WEEK 5

THE HUMAN BRAIN IS CHANGING THE WORLD

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
1. Identify the factors that shape human brain
2. Explain the interplay of brain and experience and;
3. Examine the roles of human brain in transforming and enhancing human relationships

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES ON HUMAN BRAIN

There has been a growing interest about the human brain. Many of recent findings about how the brain works are new
and can affect the way we view ourselves and our capacities. There are some popular notions about the brain that will
be either debunked or clarified in this chapter. The first one is the statement that human intelligence is fixed and that
intelligence is measured through Intelligence Quotient
(IQ) tests. This test has been categorizing people according to their mental abilities However, the idea that intelligence
is fixed disregards the importance of experience.

Current discoveries about the brain prove that intelligence changes as an individual learns new things. These findings
emphasize the role of experience in shaping the human brain. As we acquire more skills and knowledge through
experience, our intellectual abilities continue to develop. Learning happens inside the brain. This takes place as the
brain creates neural networks that look like spider webs. Inside our brain are billions of interacting neurons that form
neural connections. These neural connections are shaped our exposure to social interactions and the changing
environment.

For example. a group of Senior High School students in a Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) class are
assigned to do a business plan project that involves selling of food. This project aims to develop student’s
entrepreneurship skills which include business planning making a good product, persuading costumers and generating
profit. This activity allows students to develop cognitive ad social skills. At the neural level,
This learning experience facilitates and strengthen neural connections inside the brain. The more we learn the more
neural connections are developed. Ongoing debates on human brain involve the roles of emotion in cognitive
functions. These debates assume that every rational thought is influenced by feelings in our decision-making. In effect,
every human thought processed by our mental and emotional brain is expressed and acted through our social roles.
Human actions and decisions have implications on our social interactions and relationships within the social world that
we inhabit.

VIEWS ON THE HUMAN BRAIN

For many years, it was believed that the human brain has fixed memory, processing speed, and intelligence. It was
"hardwired," meaning it has a permanently connected circular location." It was assumed that we are born with a set of
cognitive abilities which are more or less unchanging for the rest of our lives. If a part is damaged, the brain could not
reorganize itself or recover lost functions. This view was supported by the discoveries of neurosurgeon Paul Broca
(1824-1980) and neurologist Wernicke (1848-1905) about the function of specific areas in the brain connected speech
development. Damage to the area resulted to speech impairment.

Lately, there has been a surge of interest on the brain's capacity to change itself structurally and functionally
throughout the duration of one's life because of the influence of one's environment as well as genetic and biological
factors. This concept is called brain plasticity. It maintains that the human brain is chemically predisposed to be
modified by experience during the developmental period. This implies that the experiences that we acquire and skills
we learn reflect the level of our maturation and brain development. Interestingly, scientists stress that brain plasticity is
more present in childhood than in adulthood.
This quotation from the book The Brain That Changes itself apply illustrates what the human brain is capable of:
"|The brain is not an inanimate vessel that we fill; rather it is more like a living creature with an appetite, one that can
grow and change itself with proper nourishment and exercise (NCBI)"

Our brain can transform itself through what we do and think. The brain is constantly changing itself. It can process
information based on previous processed information and rewire itself based on prior experiences. Unlike the computer,
it reprograms itself. And these functional changes happen when we are learning and memorizing new things. The
human brain is malleable and able to adapt itself to the changing environment and deal with new input and information.
Our brain does not only receive information but can also rewire itself in response to certain repeated activities and
experiences. Thus, cognitive functions such as critical thinking, abstract reasoning, attention, and memory can be
improved and managed. Particular attention has been given to how children's brain structures, neurons neural network
connections, and organization experience modification and alteration. Brain research has shown that "wiring up" begins
in the infancy. During this period, a baby's brain absorbs new information from its environment, resulting in the growth
of billions of nerve cell connections. Eventually, these connections go through
pruning. During the adolescent period, humans experience cognitive challenges and develop skills in planning and
problem solving. Throughout adulthood and old age, the brain's neural connections continue to change in response to
new experiences and learnings. The brain has a period of intense "developmental plasticity" during the first 25 years
was or so of life. Beyond this stage (adult years), it is more difficult to learn specific behavior. Central to this claim is
the idea that the first 25 years of life is characterized as the schooling stage.
Neuro-science research is engaged in deepening our knowledge of the brain's ability to adapt and change itself.
Neuroplasticity has created avenues for developing a set of cognitive therapies and treatments for different issues
surrounding the function and structure of the brain We need to understand the consequences of brain research to
the individual’s personhood or how we view human beings. Probing into the working of the brain bas implications on
one personality, creative powers, memories and dreams, well as on issues of identity and autonomy.

NEURONS AND NEURAL NETWORK

The brain is composed of 80 to 100 billion neurons or nerve cells. These neurons process information through
electrical and chemical signals. Clusters of neurons that connect to each other can be referred to as biological neural
networks, with different networks connecting to each other in circuits called neural pathways. In the 1950s, Canadian
scientist Donald Hebb (1904-1985) came up with a very simple rule: when an axon of cell A is near enough to excite
cell B and repeatedly or persistently takes part in firing it, some growth process or metabolic change occurs in either
one or both of the cells. He suggested that two neurons firing together will strengthen the connection and make it
easier for the two neurons to elicit a response from a third neuron. In short, "The neurons that fire together wire
together. Take as an example the process of learning how to play a guitar. At the start,
it would be difficult to coordinate between the finger work on the fretboard and strumming the strings. But with
constant practice, things will improve until it is almost effortless. Repetition creates new neural pathways in the brain
which makes it hardwired or permanently connected to perform the practiced activity. As these pathways are created,
the brain need not work hard to make it happen.

ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

The previous discussion on how biological neural networks operate is illustrated on how information is processed
through neural connections. This paradigm was adopted in creating Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). ANN is a
model of reasoning based on the human brain. It is a type of artificial intelligence that attempts to imitate the way
the human brain works. This model has been proven useful in processing, classifying, and calculating
information. Computer scientists believe that machines can mimic the way the human brain process information
through the use of computer software or electronic circuits. Dr. Robert Hecht-Nielsen, the inventor of one of the
first neurocomputers, defined ANN as a system that uses interconnecting networks in processing information to
generate an output. Computer scientists believe that machines can mimic the way the human brain process
information through the use of computer software or electronic circuits. Let us look at the following examples:
A high school teacher who handles five classes with sixty students per class will look for a device that will help
him or her compute grades with ease and efficiency. By using the Microsoft Excel as a tool, he or she will be
able to maximize her work by reducing the amount time in computing the grades. In computing a mathematical
equation, a high school student can use also a calculator. The diagram below shows how ANN works.
this process, inputs (raw data) are calculated, classified, and organized producing specified outputs (results).
These outputs (computed grades and answer from mathematical equation) become new data for interpretation
and evaluation. has many practical uses in medicine (ultrasound scans, cardiograms) business (customer
research, data validation), engineering, and education.
In contrast to the human brain, ANN has no gender, culture, emotion and social experience. It operates in a
mechanistic input-process-output mode. However, neural networks in human brains are shaped by one's experiences
which affect one's decisions and actions. This means that human neural networks function a more complex way. As
unique individuals, we process experience differently because we are situated in
diverse social contexts.

THE TRIUNE BRAIN

The triune brain is made up of the hindbrain, midbrain, and cortex. It is biologically and socially structured for learning.
In the past, research is made up of the interests focused on the functions of these brain regions. Focus has now shifted
from modularization to connectivity between different brain areas. This implies that neural networks operate in complex
ways. Thus, learning to master a particular skill involves more neural connections between various brain regions. One
good example to illustrate the point is the development of reading skills
Brain functions involving language, visual skills, emotions, and motor skills (such as writing) are necessary in acquiring
reading skills. This shows that reading results from maturation and interaction among different areas of the brain. It is
important to note that neural connections involved in developing a complex skill is profoundly
shaped by environmental experience.

SOCIAL BRAIN
The brain is the social organ of the body. It is responsible for discharging intelligence and emotions thus carrying out a
primary role in our socialization. As humans, our innate ability to comprehend and feel emotions at the complex and
conscious level is vital to our social life. Our brain makes us fundamentally a social species, responding to the
environment around us with both rational thought and feelings. The skills of thinking and feeling to adapt to the
environment and to build networks that will sustain productive lives. Adolescence is a critical period for social
adaptation. As their social world expands, adolescents need to make sense of the changes that are happening in their
lives. This involves forming positive relationships with family and friends, swell making choices that will enable their
development as human beings for instance central to the survival and adaptation of senior high school students is
building and sustaining nurturing social networks (friendship, study group, and clubs) that will help enrich their talents,
stimulate their interests, and boost their confidence. Studies on neuroscience argue that the brain reorganizes itself
during the adolescence period. Honhen and Murphy (2016) notes that during this period the social brain is activated.
The idea that the brain is a social organ came from the hypothesis that primates have bigger brains compared to all other
vertebrates Large brains deal with a more complex social environment.

Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ___________

TASK 1 : Constructing a concept web: recall the most significant concept or skill that you have learned. It can
be learning how to bike, how to solve math problems, how to write a speech, how to make a power-point
presentation or how to cook. Describe your experiences and write them on the appropriate box pertaining to the
functions of human brain.

what feelings were involved in the learning

process? how did this feelings affect knowledge
acquisition?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_________________.

what significant knowledge, concept or skills where and when did the learning process take
have you acquired? place? what available resources did you use to
______________________________________ learn? what is the value of the concept,
______________________________________ knowledge and skill have you gained?
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ _________________.
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
who are the people involved during the
______________________________________
learning process?
___________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
______________________.
 WEEK 6
THE INDIVIDUAL WITHIN SOCIAL NETWORKS
TASK 1- IDENTIFY WHAT IS BEING DESCRIBED IN EACH ITEM. CHOOSE YOUR ANSWER ON THE
BOX BELOW.
____________1. Behavioral expectations attached to our social position.
____________2. Visual representation of a social network.
____________3. The social position that each individual occupies within a society.
____________4. Views social relationships in terms of human connections and interactions.
____________5. Refers to interacting people within a network
____________6. A highly structured social network sharing common agenda and missions.
____________7. Defines as network members that are connected by one or more types of relations
____________8. A method used in interpreting social network
____________9. Stratification of social roles and statuses
___________10. Digital on non-digital social platforms where people access and share information

NODES SOCIAL STATUS

ROLE SOCIAL MAP SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

SOCIAL NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA RANK INSTITUTION

TASK 2: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BRIEFLY BUT DELIBERATELY:

1. Why do you think humans build and participate in social network?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________.

2. Why is it important to understand human interaction?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________.

SOURCE: TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING -Vibal Publishing House

Prepared and compiled by:

PRINCES JANE P. MONTEREY

Teacher

Approved by:

LAUREANO R. FERANIL Ma. Ed

School Principal

Noted by:

LEA S. LONTOC Ed. D

President/Director