MODULE 6:

The Powers of the Mind

Big Question: How do we develop the powers of our mind?

Objectives:
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. discuss that understanding the left and right brain functions may

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help in improving one’s learning,
2. explore mind-mapping techniques suited to right brain- or left brain-
dominant thinking
styles, and
3. make a plan to improve learning using both left and right brain development.

Activity: LATERAL THINKING PUZZLES

1. You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night,
when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the
bus:
a. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die
b. An old friend who once saved your life
c. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about
Knowing that there can only be one passenger in your car, whom would
you choose?
2. Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest
a suspected murderer. They don't know what he looks like but they
know his name is John and that he is inside the house. The police bust
in on a carpenter, a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman all playing
poker. Without hesitation or communication of any kind, they
immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they've got their
man?
3. A man lives in the penthouse of an apartment building. Every morning
he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. Upon
his return, however, he can only travel halfway up in the lift and has to
walk the rest of the way - unless it's raining. What is the explanation
for this?
4. A man and his son are in a car crash. The father is killed and the child
is taken to hospital gravely injured. When he gets there, the surgeon
says, 'I can't operate on this boy - for he is my son!!!' How can this
possibly be?

Reading: BRAINPOWER: COMPLEX ORGAN CONTROLS YOUR

EVERY THOUGHT AND MOVE
How did you get here?
No, no, no! It's not a question about your conception
or birth. How did you get here? On this page. Reading
this story.
The answer is a lot more complex than, "My teacher told me to read
it" or "I clicked on it by accident."
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The answer involves thought, as in "I want to get on the Internet"; movement
— pressing the computer's power button and grasping a mouse;
memory—like

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 recalling how to use a browser or a search engine; and word recognition
such as "Brainpower" and an understanding of its meaning.
In short, the answer involves a wrinkled, pinkish-gray, three-pound
organ that is primarily composed of fat and water and goes by the name
of brain.
You got to this article because that jelly-like mass topping off your
spinal cord fired electrical signals to your hand telling it how to move. You
got to this article because your brain stored information about using a
computer and the definition of words that you learned years ago. You got
to this article because your brain is working.
Keep reading to find out how it functions, if it repairs itself and if
the effects of drug use are permanent.

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The power to act
The brain has three major parts -- the cerebrum, the cerebellum
and the brain stem. The brain stem connects the spinal cord and the
brain. It controls functions that keep people alive such as breathing, heart
rate, blood pressure and food digestion. Those activities occur without any
thought. You aren't telling yourself, "Inhale. Exhale. Inhale." You're just
breathing.
Things are different in the cerebellum. That region controls
voluntary movement. When you want to lift your fork, wave your hand,
brush your hair or wink at a cutie, you form the thought and then an area
in the cerebellum translates your will into action. It happens so quickly.
Think about how little time passes between your desire to continue
reading this sentence and the time it takes your eyes to move to this word
or this one. It seems automatic, but it isn't.
Neurons, the basic functional units of the nervous system, are
three-part units and are key to brain function. They are comprised of a
nerve cell body, axon and dendrite, and they power the rapid-fire process
that turns thought into movement.
The thought moves as an electrical signal from the nerve cell down
the axon to a dendrite, which looks like branches at the end of nerve cells.
The signal jumps from the end of the dendrite on one cell across the
space, called a synapse, to the dendrite of another cell with the help of
chemicals called neurotransmitters. That signal continues jumping from
cell to cell until it reaches the muscle you need to wave, wink or walk.
The cerebrum is the largest of the three brain sections, accounts for
about 85 percent of the brain's weight, and has four lobes. The lobes-
frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital -- each have different functions.
They get their names from the sections of the skull that are next to them.
The parietal lobe helps people understand what they see and feel,
while the frontal lobe determines personality and emotions. Vision
functions are located in the occipital lobe, and hearing and word
recognition abilities are in the temporal lobe.

A critical age
Because the brain's healthy functioning is essential to living and
determines quality of life, doctors emphasize protecting the organ from
injury and chemical abuse.
There is a consensus among researchers that brain cells regenerate
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 throughout life, said Doug Postels, a pediatric neurosurgeon in New
Orleans, but that new growth happens very slowly after a certain age.
"The size of the brain doesn't increase much after 3," Postels explains.

