It’s becoming indisputably clear that exercise not only benefits the body, it benefits the brain.  I just returned from the Learning and the Brain Conference in Chicago and the importance of physical exercise for learning, mood stability, and mental acuity was reiterated.  However, what  if we aren’t motivated to exercise or have a well-meaning trainer or friend who is trying to steer us toward a program that is workable for the short term, but tedious and likely to fizzle in the long run.

Shortly after I published a review on John Ratey’s Spark book, a scientifically based but very readable text on the benefits of exercise on brain health and function, I had several people step forward praising his work.  One of these was Suzanne Brue, author of The Eight Colors of Fitness and the former president of the Association for Psychological Type International.   One of Suzanne’s major projects is help match fitness approaches and goals to one’s MBTI type.

There are 8 major types based on the perceiving function.  Hence, as an ENFP, I am grouped with ENTPs because we both share dominant extraverted intuition.  Morever, instead of trying to remember a letter code, I am assigned a color, in this case silver, to help me remember what my type is.  Silver exercisers prefer variety and the opportunity to disguise exercise as fun..  Of course, we all prefer to have some degree of fun when we exercise, but is essential to silvers in order to sustain effort over the long haul. Other colors, such as the blues, respond better to goals and objective parameters.

Imagine a silver, who prefers variety and loosely defined objectives receiving exercise direction from someone who sees objective parameters as essential to a successful exercise program.  Here you may find a client and trainer who are initially attracted to each other because of the differences in approach but over the long haul, may grow weary of each other because of these differences.    Apart from the interpersonal element, an individual may also choose a regime that worked for a friend but become discouraged because it doesn’t work for him.   The exercise plan is not the problem but the fit may be.

The Eight Colors of Fitness website has many useful components. First, there is a quiz that will help you identify what type of exerciser you are-your fitness color.  It also has suggestions on how to energize your inner exercise warrior by giving concrete suggestions on what types of activities are likely to appeal to you in the long run.   There are also several links to articles that have featured the Eight Colors system including Arthritis Today, The Chicago Daily Herald, and the  Lifetime Fitness magazine.  Please visit Suzanne’s website and browse the offerings to see if this might help you get moving and stay moving.

Long ago in my career as a speech pathologist helping brain-injured people recover, it was intuitively clear to me that individual differences in the personality of the client dictated what approach would yield the best long-term results.  For any resilient changes to occur, a brain must be engaged and anything that goes against cognitive preference is likely to be discarded in the end (unless the client deliberately chooses to operate out of natural preference).   How one prefers to approach a challenge serves as the underpinning for the strategies he chooses to meet the challenge.

So it is with exercise!  Match your personality with the vast array of methods to achieve fitness goals. We now know that exercise and brain health are inextricably bound so start exploring your preferences for the sake of your body and your mind!  In  the words of  Thomas Jefferson:  A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind.

For more information on the Eight Colors of Fitness system, there is a free webinar this Thursday, 12-12:12:45 EDT.  Click this link for more information and to register.

Exercise releases a substance that is  ”Miracle Grow for the Brain”, according to John Ratey, an expert on the effects of exercise on optimal brain functioning. The release of brain-derived neuroptropic factor (BDNF), in effect, fertilizes brain cells to keep them functioning and growing, as well as spurring the growth of new neurons.  This was one of  the several benefits of exercise that Dr. Ratey shared at the Learning and Brain Conference I attended recently.   We were designed to move and yet our culture has evolved to the point where we sit more often than we exercise. Tight clothes, lethargy, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease aren’t the only threats from inactivity.  Our brains pay the price too.

Our ancestral brains and bodies were used to walking/running 10-14 miles per day. We kept active because we were searching for food or avoiding a threat.  Our brains benefited from this exercise. When we move, 3 important brain chemicals, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine are released and the organism becomes patient, optimistic, focused and motivated. From an evolutionary context, these are the qualities that make if possible for man to zero in on it’s prey (food). Likewise, when an individual gets consistent and sufficient exercise in today’s world, these same neurochemicals  helps him or her keep a stable mood, focus on tasks, meet challenges and engage in purposeful activities .  The more we exercise, the more nerve synapses in the brain are primed to be alert to these chemicals making these beneficial states of mind available to us.

Another benefit of exercise is that it regulates the stress hormone cortisol.  The brain and body needs a certain amount of cortisol to respond to stress but excessive levels of cortisol has a toxic effect on neurons.  The neuronal connections erode in the presence of high and unrelenting levels of cortisol, causing difficulty with learning and memory.  The hippocampus structure in the brain is the way stay station that bundles new and stored information together making learning possible.  This structure is highly sensitive to the effects of cortisol. It is also a structure that benefits from BDNF, the chemical that nurtures neuronal growth.   Exercise attenuates the damaging effects of cortisol and at the same time, increases the growth of new brain cells via the action of BDNF.

