >The result was unmistakable. In the Braille readers, the area of > > > >somatosensory cortex devoted to the reading finger was much larger than > > > >the comparable area for fingers in both blind and sighted people who don > >t > > > >have such demands put on them. It was a clear case of sensory input > > > >changing the brain. The cortical region processing that input had > > > >expanded, with a consequent increase in sensitivity. That would explain > > > >how Braille readers are able to make such fine discriminations among > > > >patterns of tiny raised dots. > > > > > > > >By the spring of 1995, Edward Taub was also exploiting the ability of the > > > >brain to rewire itself. The University of Alabama, Birmingham, scientist > > > >was developing a revolutionary new therapy for stroke patients. The goal > > > >was to enable an intact area of the brain to take over for a region > > > >knocked out by stroke. But Dr. Taub was sure that neuroplasticity went > > > >beyond damaged brains. His goal was to see how normal behaviors changed > > > >brain maps. > > > > > > > >One evening that spring, he and his wife Mildred Allen, a lyric soprano > > > >who had been a principal artist at New York s Metropolitan Opera in New > > > >York, were having dinner in Germany with a group of neuroscientists. > > > >Casting around for a study they could collaborate on, Dr. Taub asked the > > > >group: Is there any normal activity that uses one hand way more than the > > > >other? The scientists were flummoxed, but Ms. Allen chimed in, Oh, that s > > > >easy-playing a string instrument. > > > > > > > >When a right-handed musician plays the violin, four digits of the left > > > >hand continuously finger the strings. (The left thumb grasps the neck of > > > >the violin, undergoing only small shifts of position and pressure.) The > > > >right, or bowing, hand undertakes far fewer individual finger > > > >movements. Might this pattern leave a trace on the cerebral cortex? > > > > > > > >To find out, the scientists recruited six violinists, two cellists and > >one > > > >guitarist, all of whom had played their instrument for seven to 17 years, > > > >as well as six nonmusicians. The volunteers sat still while a pneumatic > > > >stimulator applied light pressure to their fingers to record neuronal > > > >activity in the part of the brain that processes the sense of touch. > > > > > > > >There was no difference between the string players and the nonmusicians > >in > > > >how much of the cortex was devoted to feeling the fingers of the right > > > >hand. But there was a huge difference when it came to the left hand: The > > > >amount of brain territory devoted to those fingers had increased > > > >substantially. That increase was greatest in musicians who began to play > > > >before the age of 12. > > > > > > > >But to Dr. Taub, the most dramatic finding was that even in people who > > > >took up the violin as adults, regular practice had changed their > > > >brains. Their cortex had rezoned itself so that more neurons were > > > >assigned to the fingers of the left hand. Even if you take up the violin > > > >at 40, you still get brain reorganization, he says. > > > > > > > >These were the opening shots in what would become a revolution in > > > >treatment for stroke, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette > > > >s syndrome and other brain diseases. All were based on the discovery > >that > > > >the brain has the ability to change in response to the input it receives. > > > > > > > >At the University of California, San Francisco, researchers led by > >Michael > > > >Merzenich had shown that sound has the power to reshape the brain in lab > > > >monkeys. Across the country, at Rutgers, University in New Jersey, > > > >neuroscientists Paula Tallal and Steve Miller had begun to suspect that > > > >Specific Language Impairment (a general term that includes dyslexia) > >might > > > >reflect a problem not with recognizing the appearance of letters and > >words > > > >but, instead, with processing certain speech sounds-fast ones. > > > > > > > >Dyslexics, Dr. Tallal thought, have some brain impairment that prevents > > > >them from hearing staccato sounds like b, p, d and g, which burst from > > > >the lips and vanish in just a few thousandths of a second. Since > >learning > > > >to read involves matching written words to the heard language, it s no > > > >wonder that a failure to hear certain sounds impairs reading ability. > > > > > > > >When Dr. Tallal discussed her theory at a science meeting in Santa Fe, > >you > > > >could almost see-the light bulb go off over Dr. Merzenich s head. His > > > >experiments on monkeys, he told her, had implications for her ideas about > > > >dyslexia. Dyslexics might become better readers, he said, if their brain > > > >could be rewired to hear staccato phonemes something that could be done > >by > > > >harnessing the power of neuroplasticity. > > > > > > > >To find out if the brains of young dyslexics could be rewired, and if > >that > > > >rewiring would help them read better, the Rutgers scientists recruited > > > >about a dozen kids and designed an experiment. One of Dr. Merzenich s > > > >colleagues, meanwhile, wrote software that slows down staccato phonemes, > > > >stretching out the interval between b and aaah in baa, for example. To > > > >everyone else, the processed speech sounds like someone shouting > > > >underwater. But to the dyslexic