Addiction medicine: Nicotine-alcohol interaction impacts learning, could have implications for addiction treatment. (2007, November 23). Drug Week, 1658. This article discusses the cyclical and negative interactions between nicotine and alcohol co-abuse and its affect on learning.
BBC. (2009, June 26). Human Body and Mind. Retrieved June 27, 2009, from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/. A interactive website on anatomy, as well as the functions of the brain and psychological functions.
BBC News. (2000, March 14). Taxi drivers' brains "grow" on the job. BBC News World Edition, Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/677048.stm. Article describing how the hippocampus of long-term cab drivers actually increased in size, in theory due to the extreme spatial memory requirements of their job.
Benton, D. (2008). The influence of children's diet on their cognition and behavior. European Journal of Nutrition, 47, 25-37. This article explores the research basis for the influence on diet on the cognitive development of children.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R. R. (Ed.). (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. This book is a comprehensive exploration of how the brain functions in school environments.
Carle, E. (1998). Hello red fox. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Children's book involving simultaneous contrast after-images.
Chudler, E.H. (2008). Neuroscience for Kids. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Brain Games Web site: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chgames.html. Website of brain games to engage students in interesting aspects of brain function.
Cohen, A., & Einav, L. (2003, November). The effects of mandatory seat belt laws on driving behavior and traffic fatalities. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 85, 828-843. Article describing the impact mandatory seat belt laws have in decreasing the number of auto accident fatalities.
Deakin Psychology Department, (2006, July 17). Phineas Gage Information. Retrieved June 27, 2009, from Deakin University: http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/psychology/gagepage/. Internet site developed to comprehensively review the case of Phineas Gage (1823-1860), a railroad worker who sustained a severe injury to his frontal lobe and consequently suffered personality changes.
Dellorto, D. (2009, May, 04). Toddler brain difference linked to autism. CNN.com, Retrieved May 07, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/autism.brain.amygdala/. This CNN article highlights recent research that identifies an anatomical difference between a normal and autistic brain. The enlarged amygdala in 2-year-old autistic children may be critical in diagnosing autism earlier.
Desimone, R. & Duncan, J. (1995). Neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 18, 193-222. This research explores the brain's efforts to select between competing stimuli.
Gallagher, W. (2009). Rapt: Attention and the focused life. New York, NY: Penguin Group. This book explores the brain's negotiation of stimuli and provides examples of using the brain's ability to focus as a key to success.
Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind: Theory of multiple intelligences. New York, NY: Basic Books. Educational theory book that stresses that educators should recognize and value the various intelligences that we all possess in different distributions.
Growing up different. (2001). Scientific American Frontiers. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from Scientific American Frontiers: Growing Up Different Web site: http://www.pbs.org/saf/1205/index.html
PBS TV special on growing up with different disabilities.
Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., & Pinter-Wollman, N. (2008). Large brains and cognition: Where do elephants fit in? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 86-98. This article explores the cognitive capacity of elephants given that they, like humans, are large mammals with large brains and needy offspring.
Holdrege, C. (2001, Spring). Elephantine intelligence. The Nature Institute In Context, Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.natureinstitute.org/pub/ic/ic5/elephant.htm. Article describing anatomical differences between human and elephant brains and potential evolutionary reasons behind these differences.
Inside the teenage brain. (2002). Frontline. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain Web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/
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PBS TV special exploring brain details and needs specific to teenagers.
Inside the teenage brain: Interview with Mary Carskadon. (2002). Frontline, Retrieved May 23, 2009, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/interviews/carskadon.html. Interview with the director of Chronobiology and Sleep Research at Brown University regarding teenage sleep requirements and the effect on the teenage brain.
Jacobus, J., Bava, S., Cohen-Zion, M., Mahmood, O., & Tapert, S.F. (2009). Functional consequences of marijuana use in adolescents. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 92, 559-565. This article reviews neuropsychological studies involving the cognitive impact of marijuana use.
Jayaraman, P. (2005, May). Coming back from a Brain Injury: A traumatic brain injury survivor tells her story. The Southern Health Magazine, Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2009/04/05/health/doc49c1580ef374c306648886.txt This testimonial article describes how the poor decision not to wear a seat belt has entirely changed a teen's life after she sustained terrible head injuries in a car accident.
