This document discusses factors that impact learning, including hydration, diet, exercise, and sleep. It provides evidence that being mildly dehydrated can impair mood, energy levels, and ability to think clearly. A balanced diet with regular meals is important for providing the brain with its main fuel, glucose. Exercise has been shown to boost brain function and learning through increased neurotransmitters and BDNF production. The document also emphasizes that sleep is essential for consolidating memories and allowing the brain to recalibrate. Getting 7-9 hours per night optimizes learning and memory. Cramming is not an effective study technique, while quizzing oneself and recalling information from memory at spaced intervals are better ways to commit things to long-

1. The New Science of Learning
Developed by Terry Doyle
Professor Emeritus Ferris
State University
doylet@ferris.edu

2. Questions that Impact Learning
• After waking up this morning
how much time passed before
you had something to Drink?
Something to Eat?
• How many times each day do
you eat a meal?
• How many hours of sleep did
you get last night?
• How many hours of sleep do
you usually get each weekday
night?
• How often do you exercise? For
how long on average is each
exercise session?
• Do you take a nap each day or
most days? How long is the nap?

3. Preparation for Learning Means Students Have
Addressed these Four Areas
The brain needs to function
effectively:
1. Hydration
2. Proper Diet (glucose)
3. Exercise
4. Sleep

4. Hydration and Healthy Body/Brain Function
• “An adult body is around 55-60%
water," so drinking water
everyday is vital for the body to
work correctly.”
• (Angela Lemond, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)

5. Water First Thing in the Morning
• After going several hours
without water (during sleep) a
serving of water first thing in the
morning can hydrate the body
while aiding digestion and
metabolism.
• (Lemond, 2017)

6. Hydration and the Brain
Water is needed for the brain's
production of the hormones and
neurotransmitters which key the
brain’s communication system.
(Allen,2016)

7. Hydration and the Brain
When you lose too much
water your brain cells lose
efficiency.
(Gowin2010)

8. Mild Dehydration and Learning
• According to two studies recently conducted at the
University of Connecticut’s Human Performance
Laboratory --
• Even mild dehydration can alter a
person’s mood, energy level, and
ability to think clearly,
• Mild dehydration is defined as an
approximately 1.5 percent loss in
normal water volume in the body.
• (Armstrong & Lieberman, 2011)

9. Symptoms of Dehydration
1. Thirsty
2. Dry mouth
3. Weakness
4. Dizziness
5. Heart pounding
6. Fainting
7. Less or dark yellow urine
8. No tears
9. Muscle cramps
10. Tired

10. Easy Solutions
We lose 2 lbs of water while sleeping--
hydrate when you wake up—12-16
ounces of water.
We lose about 80 ounces of water daily
through sweating, breathing and
eliminating waste.(The Mayo Clinic)
Water is best—drink when thirsty.
Iced tea, coffee or other drinks like
Gatorade are 2nd best.

11. Your Diet and
Learning

12. Diet and Learning
• “Neurons are living cells with a
metabolism, and they need
glucose in order to function.”
• Glucose is the fuel of the brain
just like gasoline is the fuel of
your car.
(Levitin,2014)

13. The Brains Energy Source
Because neurons cannot store
glucose, they depend on the
bloodstream to deliver a constant
supply of this precious fuel.
(The Franklin Institute)

14. Diet and Learning
This supply in the form of blood
sugar is obtained from a balanced
diet and regular food consumption
throughout the day.
(The Franklin Institute)

15. Diet and Learning
Too much sugar or refined
carbohydrates at one time,
however, can actually deprive
your brain of glucose –depleting
its energy supply and
compromising your brain's
power to concentrate,
remember, and learn.
(The Franklin Institute)

16. Being Tired Reduces Effectiveness of Glucose
• Sleep deprivation cause the
body to be less efficient in its
ability to use food by 1/3 also its
ability to make insulin and to
extract energy from the glucose
becomes quite poor.

17. Diet and Learning
For learners, this research on diet
implies that the contents and
timing of meals may need to be
coordinated to have the most
beneficial cognitive effects that
enhance learning.

18. Web MD Food Recommendations for Healthy
Brain Function
• Blueberries
• Avocadoes
• Dark Chocolate
• Nuts and seeds
• Beans
• Fresh brewed Tea
• Whole Grains
• Wild Salmon

19. Exercise and Learning

20. Movement and Learning
Natural selection developed a
human brain to solve problems
of survival in outdoor, unstable
environments while in almost
constant motion.
(Medina, 2008)

21. Movement and Learning
Our brains were shaped and
sharpened by movement.
We continue to require regular
physical activity in order for our
brains to function optimally.
(Raichlen and Polk, 2013)

22. Power of Exercise
•If there were a drug
that could do for
human health what
exercise can do it
would be the most
valuable
pharmaceutical ever
developed. (Dr Mark Tarnopolsky genetic
metabolic neurologist at Mc Master University )

23. Exercise and Learning
Exercise is the single most
important thing a person
can do to improve their
learning.
(John Ratey, 2008, Spark, The Revolutionary New Science
of Exercise and the Brain)

24. Exercise Improves Attention
• You will pay better attention to a
task when you have been active
• Allocate more cognitive
resources to the task
• Do it for longer periods of time.

