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Self-discipline - 9 views

"The one quality which sets one man apart from another-the key which lifts one to every aspiration while' others are caught up in the mire of mediocrity-is not talent, formal education, nor intelle...

definition

started by cuttingedge - on 15 Nov 08 2 follow-ups, last by cuttingedge - on 30 Dec 08
cuttingedge -

» Training Attention and Emotional Self-Regulation - Interview with Michael P... - 0 views

www.sharpbrains.com/...-interview-with-michael-posner

discipline brain

shared by cuttingedge - on 01 Jan 09 - Cached
  • emphasize that we human beings can regulate our thoughts, emotions, and actions to a greater degree than other primates. For example, we can choose to pass up an immediate reward for a larger, delayed reward.
  • We can plan ahead, resist distractions, be goal-oriented. These human characteristics appear to depend upon what we often call "self-regulation."
  • All parents have seen this in their kids. Parents can see the remarkable transformation as their children develop the ability to regulate emotions and to persist with goals in the face of distractions. That ability is usually labeled ‘‘self-regulation.’’
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • One of our major findings, thanks to neuroimaging, is that there is not one single "attention", but three separate functions of attention with three separate underlying brain networks: alerting, orienting, and executive attention.
  • 1) Alerting: helps us maintain an Alert State.
  • 2) Orienting: focuses our senses on the information we want. For example, you are now listening to my voice.
  • 3) Executive Attention: regulates a variety of networks, such as emotional responses and sensory information. This is critical for most other skills, and clearly correlated with academic performance.
  • These neurons have long axons, connecting to the anterior cingulate and anterior insula, which we think is part of the reason why we have Executive Attention
  • Executive functions are goal-oriented. Executive attention is just the ability to manage attention towards those goals, towards planning.
  • Executive attention is important for decision-making (how to accomplish an external goal) and with working memory (the temporary storage of information)
  • fMRI lets us see the activation of areas of grey matter
  • A more recent technique, diffusion tensor, is focused instead on the white matter. It detects connectivity among neurons, it helps us see a map of networks.
  • There is a type of neuron, named the Von Economo neuron, which is found only in the anterior cingulate and a related area of the anterior insula
  • The development of executive attention can be easily observed both by questionnaire and cognitive tasks after about age 3–4, when parents can identify the ability of their children to regulate their emotions and control their behavior in accord with social demands.
  • From a practical point of view, we can think that neural networks like this are what enable specific human traits such as effortful control.
  • What is effortful control? It is a higher-order temperament factor consisting of attention, focus shifting, and inhibitory control - both for children and adults
  • A common example is how often you may make plans that you do not follow through with. A test often used to measure executive attention is the Stroop Test (you can try it here)
  • Good parenting has been shown to build good effortful control
  • Tell us now about your recent research on attention training Several training programs have been successful in improving attention in normal adults
  • With normal adults, training with video games produced better performance on a range of visual attention tasks.
  • recent study we developed and tested a 5-day training intervention using computerized exercises
  • We found that executive attention was trainable, and also a significantly greater improvement in intelligence in the trained group compared to the control children.
  • Dr. Yiyuan Tang, studied the impact of mindfulness meditation with undergrads to improve exec attention, finding significant improvements as well.
    • cuttingedge -
      cuttingedge - on 01 Jan 09
       
      Great! Look up the details of that study and exactly what they did.
    • cuttingedge -
      cuttingedge - on 01 Jan 09
       
      to engage attention and awareness in a way that helps us "integrate" body/mind and brain in the experience of "being" (as to be distinguished neurologically from "thinking or doing.") In response to Tang's talk, David Rock offered a tip he found helpful in his study of mindfulness, namely the strategy of distingushing between narration (interpretation) and direct experience - each having their own correlates in brain anatomy and brain chemistry.
  • It is clear that executive attention and effortful control are critical for success in school. Will they one day be trained in pre-schools? It sounds reasonable to believe so, to make sure all kids are ready to learn
  • Let me add that we have found no ceiling for abilities such as attention, including among adults. The more training, even with normal people, the higher the results
  • Good parenting, as measured by different research-based scales, has been shown to build good effortful control
  • we found is that some specific genes reduced, even eliminated, the influence of the quality of parenting. In other words, some children's development really depends on how their parents bring them up, whereas others do not - or do to a much smaller extent.
  • formal training programs (computer-based, meditation) and also informal ones (parenting
  • How can SharpBrains readers access the computer-based attention training program you talked about earlier? Researchers and parents can download the program, which is aimed at kids aged 4 to 6. The computerized exercises are available on www.teach-the-brain.org. Click on learning tools and follow attention.
  • cuttingedge - on 01 Jan 09
     
    Scientific studies using neuroimaging of the brain that prove that 'effortful control' and 'self-regulation' (self discipline) is trainable and how the brain areas of self-regulation physically improve with training. A big part of this is due to the person's ability to stay focused and keep their attention on a task or goal. They use mindful meditation and attention exercises. see free download.
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