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 During the first three years of life, the brain experiences most of its
growth and develops most of its potential for learning. That's the time
frame in which synaptogenesis, or the creation of pathways for brain cells
to communicate, occurs.
Doctors generally accept that cut-off point for two reasons, Postels
said. First, in situations where doctors removed parts of the brains of
patients younger than 3 to correct disorders, the remaining brain sections
developed to assume the role of the portions those doctors removed. But
when physicians performed the same surgery on older patients, that
adaptability function did not occur.
Second, "We know from experiments that if you deprive people of
intellectual stimulation and put them in a dark room, that it produces
permanent changes in the brain," Postels said. "That occurs most

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dramatically before age 3. After that age, it's impossible to ethically do a
study."
Previous research produced information about the effects of
stimulation deprivation, but modern ethical guidelines prohibit such
research on people because of the potentially harmful outcome.

Drug damage
Because so little recovery occurs to brains damaged after age 3,
the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain might be lasting.
Doctors know what inhalants, steroids, marijuana, cocaine and
alcohol do to the brain when people use them. "The question scientists
can't answer now is if the damage is permanent," said Sue Rusche, co-
author of "False Messengers," a book on how addictive drugs change the
brain.
Inhalants, such as glue, paint, gasoline and aerosols, destroy the
outer lining of nerve cells and make them unable to communicate with
one another. In 1993, more than 60 young people died from sniffing
inhalants, according to National Families in Action, a drug education
center based in Atlanta.
Studies have found that marijuana use hinders memory, learning,
judgment and reaction times, while steroids cause aggression and violent
mood swings.
Ecstasy use is rising among young people, Rusche said, and
scientists have found that drug destroys neurons that make serotonin, a
chemical crucial in controlling sleep, violence, mood swings and sexual
urges.
While doctors and scientists know about some effects drugs have
on the brain, they don't have a full picture, Rusche said.
"When people start using a drug, the scientists know nothing about
it. These people are volunteering to be guinea pigs," said Rusche, who is
co-founder and executive director of National Families in Action. "Once
enough people take it, scientists apply for grants and start studying it.
People are inventive. They find new drugs or new ways to take old drugs-
like crack from cocaine.
"There's a lot we won't know about until later," she said. "The
classic example is cigarettes. We allowed people to smoke for 100 years
before we knew about all the horrible things that nicotine will do.

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Source: Christy Oglesby, CNNfyi Senior Writer, December 5, 2000 from
http://edition.cnn.com/fyi/interactive/news/brain/structure.function.html

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 Activity: BRAIN DOMINANCE
Which of these apply to you?
I am very organized.
I remember faces more than names.
I think things through before making a decision.
If someone’s mad at me, I can tell even without the person saying a word.
I work best in a quiet space.
I daydream a lot.
I hate taking risks.
I tend to get emotional.

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I make a to-do-list.
I trust my “gut instinct”.

If you have more “yes” answers from the left column, you are probably
left-brain dominant, while if you have more “yes” answers from the right
column, you are probably right-brain dominant.

Reading: THE DOMINANT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

Researchers believed that brain dominance determines a person’s
preferences, problem-solving style, personality characteristics, and even
career choices. For example, a right-brain individual will quickly get a
feeling for a situation, while a left-brain person will usually ask a lot of
questions first. The following chart reflects additional difference between
left and right-brain dominance.

PERSONAL PREFERENCE
LEFT DOMINANCE RIGHT DOMINANCE
Classical music Popular music
Being on time A good times
Careful planning To visualize the outcome
To consider alternative To go with the first idea
Being thoughtful Being active
Monopoly, scrabble, or chess Athletics, art, or music

There is nothing good or bad about either preference. Both

orientations can be equally successful in accomplishing a single task;
however, one may be more appropriate over the other depending on the
situation.

