Career Connections at SAVY Saturday, Week 2, Neuroscience at Work (7th-8th)
Today, our neuroscientists in training took the foundational knowledge they gained last week to new heights! We dove into the world of sensory systems and perception, uncovering how the brain processes the information we take in from the world around us to influence our behavior and cognition.
After a quick review, we jumped right into discussing the difference between seeing and perceiving with some optical illusions. This set the stage to talk about how important sensory information is for developing memories and supporting learning.
Through hands-on activity, we manipulated how we take in sensory information to better understand the principle of neuroplasticity and highlight the adaptability of our brains. We conducted a simple experiment while playing cornhole to see how long it would take our brains to adapt to new circumstances.
Next, students explored the impact of stress and emotions on our ability to learn and perform. With a small trick, students were asked to complete simple math problems under various stressful scenarios (e.g., as fast as you can). We learned that stress can play a helping role in the development of memories and learning, up to a certain point. That set us up for a great discussion about the emotional brain and what role it can play in how we behave and encode memories.
Our day wrapped up with my favorite part, designing research experiments! Students evaluated what they learned over the past two weeks to ask their own unique questions about the brain and human behavior and then designed their very own study to answer it! I was so impressed by the unique experiments that all our students came up with.
Next week, our students will take on the role of researchers to conduct their very own experiments with peers from other classes. We will analyze their results, and they will have the opportunity to create a research presentation to share their findings.
Questions to Ask Your Child About Day 2:
- What’s the difference between seeing something and perceiving it?
- How did your brain adapt during cornhole? What parts of your brain did you have to use?
- How does stress help or hurt learning?
- What experiment did you design?
These questions are a great way to spark conversation and give your child an opportunity to share what they’ve learned! Stay tuned for more updates on their neuroscience adventure.
Your instructor,
Israel Flores, PhD