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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Gray Matters"
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LEARNING TO LEARN... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. MULTI-TASKING: AS YOU'RE LISTENING TO THIS, NO DOUBT YOU ARE ALSO DOING SOMETHING ELSE--MAYBE THREE OR FOUR THINGS, AT ONCE. ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH OUT OF U-C-L-A, YOU LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY WHEN YOU LOSE THE DISTRACTIONS. THE EXPERIMENTS GAVE STUDENTS A LEARNING TASK--BOTH WITH, AND WITHOUT, DISTRACTIONS; BRAIN ACTIVITY WAS MONITORED BY M-R-I. TO SHOW YOU WHAT THE RESEARCHERS FOUND, LET'S GO INSIDE THE BRAIN: WELCOME TO THE HIPPOCAMPUS; IT IS HERE THAT DECLARATIVE MEMORY IS USUALLY PROCESSED--THINGS LIKE INFORMATION RECALL AND MEMORY STORAGE. BUT, WHEN THE STUDENTS MULTI-TASKED, THE LEARNING SHIFTED TO THE STRIATUM--A PART OF THE BRAIN THAT USUALLY LEARNS NEW SKILLS. WHILE MULTI-TASKING STUDENTS WERE STILL ABLE TO LEARN, RECALL WAS NOT AS GOOD IN FOLLOW-UP SESSIONS. BOTTOM LINE: WHEN YOUR MOM TOLD YOU TO TURN OFF THE DISTRACTIONS--AND CONCENTRATE ON YOUR STUDIES--IT TURNS OUT SHE WAS RIGHT. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