Reading: RESEARCH STUDY “THE BRAIN’S LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES

SEEM TO WORK TOGETHER BETTER IN MATHEMATICALLY
GIFTED MIDDLE-SCHOOL YOUTH”

WASHINGTON- There really may be something different about the

brains of math-heads. Mathematically gifted teens did better than
average-ability teens and college students on tests that required the two
halves of the brain to cooperate, as reported in the April issue of
Neuropsychology, published by the American Psychological Association
(APA).
In the study, a joint effort of psychologists at the U.S. Army
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 Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences at Fort
Benning, Ga. and the University of

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Melbourne, Australia, researchers studied 60 right-handed males: 18
mathematically gifted (averaging nearly 14 years in age), 18 of average
math ability (averaging just over 13), and 24 college students (averaging
about 20). Math giftedness seems to favor boys over girls, appearing an
estimated six to 13 times more often. It's not known why but prenatal
exposure to testosterone is suspected to be one influence due to its
selective benefit to the right half of the brain.
The gifted boys were recruited from a Challenges for Youth-
Talented program at Iowa State University. Whereas the average
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) math score for college-bound high-school
seniors is 500 (out of 800), the mathematically gifted boys' average SAT
math score in middle school was 620.
The boys viewed letter patterns flashed on the left or right sides of
a computer screen, and had to indicate whether two patterns matched or

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not - a simple way of learning how the brain responds to data put before
either the left or right visual field, corresponding to processing in the
right or left brain because the input generally crosses over to the other
side.
The letter patterns were presented in three conditions - one-sided,
to the right hemisphere (left eye); one-sided, to the left hemisphere (right
eye); or bilaterally (both eyes). There were two types of tasks -- "local,"
saying two letters matched or mismatched on the small letters that went
into making big letters (for example, a big T whose two strokes were
made of smaller T's), and "global," saying two big letters matched or
mismatched.
For the average teens and college students, the left brain
hemisphere was faster for local matches and the right brain hemisphere
was faster for global matches. This fit prior research, which has indicated
that the left hemisphere is adept at processing visual "parts," in this case
the letter details, while the right hemisphere is more adept at analyzing
visual "wholes," in this case the global shapes of the big letters.
However, the mathematically gifted boys showed no such hemispheric
differences. Those who were precocious in math were equally good at
processing global and local elements with either hemisphere, suggesting
more interactive, cooperative left and right brains.
In addition, whereas average-ability boys and college students were
slower on cooperative trials, which presented letter patterns on both sides
of the screen, the math-gifted showed the opposite pattern. They were
slower on one-sided trials, but when a task "asked" both sides of the brain
to work together, they were considerably faster than the other boys
The study supports the growing notion that the mathematically
gifted are better at relaying and integrating information between the
cerebral hemispheres. Says co-author Michael O'Boyle, PhD, "It's not that
you have a special math module somewhere in your brain, but rather that
the brain's particular functional organization
- which allows right-hemisphere contributions to be better integrated into
the overall cognitive/behavioral equation -- predisposes it towards the use
of high-level imagery and spatial skills, which in turn just happen to be
very useful when it comes to doing math reasoning."
The research supports the broader notion that "the functional
(though not necessarily structural) organization of the brain may be an
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important contributor to individual differences in cognitive abilities, talents
and, at the very least, information- processing styles," says O'Boyle.

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 He adds, "Various expressions of exceptionality, such as giftedness
in math, music or art, may be the by-product of a brain that has
functionally organized itself in a qualitatively different way than the usual
left/right hemispheric asymmetry."
At the same time, O'Boyle is not sure whether the findings could
apply to math education in general. "Our work may perhaps have
something to say about the optimal timing of when a particular brain is
most 'ready to learn' or acquire a given skill, but I don't think we can
'create' a math genius without the innate talent already there," he says.
Finally, given the rising use of testosterone by adult men, O'Boyle
cautions that, "Testosterone taken later in life will not help your math, as
the window of influence on brain development is pretty much prenatal. It