Who do you think has the highest math and science scores in the world?  An Asian country?  We know it’s NOT the United States.  We aren’t even in the top 10.  It’s Finland.  The typical school day in Finland has 45 minute class periods followed by 15 minutes of compulsory exercise. Students don’t use these 15 minutes to check cell phones and laptops.  They go to the gym or step outside to throw a few snowballs.  The best time to learn new information and have it stick is after a period of physical activity.

The take-away:

1. Exercise every day not only to stay physically fit but to stay mentally fit.  The same activity can provide multiple benefits.  What an efficient use of time!

2. Keep challenging your mind so your brain takes advantage of it’s readiness to learn something new as a result of exercising.

After the conference, I purchased Dr. Ratey’s book Spark that covers this topic.   He makes the case that if you can’t find the motivation to exercise for the sake of your body, it is certainly a good idea  to move for the sake of your brain. This is a highly readable book that will inspire most couch potatoes to get moving once and for all!

Diver brains and surfer brains are different.  The diver brain thinks deeply and can hold a line of thought for an extended period of time, generally without distraction. Imagine going deep beneath the surface, studying and thinking about the surroundings, carefully maintaining attention.   There are no cell phones, Google, or RSS feeds to interrupt the experience.  In contrast, the surfer brain skims the surface, taking in data and making rapid decisions and judgments about the data.  Stimuli are coming from all directions and the brain has to constantly  decide if it is relevant or not.  Much like surfing, it is exciting but the brain quickly fatigues.  Moreover, surfing absolutely precludes the possibility of deep thinking.

In recent weeks, I read  The Shallows by Nicholas Carr and Brain Rules by John J. Medina, in preparation for the 4-day Learning and the Brain Conference in February titled, iGENERATION:  HOW THE DIGITAL AGE IS ALTERING STUDENT BRAINS, LEARNING & TEACHING.   Clearly this is a hot topic.  In The Shallows, Carr sets up the argument that our brains, due to their neuroplastic nature, adapt to the demands of the environment.  He outlines the changes that likely occurred in the brain as a result of moving from the oral traditions of managing information, to the first methods of recording information on stones and papyrus, to the invention of the printing press and now the internet.  As information management evolved, some cognitive processes were strengthened and some were weakened.  Today’s brain is bombarded with information but how do we manage it so that we can also think?

Meanwhile, in the Brain Rules book, Medina addresses attention.  What engages the brain and what distracts it?  He states bluntly that the brain cannot multi-task  and he tells the story of his son trying to write a paper for school with 11 other windows open including 2 instant messaging screens!  Each time he has to shift attention, his brain has to engage, disengage, and re-engage somewhere else. This sequence has to occur every time attention is shifted. Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50% longer to complete a task and he makes up to 50% more errors in the process!  What’s more, this is an exhausting process.  I wonder how long a surfer could actually surf  if he had an endless wave?

I think we need both a diver brain and a surfer brain. However, it’s important to know what situation calls for which brain.  One does not put on an oxygen tank when he plans to surf and one does not go without one if he plans to dive.   The key to all of this will be teaching strategies to know how to manage the different demands that each situations calls for.  Do you have a paper to write?  Then it’s probably a good idea to close the other windows on your computer and turn off your cell phone.  Do you need to research something quickly?  Then Google is your answer, not the stacks at an old university library.  Do you want to get to know someone really well?  That’s a diver’s job.  Put away the cell phone.  Are you looking for a restaurant in the area?  Time to surf!  You get the idea.

I will have more to share on this topic after I attend the I-Brain conference in a couple of weeks.  As a life coach, I hope to learn strategies that will help everyone, student and non-student alike, maximize their performance in school and work, and reduce the potentially overwhelming feeling of brain fatigue as we manage our lives in the Age of Information.

The Executive Brain written by Elkhonon Goldberg, is a book that examines the role of the frontal/prefrontal cortex (frontal lobes, frontal cortex and prefrontal cortex will all be used interchangeably in this article) in the overall functioning of the human mind. Goldberg, who studied under the venerable Russian psychologist Alexander Luria, is an engaging writer who describes the critical functions that the this brain structure plays in higher level thinking such as judgment, attention, problem solving, personality, imagination and ethical behavior. He uses a wide variety of examples and many excellent metaphors making the concepts accessible to most readers.   One of the metaphors he uses in his book is that of  a computer, wherein skills such as language, motor control, knowledge, and all of the possible skills that any brain can acquire are elegantly accessed via the frontal lobes, which serve the same function as an internet search engine.  The book , written in 2001 largely precedes the phenomenal emergence and importance of the internet search engine but  the power of this comparison written almost in passing,  continues to become more and more apt.  Increasingly, our minds are more and more challenged to stay focused, to access what is relevant, much the way a search engine cuts through irrelevancy and delivers the information we want.

