1) List your earliest memory.
What specifically stands out?
2) Discuss this memory with a partner.
We will hear a sample.
Neurobiology Lessons:
What Medical Educators
Need to Know
Garrett Meyers, MD
Lesley Hamilton, MSOM, MACM
February 25, 2012
Objectives
• Examine the neurobiology of learning and
memory
• Explore the 7 principles most relevant to
medical education
• Compile a “toolkit” of techniques harnessing
each principle
Take-Home Points
• Education changes brains!
• Consider these changes when planning
learning sessions
• Use your toolbox of evidence-based
educational practices
Increasing reference
availability reflects the
growth of our knowledge.
Remember – the brain is an organ.
The brain has three major divisions.
The limbic system includes
structures responsible for
long-term memory storage.
The cerebral cortex is inextricably
linked to the limbic system.
Information Processing Model
Long-Term
Storage
Immediate
memory
Working
memory
STORING
RETRIEVING
O
U
T
Sensory
Register
O
U
T
O
U
T
SelfImage
Cognitive Belief System
Activity – IP Model
In your folders are information sheets with four
primary roles for the Information processing
Model. Each individual should take 2-3 minutes
to read their role and prepare to discuss with
your table.
1. Sensory Register
2. Immediate memory
3. Working memory
4. Long-term Storage / Memory
Long-Term
Storage
Immediate
memory
Working
memory
STORING
RETRIEVING
O
U
T
Sensory
Register
O
U
T
O
U
T
The brain has > 1 billion neurons.
An increased number and strength
of synaptic connections form when
learning.
Memory is a dynamic process.
So What? - Activity
– Using your handout, take a moment to rank
the seven principles of neurobiology listed, in
order of their importance to your teaching
efforts.
– We will poll for your results.
Seven Principles for Education
Active Engagement
Attention
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
Stress
Sensory Integration
Vision and Visualization
1) Active Engagement
Functional changes in neural
circuitry occur best when the
learner is actively engaged.
Active Engagement
Medical education is slowly
changing.
Active Engagement
Board Activity #1
• With your table, use the sheets provided to list
strategies that you have used or will use to
harness the principle of active engagement.
2) Attention
“Multitasking, when it comes to
paying attention, is a myth.”
- Dr. John Medina
After 10 minutes, audience
attention steadily drops.
Attention
After 10 minutes, tell a story, show
a video, have the learners do
something.
Keep it relevant!
Attention
3) Short term memory
“______________ is the key
to adult learning.”
“Going deeper,” rather than
touching on all information, results
in deeper understanding and better
retention.
Short-term
memory
4) Long-term memory
Memory is not fixed
at the moment of learning.
Repetition,
with appropriate spacing,
is the fixative.
Long-term
memory
Long-Term
Storage
Working
memory
SENSE
STORING
RETRIEVING
O
U
T
MEANING
Board Activity #2
• With your table, use the sheets provided to list
strategies that you have used or will use to
harness the principles of attention and
repetition.
5) Stress
Stress can generate
molecular signals that
facilitate synaptic potentiation.
Moderation is key.
Stress
6) Sensory Integration
What do you think of when you
see the word “orange?”
1512
How does the use of all the senses
help in learning and developing
long-term memory?
Sensory
Integration
7) Vision and Visualization
Visual cues, and even visualization,
cause the firing of sets of “mirror
neurons” in the premotor cortex.
Vision / Visualization
Board Activity #3
• With your table, use the sheets provided to list
strategies that you have used or will use to
harness the principles of stress, sensory
integration, and visualization.
Seven Principles for Education
Active Engagement
Attention
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
Stress
Sensory Integration
Vision and Visualization
Other Principles
• Exercise
• Sleep / Fatigue
Inside its bony castle, the brain
needs movement!
Sleep is instrumental in moving
learning into memory.
What year was the first recorded
use in English of the color name
orange?
Take-Home Points
• Education changes brains!
• Consider these changes when planning
learning sessions
• Use your toolbox of evidence-based
educational practices
Commitment to Act
How will you incorporate these principles in your
teaching?
• Your feedback is important to us!