children, the scientists hoped, it > >would, > > > >sound like baa -a sound they had never before heard clearly. When Dr. > > > >Tallal listened to the processed speech, she was so concerned that the > > > >kids would be bored out of their minds listening to endless repetitions > >of > > > >words and phonemes, that she dashed out for a supply of Cheetos. She > > > >figured her team would have to bribe the kids to stick with the program. > > > > > > > >And so began Camp Rutgers. For 20 days one summer, 22 kids age five to > > > >nine played CD-ROM games structured to alter the brain. One game asked > > > >the child to point to rake when pictures of a lake as well as a rake were > > > >presented, or to click a mouse when a series of the spoken letter g was > > > >interrupted by a k . To train the brain to hear target sounds, the > > > >computer voice stretched them out, intoning rrrake and ddday and bbbay. > > > > > > > >To ease the monotony, the scientists offered the kids snacks and puppets, > > > >frequent breaks and even handstand demonstrations. Steve Miller recalls: > > > >All we did for hours every day was listen. We couldn t even talk to the > > > >kids; they got enough normal speech outside the lab. It was so boring > > > >that Paula had to give us pep talks and tell us to stop whining. She > > > >would give us a thumbs-up for a good job-and we d give her a different > > > >finger back. > > > > > > > >After a few months of training, all the children tested at normal or > >above > > > >in their ability to distinguish sounds. Their language and reading > > > >ability rose two years, something no other dyslexia program had > > > >achieved. Although the research did not include brain scans, it seemed > > > >Fast ForWord (as the software was called) was doing something more > > > >dramatic than your run-of-the-mill educational CD: It was rewiring > > > >brains. You create your brain from the input you get, says Paula Tallal. > > > > > > > >At first that was only speculation. Critics of Fast ForWord said the > > > >system was being rushed to market before its claims had been proved. The > > > >contention that Fast ForWord reshapes the brain was the target of the > >most > > > >vituperation. Michael Studdert-Kennedy, past president of the Haskins > > > >Laboratories, a center for the study of speech and language at Yale > > > >University, told the New York Times in 1999 that inducing neuroplasticity > > > >was an absurd stunt that would not help anyone learn to read. > > > > > > > >Yet a year later, researchers reported compelling evidence to the > > > >contrary. Using brain-scan technology called functional Magnetic > > > >Resonance Imaging (fMRI), John Gabrieli of Stanford University compared > > > >the brains of dyslexics before and after Fast ForWord. He found exactly > > > >what the skeptics said he wouldn t: In dyslexics whose language > > > >comprehension had been improved, the brain s left prefrontal region > >showed > > > >more activity after training. Hearing the drawn-out sounds apparently > > > >induced this region, impaired in dyslexics, to do its job of processing > > > >staccato sounds. > > > > > > > >As evidence accumulated that changes in the sensory information reaching > > > >the brain can profoundly alter the cortex, an obvious question arose: Can > > > >the mind itself change the brain? Can mere thinking do it? Dr. > > > >Pascual-Leone, now at Harvard University, provided a preliminary answer, > > > >with an experiment that has not received nearly the attention it > >deserves. > > > > > > > >He had one group of volunteers practice a five-finger piano exercise, and > > > >a comparable group merely think about practicing it. This second group > > > >focused on each finger movement in turn, essentially playing the simple > > > >piece in their heads, one note at a time. > > > > > > > >Actual physical practice produced changes in each volunteer s motor > > > >cortex, as expected. But so did mere mental rehearsal. In fact, as big > >a > > > >change as the physical practice. Like actual movement, imagined > >movements > > > >change the cortex. Merely thinking about moving produces brain changes > > > >comparable to those triggered by actually moving. > > > > > > > >The existence, and importance, of brain plasticity are no longer in > > > >doubt. The brain is dynamic, and the life we lead leaves its mark in the > > > >complex circuitry of the brain -footprints of the experiences we have > >had, > > > >the thoughts we have thought, the actions we have taken. The brain > > > >allocates neural real estate depending on what we use most: the thumb of > >a > > > >videogame addict, the index finger of a Braille reader, the analytic > > > >ability of a chess player, the language skills of a linguist. > > > > > > > >But the brain also remakes itself based on something much more ephemeral > > > >than what we do: It rewires itself based on what we think. This will be > > > >the next frontier for neuroplasticity, harnessing the transforming power > > > >of the mind to reshape the brain. > > > > ****************************** > Harry Pollard > Henry George School of LA > Box 655 > Tujunga CA 91042 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: (818) 352-4141 > Fax: (818) 353-2242 > ******************************* > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.434 / Virus Database: 243 - Release Date: 12/25/2002 > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
