Postcards From The Brain By Dr. Gordon Rose

There is a big difference living a life actively, and living a life passively. Once people start living a life passively, they tend to become too comfortable and committed to their life, which is devastating because they will never amount to their full potential. As for a life that is being acted-upon they are self – improving and opening new doors to experiences they never thought they could do. In Carol Dweck’s article “Brainology” describes two different mindsets students may have and how each can affect a student’s ability to reach a successful life. Also in connection with the mindsets based on Adrienne Rich speech “Claiming an Education” she argues about what receiving and claiming an education means. In the wake of these findings I come to learn that I had a fixed mindset, which only allowed me to receive an education. But now recognizing and understanding the “Growth Mindset,” I have decided to claim my education and see how putting the concept and process can help enlighten my academics and life.

In the article titled, “Secrets of the Brain” published in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic, we learn that there have been many advances in understanding the inner workings of our brains. One of the leading scentists, Van Weeden, is working hard to understand the connections that occur within our heads.

Many researchers have sought out an explanation for the mysteries hidden within our brain and how it operates. Recent studies have shown that the brain functions more as a muscle allowing it to continue to grow or contract. If these studies prove to be true, this could forever change how people interact or associate with their brains.

In the articles “Leveraging the Human Brain’s Hunger for Story” by Doug Rekenthaler and “Brain Secrets” by Lisa Cron both articles provide information on how to write a compelling story. According to both articles to write a compelling story a writer needs to have conflict, a strong protagonist, and structure.

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

The advocates of brain-based education support a varied group of educational practices and approaches, and they try to base claims about important practice in recently found facts about the human brain. They dispute that there has been remarkable new outcomes associated with the development and organization of the human brain and this work can enlighten educational practice in significant ways. (“Brain-Based Education”).

The Washington posted an article in May 23, 2016.¨Teenagers , Give Your Brains a Break: Don't Skip Breakfast is written by Casey Seidenberg. In this article she shares her opinion to try to persuade kids to eat breakfast. She uses evidence to support her argument and appeals to the reader. She wrote this essay so that people could live healthier.

Tobias Wolf uses imagery in his short story “Bullet in the Brain” which provides a visual portrait to capture attention to the story. He clarifies in an interview with Sanford University what a short story requires, “You want large results from it, and you 're compelled by its very shortness to using all your resources of language, form and understanding” (Schrieberg 1998). He uses language in the story which offers various instances of imagery describing Anders as weary and elegantly savage in his reviews. In each scene of the story Anders observes and uses biting words to offer his approval or distaste. While waiting with the customers at the bank, with the thieves, with the gun shot and with his recollections there is a deeper vision into his brain. The use of imagery in his short story provides a distorted image of the character Anders, not the real image of the man but one with passion for the use of words and happiness.

The Brain That Changes Itself is an informative and an educational book was written by Canadian Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, writer, and researcher Norman Doidge, who delivers a dramatic change message about the plasticity of the brain; how the brain changes itself. "The Brain That Changes Itself" is a chain of excellent case studies of individuals who have undergone a brain deficit of some kind and examines different types of brain deficits from simple sensory; auditory and visual to complex deficits; missing brain regions. The book recounts neuroscientific advances on how neuroplasticity does not limit the individual to predefined neural limitations and that our way of thinking, as well as the activities that we perform every day,

The PBS special "The Secret Life of the Brain" took us through all different aspects of the brain and its formation through life. These five movies taught us that the brain is plastic and is always changing, cutting unused neurons and filling with different ideas and thoughts that you learn from your environment. The five videos go through the five stages of life; baby, child, teenager, adult and finally the aging brain.

I've always wanted to attend college. For me it was always a question of where to go? And how I’d afford it? Rather than will I go? My dad, however, encouraged me to think about why I wanted to go to college. What was driving me? Was it because college was what everyone expected me to do? Or was it bigger than that? He told me that going to college just because all of my peers were going, wasn’t really a good reason. For a long time, I didn’t have a good answer to that question, other than I just love to learn. That was before I discovered neuroscience.

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In our second week’s reading, The Tell-Tale Brain, author V. S. Ramachandran has compiled a body of work which spans across decades of research and commitment. The book, designed for accessibility, gives readers of all scientific backgrounds a look into the physiology and processes behind a wide array of neurological functions, dysfunctions, and assorted phenomena. No corner of the brain is left unprobed, no question left unasked. Tying them all together is one question that burns, steady and eternal, in the collective consciousness: What makes us human?

The remainder of the essay is a series of reports of scientific research focused on Demystifying insight. 2- The authors use of facts is obviated in this article by numerous examples of extensive research. Cognitive neuroscientist Mark Jung-Beeman, studied right brain activity using word puzzles.

The human brain is a mystery that has been studied for centuries in attempt to understand how it functions. Scientists first thought that the brain was a structure that functioned a whole. It was in the early 1600’s where the first ideas of localisation of function in the brain started. At this time Rene Descartes discovered a tiny structure called the pineal