The frontal lobes, and in particular, the prefrontal cortex, are connected to all of the other areas of the brain.  They do not store knowledge, per se.  Instead,they act as a a CEO, a general, or a sophisticated search engine to access the right information at the right time. Damage to this area of the brain can be devastating because even with normal functioning in other cortical areas, there is no way to get to it, to organize it, to use it.  Likewise, the development of these areas is critical because in an increasingly complex world, one must know how to think, to prioritize, to act appropriately more than ever before.

Recently, I attended the Project Zero education conference in Washington DC.   Howard Gardner, best known in educational circles for his theory on multiple intelligences, outlined 5 “new minds” that will be required of the  new generation of brains.  These new minds, as defined by Gardner include:

1. The Disciplined Mind -  A mind that can concentrate, hold attention, and understand in-depth.  In the digital world, the temptation is to take in snippets of information rather than to learn deeply.  However scholarship is a prerequisite to new ideas.   As Gardner stated, “You can’t think outside of the box until you know what the box is.”

2. The Synthesized Mind-  A mind that can blend and compare concepts. Cognitive flexibility.

3. The Creating Mind- A mind that can create new ideas. Entrepreneurship.  The willingness to make mistakes en route to new discoveries. Imagination!

4. The Respectful Mind- A mind that can understand the perspectives of another especially those who are from a different culture.

5. The Ethical Mind- A mind that does not confuse resourcefulness with cheating.

Never have the frontal lobes been more important in successfully navigating the challenges of today and in the future.   As the world rapidly changes and information, data and stimuli approach us from every angle,  a way to sort through and select the right course of action will be critical.  As a society, how are we progressing toward this goal?  Within the next few months, I will be attending two Learning and the Brain Conferences to find out what the experts in the field are saying.  One conference is titled, “The I-Generation: How the Digital Age is Altering Brains, Learning and Teaching”, the other is “The Science of Success: Optimizing Student Success and Reducing Failure.”

Whether one is a student, a young adult embarking on a career, or someone wanting to reinvent him or herself,  the concepts are the same.   Optimizing how we learn and respond, given the challenges and rapid pace of today’s world, is going be an important component for success moving forward.  The prefrontal cortex is indeed your personal search engine and mindfully and deliberately attending to it’s healthy development will pay off long into the future.

For general suggestions on how you can tune up your “search engine”, please contact me at annholm@annholm.net  or see my website at http://www.annholm.net/

March is Brain Awareness Month so the bookstore was overflowing with intriguing selections for me to take on vacation.   I have a lifelong passion for brains.  How do they work? What happens when they are broken? How do you get the most out of your brain?  For instance, I am intrigued by the notion that many of the behavioral observations that have been made about the brain, behavior, cognition, and personality over the course of thousands of years can now be confirmed through imaging techniques such as the fMRI or the PET scan.  Indeed, there is no better time than now to learn about the brain, appreciate individual differences, and to be wowed by it’s wonders.

The first book I read was The Edison Gene/ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child by Thon Hartmann (By clicking the link, you can also read the American Psychiatric Institute’s review  of the book).  There is ongoing controversy as to whether ADHD is a real disorder or if it is the gift of creativity and adaptability in it’s highest form.  Thomas Edison, left school after only 3 months of formal education and was labeled, “a problem child, stupid and difficult” by his teachers.  He set his father’s barn on fire to see what would happen.  He laid on goose eggs to see if he could hatch them.  His mother had to move his laboratory into the basement for fear that he would blow up the house.  Of course, without Thomas Edison, there would be no light bulbs, no phonographs, and no motion pictures among other critical inventions.   The author makes the case that medicating or trying to “break”  the highly creative types like Edison, our society would not move forward.    As I read the book, I imagined the Thomas Edison types to be intuitive- thinking-perceiving types  ( ENTP  and the INTP) using the Myers-Briggs terminology.  Another parallel terms would be right brain thinking (holistic, random, intuitive and a “could be” focus) versus left brain thinking (linear, sequential, concrete,and a “what is” focus).

