Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D
• University of Southern
California
• Neuroscientist
–
–
–
–
learning
creativity
culture
morality
• Role of Emotion in
Cognition
Two Brain Systems
Mutually Exclusive
Default Mode (DM) or
Intrinsic Network
aka “Looking In”
 Daydreaming/Rest
 Reflection
 Off-line consolidation
 Meditation
 Abstract Moral Social
Emotions
 Thinking about
ONESELF
Extrinsic Network
aka “Looking Out”
 External Attention
 Goal Directed
 Concentration on a
task
 Social Media
 Concrete, Physical
World
Default Mode (DM) Network
Social
Emotions
About other
People’s
Minds
Primary
Emotions
About other
People’s
Bodies
Brain
System
PAIN-based
emotions
REWARDbased
emotions
Intrinsic
Compassion Admiration
or Default for Social
for Virtue
Mode
Pain
Network
Extrinsic
Network
Compassion Admiration
for Physical for Skill
Pain
Posteromedial Cortices (PMC) of the Parietal Lobe (pink)  Introspective
Admiration for Virtue & Compassion for Social Pain (AV/CSP, blue → green)
Admiration for Skill & Compassion for Physical Pain (AS/CPP, orange → yellow).
Immordino-Yang M H et al. PNAS 2009;106:8021-8026
©2009 by National Academy of Sciences
A Better Brain measured by:
• The Efficiency with which Brain toggles
between DM (Looking In) and Looking
Out
• The Strength of connectivity between DM
regions during “Rest”
– Stronger DM connectivity (cross-talk) correlated
with Higher IQ
– Posses better cognitive abilities for making
connections between disparate pieces of
information
Reflective Pause Activates DM 
Access to Moral Emotions
• Pauses are a behavioral manifestation of
DM neural activity
• The more a subject reflectively paused
– The more cognitively abstract & complex
answers
– The more DM activity they showed in the
scanner when recalling moral emotions
– The stronger over DM activity was during rest
Emotions Interrupted
• The DM is the pathway through which the brain
processes social, moral emotions
• However, DM is only active when “Looking In”
• Highly vulnerable to disruption from
environmental distraction—such as:
– Educational goals that consistently impose high
attention demands
– Constant contact with Technology/Phones
• Result Young brains stuck in the Concrete!
Can Too Much Texting Make
Teens Shallow?
• Paul Trapnell, PhD, of
the University of
Winnipeg
• Study: Young People
Who Text Frequently
Focus on Wealth,
Image; Less on
Moral, Spiritual Goals
• 2,300 college students
• Ages 18 to 22.
• Texting Data collected 2007 – 2011
•
(Not clear if texting causes the shallows or if Shallows just text more)
• High Levels of Texting were:
Positively correlated with
 Out group prejudice
 Materialism
Negatively correlated with
 Indigenous groups’ rights
 Moral reflectiveness
 Motivation to promote
social equality
 Perceived importance of
living with integrity
The Marshmallow Test
• The Marshmallow Test –
YouTube
• Distraction/Avoidance
strategy worked relatively
well at resisting
• But children who
imagined future
possibilities
(constructive internal
reflection)—ie: how good
the 2nd marshmallow
would taste, delayed
the longest!
Cultivate “Looking In”
• Healthy Psychological development
requires opportunities and skills for
“Looking In”
• Frame learning environments to teach and
practice internal, self-directed processing
– HS students who journaled before a test
about their beliefs about their test
performance scored significantly higher
Let the Children Play
• Inadequate opportunity for children to play
& adolescents to reflect quietly and
daydream may have negative
consequences—
– for social-emotional well-being
– for ability to attend to tasks.
Wisdom
• Reason + Compassion
• Dalai Lama Reflects on
Compassion
• Skilled learner uses these
two networks appropriately
• Moves between them with
ease
• Brain toggle skills include:
– Gaze aversion
– Pause, slowed speech
– Closed eyes