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may enhance muscle mass, but it is unlikely to help you solve calculus
problems."
Source: "Interhemispheric interaction during global-local processing in mathematically gifted
adolescents, average-ability youth, and college students," Harnam Singh, Ph.D.,
U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Michael
W. O'Boyle, PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia; Neuropsychology, Vol. 18, No.
2.
Reporters: Michael O'Boyle , from the American Psychological Association, available
from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2004/04/interhemispheric.aspx

Activity: MIND MAPPING

Mind mapping is a powerful thinking tool. It is a graphical technique
that mirrors the way the brain works, and was invented by Tony Buzan.
Mind mapping helps to make thinking visible. Most people make notes
using lined paper and blue or black ink. Making notes more attractive to
the brain by adding color and rhythm can aid the learning process, and
can help to make learning fun. The subject being studied is crystallized in
a central image and the main theme radiates out from the central image
on branches. Each branch holds a key image or a key word. Details are
then added to the main branches and radiate further out. Mind maps have
a wide variety of uses, for example, note taking, revision planning,
planning for writing and problem solving can all be successfully carried
out using the technique. The colors and the graphics used will help
children to organize their ideas and thoughts. They can be very simple or,
quite detailed depending upon the age of the children and the complexity
of the subject. Because creating the mind map involves the use of the left
and right brain, remembering the information becomes easier!
Below is an example of a simple mind map linked to the information above.

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How to draw a mind map:
1. Turn the page on its side (landscape). Use plain paper.
2. Draw the central image using different colors. The
central image should encapsulate the subject of the
map.
3. Add the branches representing the subject’s main
topics or themes using key words or images.
4. Add detail with more key words and images. Use color.
5. Print the words clearly.
6. Use arrows to connect linked ideas.

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Source: Dodd (2004). Learning to Think: Thinking to Learn,
http://aysinalp.edublogs.org/files/2013/09/TheBrainandLearning-1f6e16y.pdf

Reading: YOU CAN GROW YOUR INTELLIGENCE

New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle
Many people think of the brain as a mystery. They don’t know
much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what
intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born either smart,
average, or dumb—and stays that way for life. But new research shows
that the brain is more like a muscle—it changes and gets stronger when
you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows
and gets stronger when you learn. Everyone knows that when you lift
weights, your muscles get bigger and you get stronger. A person who
can’t lift 20 pounds when they start exercising can get strong enough to
lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time. That’s because the
muscles become larger and stronger with exercise. And when you stop
exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That’s why people
say “Use it or lose it!” But most people don’t know that when they
practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a
lot like muscles do when they exercise.
Inside the cortex of
the brain are billions of
tiny nerve cells, called
neurons. The nerve cells
have branches connecting
them to other cells in a
complicated network.
Communication

between these brain cells

is what allows
us to think and Figure 1: Section of the Cerebral Cortex
solve
problems.
When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually
multiply and get stronger. The
more that you challenge your
mind to learn, the more your
brain cells grow. Then, things that
you once found very hard or even
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 impossible to do—like speaking a
foreign language or doing algebra
—seem to become easy. The
result is a stronger, smarter
brain.
Figure 2: A typical nerve cell

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 How Do We Know the Brain Can Grow Stronger?
Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and
change when they studied animals’ brains. They found out that animals
who lived in a challenging environment, with other animals and toys to
play with, were different from animals who lived alone in bare cages.
While the animals who lived alone just ate and slept all the time, the ones
who lived with different toys and other animals were always active. They
spent a lot of time figuring out how to use the toys and how to get along
with the other animals.
These animals had more
connections between the nerve cells
in their brains. The connections were
bigger and stronger, too. In fact,
their whole brains were about 10%

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heavier than the brains of the
Nerves in brain of Brain of animal living animals who lived alone without
animal living in with other animals toys. The animals who were
bare cage. and toys exercising their brains by playing
© Mindset Works
with toys and each other
were also
Figure 3: Effect of an Enriched Environment
“smarter”—they were better at
solving problems and learning new
things.
Even old animals got smarter and developed more connections in
their brains when they got the chance to play with new toys and other
animals. When scientists put very old animals in the cage with younger
animals and new toys to explore, their brains also grew by about 10%!

The Key to Growing the Brain: Practice!