25. Exercise Increases Attention
and Concentration
• Exercise directly stimulates the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortices- the
brain regions responsible for:
• focus
• concentration
• organization
• planning
(Postal, 2015)

26. Exercise Boost the Brain’s
Ability to Learn
Exercise increases production of
neurotransmitters that help:
1. Motivation
2. Patience
3. Mood (more optimistic)
4. Attention
(Ratey, 2013)
Energy Calm

27. Exercise can Enhance Learning
Studies also show that following
exercise, problem solving,
memory, and attention improve.
Postal, 2014

28. Exercise Increases Production of BDNF
BDNF
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Enhances the wiring of neurons
which underlies all human
learning
(Ratey, 2008)
Miracle Gro for the
Brain

29. Exercise Produces BDNF
• Improves brain health
• Is a stress inoculator
• Makes the brain cells more
resilient
(Ratey, 2008)

31. ATTENTION PLEASE
• “Scientist have discovered a revolutionary new treatment
that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and
makes you more creative. It makes you look more
attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers your food cravings.
It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off
colds and flu. It lowers your risk of hearth attack and
stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier,
less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”
• (Matthew Walker, 2017)

32. IT IS SLEEP
• There are 17,000 well
documented studies that
support every claim made of the
previous slide.

33. Sleep, Memory and Learning
The World Health Organization
has declared a “ sleep loss
epidemic” throughout the
industrialized world.

34. The Power of Sleep
“Research on the role of sleep in hormonal,
immunological and learning and memory function
suggest that if you don’t get enough you could—besides
being very tired—wind up sick, overweight, forgetful and
(depressed) very blue.”(Strickgold, 2015)

35. How Much Sleep do College
Students Need?
• Adults need between 7 and 9
hours of sleep per night and
teenagers need at least 9 hours
of sleep a night.

36. Effects of Sleep Loss—Long term
• If you routinely get less than 6-7 hours of sleep here is what happens
1. You demolish you immune system—doubling your risk of cancer.
2. Lack of sleep contribute to all psychiatric conditions especially depression
3. It makes you fat—you eat more when sleep deprived
4. It shortens your life span

37. Effects of Sleep Deprivation-Even One day
•Poor attention
•Irritability
•Difficulty with memory
•Increased risk taking and
impulsivity
•Slowed reaction time
•Depressed Immune system

38. Car Crashes
• One person dies every hour in
the United State due to a car
crash caused by sleep loss.
• Car crashes due to sleep loss out
number all crashes caused by
alcohol and drugs combined

39. Sleeps Affect on Learning and Memory
• Scientists have fortified evidence
that a key purpose of sleep is to
recalibrate the brain cells
responsible for learning and
memory
• So the lessons can be “solidified”
and used when awake.
• (Diering,2017)

40. The Brain when Your Asleep
• 1. The hippocampus sends all
important information to the
neocortex for memory storage.
• 2. The hippocampus gets rid of
all unimportant information so it
is ready to learn.

41. The Brain when Your Asleep
• 3. The brain searches for every
possible connection it can find
for what has just been learned.
• 4. It consolidates newly learned
information with previously
learned information yielding
new insights to the learner.

42. The Brain when Your Asleep
• 5. It practices newly learned
motor skills improving the skill
level of the learner while they
are asleep.

43. When you don’t get enough sleep
• None of these vital process can
be completed when you don’t
get enough sleep.
•You are sabotaging
your learning

44. Sleep and Learning and Memory
• The bottom line is that sleep is
not really downtime for the
brain.
• It has important work to do
then, and we in the developed
world are shortchanging
ourselves by skimping on it.”

45. Rehearsal of Learning before Sleep
A 2012 study out of the University
of Notre Dame confirms that
sleeping directly after learning
something new is beneficial for
memory.
(Payne, Tucker, Ellenbogen, Wamsley, 2012 )
Dewar, Alber, Butler, Cowan &DellaSala, 2012)

46. Rehearsal of Learning before Sleep
“it would be a good thing to
rehearse any information you
need to remember just prior to
going to bed”.
(Payne, Tucker, Ellenbogen, Wamsley, 2012 )

47. Awake but Off Line
New findings suggest that when
the brain is sleep deprived even
though the person is fully awake
the neurons used for important
mental task switch off.
(Chiara Corelli,2011 Nature)

48. Awake but Off Line
This is likely to have
consequences on mental
performance and we likely
function less well the longer
we’ve been awake.
(Chiara Corelli,2011, Nature)

49. Can we bank sleep?
• Can we bank sleep?—not really.
• But when sleep deprived you
can catch up with recovery
sleep.
• When you know you will have to
be sleep deprived it is valuable
to sleep well the day before.