Johansson, B. B. & Pavel V. B. (2002). Neuronal plasticity and dendritic spines: Effect of environmental enrichment on intact and postschemic rat brain. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 22, 89-96. This article explains the results of experiments comparing the influence of environmental enrichment on rat brains. Results indicate that housing rats in an enriched environment significantly increases dendritic spines density in all cortical layers.
Kimball, J. W. (2006, December 17). Long term potentiation. Retrieved June 7, 2009, from: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/L/LTP.html. This website, created by the writer of high school biology textbooks, explains the basis for learning and memory at the neuron level.
Kolb, B. (1995). Brain plasticity and behavior. Hillsdale, NY: Lawrence Erlboum. A book on brain plasticity and flexibility, including information on the positive effects of an enriched environment.
McIntosh, H. (1998). New technologies advance studies of autism. APA Online, 29, Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov98/study.html. Article describing how fMRI technology is facilitating autism research.
National Institute of Justice. (2002). Preliminary data on drug use & related matters among adult arrestees & juvenile detainees. Washington, DC: US Department of
Justice. A report from the Department of Justice with data on teens, illegal activity, and drug involvement.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9, 1-6. An article arguing that students have developed as natives in the digital age, requiring teaching style and content to adapt to address their needs and learning styles.
Sacks, O. (2007, September 24). The abyss: Music and amnesia. The New Yorker, Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/24/070924fa_fact_sacks. Article describes the circumstances surrounding musician Clive Wearing's amnesia. Due to herpes encephalitis, Wearing has a memory span of only a few seconds.
Sacks, O. (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales. New York, NY: Touchstone. Sacks recounts clinical stories of patients afflicted with various neurological disorders and the effects of lost memories or fantastic perceptions.
Serendip. (2001, July 2). Time to think?: Making observations. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from Brain and Behavior Web site: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/reaction/reaction.html. Website with a shockwave plug-in activity measuring brain reaction time when given increasingly complex activities.
Sircar, R., Basak, A. K., & Sircar, D. (2009, April). Repeated ethanol exposure affects the acquisition of spatial memory in adolescent female rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 202, 225-231. This study explores the effects of ethanol on the acquisition of spatial memory in adolescent female rats. Results indicate that ethanol negatively affects spatial learning.
Small, G.W. (2008). iBrain: Surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind. New York, NY: Collins Living. This book analyzes the effects of technology on the modern brain.
Sousa, D.A. (2005). How the brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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The book describes the functioning of the brain in a learning environment.
Sousa, D.A. (2007). How the special needs brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. This book describes the functioning of a disabled brain in a learning environment.
Tierney, J. (2009, May 5). Ear plugs to lasers: The science of concentration. The New York Times. This article is a book review of Rapt, a book exploring the science of concentration and focus.
Time. (2007, July 30). BBC. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from BBC Four: Daytime Documentaries Time Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/time1.shtml
Video clips of Clive Wearing, a man who has a 30 second memory span due to damage to his temporal lobe.
Yu, J., Huang, T., & Newman, L. (2008, March). Facts from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research. This fact sheet from a longer longitudinal study summarizes statistics about substance abuse among young adults with disabilities. It compares rates of alcohol, smoking, and marijuana use between young adults and young adults with disabilities and usage rates among the different disabilities.
Vendantam, S. Short mental workouts may slow decline of aging minds, study finds. (2006, Dec 20). Washington Post, p. A01. Newspaper article reviewing a study published showing the positive effects of brain drills and mental games on the daily functioning of the elderly.
Volkmar F.R., Greenough W.T. (1972). Rearing complexity affects branching of dendrites in the visual cortex of the rate. Science, 176, 1445-1447. Article discusses the positive effects of an enriched environment on complexity of dendritic branching.
Willis, S. L., Tennstedt, S.L., & Marsiske, M., et. al. (2006). Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. JAMA, 296 (23), 2805-2814. Results of a study conducted to evaluate the effects of mind exercises on daily functional living in elderly patients. Results found that the mental exercises improved both cognitive, as well as functional living abilities.