From the first day they are born, babies are hearing people around
them talk—all day, every day, to the baby and to each other. They have
to try to make sense of these strange sounds and figure out what they
mean. In a way, babies are exercising their brains by listening hard.
Later, when they need to tell their parents what they
want, they start practicing talking
themselves. At first, they just make
goo- goo sounds. Then, words start
coming. And by the time they are
three years old, most can say whole
sentences almost perfectly. Once
children learn a language, they
don’t forget it. The child’s
At birth At age 6 brain has changed—it has actually
© Mindset Works
gotten smarter. This can happen
Figure 4: Growth of neuron connections in a child
from birth to 6 years old because learning causes permanent
changes in the brain. The babies’
brain cells get larger and grow
new connections
between them. These new, stronger connections make the child’s brain stronger and
smarter, just like a weightlifter’s big muscles make them strong.
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 The Real Truth About “Smart” and “Dumb”. No one thinks babies are stupid
because they can’t talk. They just haven’t learned how to yet. But some
people will call a person dumb if they can’t solve math problems, or spell
a word right, or read fast—even though all these things are learned with
practice. At first, no one can read or solve equations. But with practice,
they can learn to do it. And the more a person

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learns, the easier it gets to learn new things—because their brain
“muscles” have gotten stronger! The students everyone thinks as the
“smartest” may not have been born any different from anyone else. But
before they started school, they may have started to practice reading.
They had already started to build up their “reading muscles.” Then, in the
classroom, everyone said, “That’s the smartest student in the class.” They
don’t realize that any of the other students could learn to do as well if
they exercised and practiced reading as much. Remember, all of those
other students learned to speak at least one whole language already—
something that grownups find very hard to do. They just need to build up
their “reading muscles” too.

What Can You Do to Get Smarter? Just like a weightlifter or a basketball

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player, to be a brain athlete, you have to exercise and practice. By
practicing, you make your brain stronger. You also learn skills that let you
use your brain in a smarter way—just like a basketball player learns new
moves. But many people miss out on the chance to grow a stronger brain
because they think they can’t do it, or that it’s too hard. It does take work,
just like becoming stronger physically or becoming a better ball player
does. Sometimes it even hurts! But when you feel yourself get better and
stronger, all the work is worth it!
Source:http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/C7BD7406-040C-42FA-B44C-
2FCF72EB819C/0/GrowYourIntelligenceArticleandActivity.pdf © 2010 Mindset Works

Portfolio Output No. 11: Make a Mind Map

1. Choose a subject or activity that you do well (for example, math,
basketball, playing the guitar, painting, cooking, or computer
games).
2. Make a mind map of the chosen topic, following the procedure
described earlier.
3. Explain your mind map and how you worked on it.

Assignment: Bring some print ads of body beautifying products, clothes, or fashion.

Reading: THE MYTH OF MICHAEL JORDAN

Michael Jordan is one of the best basketball players of all time.
His average points per game is the highest in NBA history – 31.5. He
is one of two players to score more than 3000 points in a single
season. And he has 11 MVP awards – five for the regular season and
six for the finals.
It was dazzling to watch Jordan play. People often spoke of his grace
on the court. They talked about his natural abilities. But the true story is
different. When he was a sophomore in high school, Michael Jordan didn’t
even make the team. “It was embarrassing not making the team,” he
says. “They posted the roster [list of players] and it was there for a long,
long time without my name on it. I remember being really mad, too,
because there was a guy who made it that wasn’t as good as
me.”Someone else might have sulked, or quit. But this setback only fueled
Jordan’s desire to improve. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and
figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker
room without my name on it,” Jordan says, “and that usually got me going
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again.”
The physical education teacher at Jordan’s high school, Ruby
Sutton, describes Jordan’s commitment to the game in those days. “I
would normally get to school between 7 and 7:30. Michael would be at
school before I would. Every time

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 I’d come in and open these doors, I’d hear the basketball. Fall,
wintertime, summertime. Most mornings I had to run Michael out of the
gym.”
Adapted from “Michael Jordan transcends hoops” by Larry Schwartz.ESPN.com, 2007.

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