50. Nighttime Light and Sleep
Nighttime light exposure
especially to the blue light of TV,
computers, cellphones and iPads
suppresses melatonin –the
hormone that controls our wake
and sleep cycles

51. Blocking the Blue Light
• New lenses that block the blue
light have been developed and
are available for all when you
get new glasses.
• There are apps available that
you can download for your
phones, iPad (etc.)that will
reduce the effects of the blue
light.
Amber colored lenses
block the blue light

52. Naps Can Improve Learning Readiness
• The newest research suggest a nap
of 90 minutes is ideal for true
refreshment and improved
cognitive readiness for learning.
• If you can’t do 90 minutes—do 20
minutes
LOEB, 2014

53. Don’t take classes back to back
Neuroscientist Lila Davachi
of NYU found that during
rest periods following new
learning the areas of the
brain used during new
learning were just as active
as they were when they
were learning the task –
Dr Lila Davachi, NYU's Department of Psychology and Center
for Neural Science.

54. Significance of this Finding
The greater the correlation between
rest and learning the greater the
chance of remembering the task in
later tests.
“Taking a (coffee) break after class can
actually help you retain the
information you just learned."
Dr. Lila Davachi

55. Learning in Harmony with Your Brain

56. Senses Create Multiple Pathways for Learning
and Memory
The more senses used in
learning the more possible
connections to prior
knowledge and the more
pathways are available for
recall.

57. Our Most Powerful Sense for Learning is
Vision
• Evolution made certain we were visual
learners.
• See the predator or be eaten
• See the food to hunt or starve
• See a safe place to live of be eaten
• See a mate to pass on your genes

58. Our Most Powerful Sense for Learning is
Vision
• 33% of the human brain is
devoted to vision.
• Vision is still intricate to our
survival.
• Vision makes powerful
memories.

59. Our Brains Learn in Patterns
“The brain is a pattern seeking
device that relates whole
concepts to one another and
looks for similarities,
differences, or relationships
between them.”
(Ratey, 2002, pg.5)

60. Which of the following slides is
easier to remember and WHY?

61. SLIDE ONE
4915802979

62. Slide Two
(491) 580-2979

63. Common Patterns for Learning
Similarity and Difference
Cause and Effect
Comparison and Contrast
In students’ own words

64. Efficient Memory Formation

65. Cramming
The short-term advantage of
study practice shows that
cramming can improve exam
scores.
Carrier & Pashler, 1992; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006b;
Thompson, Wenger, &Bartling, 1978; Wenger, Thompson,
& Bartling, 1980; Wheeler, Ewers, & Buonanno, 2003
However, if the goal of
practice is long-term
retention of course
material, cramming
appears to be an
irrational behavior.

66. The Four Rules of Memory
1.Repetition over time
(distributive practice)
2.Elaboration of material
3. Wanting to Remember
4. Recall from memory

67. Best Way to Study
• Each time the brain recalls a
memory the memory gets
stronger and faster.
• The best possible way to study is
to recall information from
memory.

68. The Best Way to Study
• Example
• Notecards where your read the
question, try to recall from
memory the answer then check
your accuracy.
• This is significantly more
effective than reading over your
notes or your text.

69. Keys to Memory Formation
• The more elaborately you
encode new information at
the moment of learning the
stronger the memory—make
it detailed, multifaceted and
emotional.
• (Squire and Kandel)

70. Ideal Study Intervals
• 10 to 20 % of retrieval
intervals—if studying facts.
• Test in 3 weeks =21 days.
• Study every 2-3 days.
(Cepeda Coburn, Rohrer, Wixted, Mozer and Pashler 2009)

71. Power of Repetition
Do you know the lyrics to songs that
you did not try to learn and do not
want to know the lyrics to?
YES

72. Why Students Forget
1.Blocking – information stored but can’t be accessed (Schacter, 2001)
Test Anxiety for example
2. Misattribution – attributing a memory to the wrong situation or source (Zola,
2002)
3. Transience – memory lost over time – 65% of a lecture is lost in the first hour
(Schacter, 2001)

73. The Brain can’t Multitask when it
Comes to Learning

74. Multitasking and Classroom Learning

75. Multitasking and the Brain’s Reward System
• Some behaviors, such as texting
or using social media, trigger the
brain’s reward system. Once the
brain has linked a behavior to
that reward, it continues to seek
the reward again and again.
• (Roper in Psychological Science)

76. Studies on Multitasking
Multitasking decreases mental
resources needed for new learning
and study
( Newman Kellert and Just 2007)
The amount of brain activation in
the areas needed for new learning
is much less then when a single task
is being learned.
(Just, Carpenter Keller, Emery, Zajac and Thulborm 2001),

77. Listening to Music while Studying
• Listening to music while
studying is bad for learning
and memory formation.
• The beat, rhythm and words
are all a distraction for the
brain from the
learning/studying task.

78. Studies on Multitasking
Heavy multitasking shortens
attention spans.
(Ophir, Nass and Wagner, 2009)

79. Studies on Multitasking
It gives value to all stimuli so
distractibility increases.
(Ophir, Nass and Wagner 2009)