Baby-Sitting The Brain
By: Lenn Millbower

Article Word Count Appx. : 917

The Photograph The little girl is scared. This place is new. Different. Bright. Hot. She wonders, “why is this strange man is talking to me?” He raises his voice. “Look over here,” he hollers. She’d look but the lights are bright. He holds up a toy. He squeezes it. The toy’s eyes pop. It’s interesting. Fun. She smiles. A bright flash of light pops. Her mother says, “Good girl!” They are done. The picture has been created. Someday the girl will appreciate this photo. She’ll marvel at it. Scrapbook it. Show it off. Her kids will marvel. Laugh. Enjoy it too. So will their kids. But on this day she was afraid. The situation was new. Unknown. She wouldn’t have looked if not for the toy. It caught her attention. Its fun beckoned. And the light went on. This scene repeats itself millions of times a day at Wal-Marts, Olan Mills, Sears, photography studios all over the world, and in classrooms filled with adults afraid of learning. Survival or Pleasure Our brain has a dual focus, survival and pleasure. Survival is the baseline. Without survival nothing matters. Our brain, to insure survival, never stops looking for threats. All the components of the brain, even those responsible for logic and arts, refocus immediately if the brain perceives a threat. This dynamic cannot be ignored in the classroom. Ideas, and the intellectual application of those ideas, are unimportant to a threat focused brain. Once a brain determines that survival is temporarily secure, it refocuses on the second priority, pleasure. The brain doesn’t specifically want to have fun. It’s just that many pleasurable sensations, including sleep, eating, sex and play, are directly tied to survival. The survival connection to food, rest and procreation seem obvious. The brain also needs intellectual stimulation. Thinking is the brain’s own exercise machine, keeping it healthy, alert and functioning. Being Right Or Being Left A large portion of our brain, our neocortex, consists of a left and a right hemisphere. The corpus callosum provides a communications bridge between the two halves. And the two hemispheres need all the communication help they can get. They see very little the same way. They resemble two siblings whose experience is the same but who rarely agree about what they experienced. With the help of the corpus callosum, the two hemispheres are able to partner. Together they simultaneously comprehend the details and the context. Generally, the left hemisphere thinks logically, the right holistically. The left sequentially: the right randomly. The left analyzes, the right synthesizes. The left comprehends words: the right comprehends metaphors. The left examines what is said: the right discerns how it is said. The left seeks facts and details: the right stories and visuals. And most importantly for this discussion, the left processes positive emotions like laughter and joy: the right processes negative emotions like fear and disgust. This duality allows our brain to size up unknown situations quickly. The right hemisphere surveys the big picture looks for survival threats. The left hemisphere analyzes the potential threats, and if no threat is present, looks for the positive aspects of the situation. When the incoming information doesn’t fit recognizable patterns, our brain goes on alert. If the right perceives negative potential it directs the release of cortisol. If the left perceives positive potential, adrenaline is released. Both of these brain chemicals sear memories into our brain. They allow us to remember the events years afterwards. Baby-Sitting Adults The threat of threats doesn’t disappear in adults. As a result, the brain’s survival focus can block learning. To the wary brain, a classroom can be Uncomfortable. Foreign. Threatening. The act of learning implies a lack of completeness. Learners suspicious of facilitator motives, or fearful of their own learning disabilities, can become so wrapped up in right hemispheric negativity that they switch into survival mode. Learning is forgotten. Given that this brain panic cannot be stopped, smart trainers find ways to harmonize with and direct the brain’s dual focus. That’s where Learnertainment® comes in. Entertainment style activities baby-sit the right hemisphere, keeping it busy with things it likes; cartoons, music, games, interactivity, mnemonics. These activities provide the pessimistic right with a positive context. Once the right hemisphere is playfully engaged, learning can commence without blocking. If you want your trainees to “look at the camera,” baby-sit them. Focus them on pleasure. Not survival. Tell a joke. Display a toy. Play some music. Make it fun. By doing so, you will help snap mental pictures they can savor years into the future. Visit Lenn on line at www.offbeattraining.com. Blog with Lenn at http://offbeat-online.blogspot.com. Lenn Millbower, BM, MA, the Learnertainment® Trainer is an expert in applying show biz techniques to learning. He is the author of the ASTD Info-Line, Music as a Training Tool, focused on the practical application of music to learning; Show Biz Training, the definitive book on the application of entertainment industry techniques to training; Cartoons for Trainers, a popular collection of 75 cartoons for learning; Game Show Themes for Trainers, a best-selling CD of original learning game music; and Training with a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music, the foremost book on the application of music to learning. Lenn is an in-demand speaker, with successful presentations at ASTD 1999-2005 and SHRM 2006; a creative and dynamic instructional designer and facilitator formally with the Disney University and Disney Institute; an accomplished arranger-composer skilled in the psychological application of music to learning; a popular comedian, magician and musician; and the president of Offbeat Training®, infusing entertainment-based techniques into learning to keep ‘em awake! Article Source : http://fileblogs.com/index.php?page=author&author_name=Lenn Millbower

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