I agree with the author’s assertion that people are wired differently and are therefore more adept at various tasks.   Some individuals tend to remain open to changes in incoming data and adapt accordingly while others prefer structure, organization and consistency. Neither style of thinking is superior to the other.  Read the rest of this entry »

“When Gallimore and Tharp studied John Wooden in 1974, they were surprised to find that he distributed praise and criticism unevenly.  What’s more, he was open about this: …Wooden would say, “The good Lord, in his infinite wisdom did not make us all the same.  Goodness gracious, if he had, this would be a boring world, don’t you think?…each one of you deserves individual treatment that is best for you.” (The Talent Code, p 184-185)

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, released in May of 2009, asserts that “Greatness isn’t born. It’s grown. Here’s how.”  The book outlines 3 critical elements that foster talent namely deep practice which is slow, targeted, practice that depends on careful refinement of errors;  ignition or motivational fuel that can be triggered by any number of events such as pursuing a goal because someone you admire did it, or the presence of some other force that creates value or passion.  The third element is receiving master coaching and Coyle calls these coaches, “The Talent Whispers.”  Hmmmm.  Now that captured my attention!  As a long-time speech therapist, a mother, and more recently, a life coach, I was intrigued to read what qualities the author felt were present in master coaches.

The first quality was age(Coyle calls it The Matrix).  More than half the coaches that Coyle studied were in their 60′s or 70′s.  That makes sense if wisdom comes with age and one doesn’t get set in his ways. Either one can happen. Ironically, Jungian type development theory suggests we develop our dominant psychological  function up to age 7, our auxiliary or supporting function up to age 20,  the third preferred or tertiary function in our 30′s and 40′s, and the inferior, or least preferred function after that.  When we are young, much of our energy goes into developing our core and then when we get to be old salts, we can turn our attention to completing our personality.  Therefore, an older coach can draw on more perceptions and exercise greater depth of judgment.

Another desirable quality is being able to be laser sharp with coaching directions (the GPS Reflex). Try this. Do that. Layer the next skill upon the new skill.  The other day, I was reading an article in my favorite magazine, “Scientific American Mind”   titled “A New Vision For Teaching Science.” The United States ranks 25th among developed nations in math and science.  The nations that lead the way advocate revisiting topics moving from basic to sophisticated views.  Refining to create deeper understanding.

Theatrical honesty or basically “being a character” apparently contributes to the effectiveness of a master coach. Coyle mentions coaches with snow-white pompadours and black leather jackets, turban-style head wraps and  track suits. Personal style.  When I think back to the teachers I had (or my kids had) that captured attention, many of them did have a unique quality that made them more interesting: Mr. Craft throwing erasers, Mr. Henrich with his classroom that looked like a living room, or Mrs. Chang the piano teacher from China who would complain, “You have no ENNNERGY in your fingers!!!  ENERGY! ENERGY!!”

Perceptiveness rounds out the list of virtues that make up a master coach. Master coaches want to know as much as possible about each student so they can customize their communication to fit the larger patterns in a students life.  Individual differences matter and the coach watches for the qualities that make someone unique.  I use the MBTI results as a springboard for an interactive dialogue to make the connection between personality type and learning style. I wonder how I can address this client so his/her brain is primed to take in information and grow from it.  In the coaching parlance, there is the concept of resonance.  What makes an individual light up and want to know more?  Of all of the qualities attributed to a master coach, this one seems to be the most critical.  Like cracking a lock on a safe, listening for the tumblers to click is just as important as turning the dial.

The Talent Code is worth reading particularly because of  the thought provoking nature of this topic, the pursuit of excellence.  Many of the concepts in the book are another angle on what is already intuitively known about the formula for success: practice, passion and a teacher to show you the way are key elements in harvesting talent.  What makes this book interesting is the references to the role of myelin, the fatty substance that coats nerves cells as it responds to these elements, adding speed and accuracy to movements and thoughts.  While it’s  tempting to believe that the formula of 3  key components  as identified by the author would optimize myelination ,  the holy grail for the foundation for greatness,  with the brain, it’s seldom that simple.

The book Organizing For Your Brain Type by Lanna Nakone is one of the most useful books I have ever purchased. No doubt I will write about it more than once simply because there is so much to learn that condensing it into one blog post would not do it justice. In this particular installment, I will give a brief description about what the book is about then describe how we used it in an unconventional way at our family reunion.

This is a book about organization. What makes it unique within the “declutter, feng-shui, get organized” genre though is that it recognizes that there is more than one way to skin a cat and it is based on brain types.  The book opens with a survey of 50 multiple-choice questions that delineate your brain type: Maintaining, Harmonizing, Innovating, or  Prioritizing.  The author draws on the work of Dr. Arlene Taylor, a brain functioning specialist, to define the four types.  For instance, the Maintaining type is a traditional organizer, one who is habitual, accurate,  punctual but perhaps a little rigid.  The Harmonizing type is holistic, and nurturing but maybe too sentimental to throw anything away.  The Innovating type, who is usually known as “the type who can’t get organized”, is creative, adventurous, but also easily sidetracked.  The last type is Prioritizing  which is a logical problem solver but a little on the judgemental side. Read the rest of this entry »