How the brain constructs meaning

By:
Miguel Marcano Manich
Educ 553
Prof. Leroy Alicea
 Reflection
The Brain is wider than the Sky (Emily Dickinson)

The Brain ­is wider than the Sky ­

For ­put them side by side ­
The one the other will contain
With ease ­and You ­beside ­

The Brain is deeper than the sea ­

For ­hold them ­Blue to Blue ­
The one the other will absorb ­
As Sponges ­Buckets ­do ­

The Brain is just the weight of God ­

For ­Heft them ­Pound for Pound ­
And they will differ ­if they do ­
As Syllable from Sound
 What is the brain?

The brain is the center of the nervous

system and is a highly complex organ.
 How the brain works?
The brain takes in all information relating to
the body’s internal and external
environments, and it produces the
appropriate responses.
 Brain functions
• controls body temperature, blood
pressure, heart rate and breathing.
• accepts a flood of information about the
world around you from the various senses
• handles physical motion when walking,
talking, standing or sitting.
• lets you think, dream, reason and
experience emotions.
 Constructing meaning
• The search for meaning is innate.
• All learners are trying to make sense out of
what is happening around them at all
times.
• There are three factors that focus on
constructing meaning:
• Relevance
• Emotion
• Pattern
• Relevance. On a cellular level, it's the
activation of existing connections in neural
networks. It relates to something the
learner already knows some information
about. The more relevance this has to the
learner, the greater the meaning.
Relevance: What do we know?
• Emotion. When the learner's emotions are
engaged, the brain "codes" the content by
triggering the release of chemicals that
single out and "mark" the experience as
important and meaningful. Emotions
activate many areas in the body and the
brain. This may give meaning to
something without your having any
understanding of it.
Emotion: How do we feel?
• Pattern. Isolated information has little
meaning. The brain builds larger patterns
to help form genuine structures of
meaning. The context helps make it part of
an overall pattern. Context can be social,
intellectual, physical, economic,
geographic, political, or any other pattern
which makes meaning.
Pattern: With what do I associate?

Quality
Quantity Take out?

Price Toppings

Nearest Store
store next to…

Great Good/Bad
taste moments
Where meaning is created?
Meaning is created in three part of the brain:

• The ventral stream

• The dorsal stream
• The limbic system
Places where meaning is created
1) The ventral system is necessary for
conscious processing to perceive object
recognition and form representation.

2) the dorsal stream system is involved in

spatial awareness: recognizing where
objects are in space, and guidance of
actions. It is responsible for delivering
sensory information from the external
world to the brain.
Places where meaning is created
(cont)

3) the limbic system: is the home of

emotions, motivation, the regulation of
memories, the interface between
emotional states and memories of physical
stimuli, physiological autonomic regulators,
hormones, sexual arousal, and some
decision systems.
 The dorsal, ventral and limbic system
dorsal

ventral

limbic
 Conclusion
It is clear that the human brain is the
biggest discovery ever made. We claim that
as rational human beings we use our brain to
our full potential, yet we always forget where
we left our car keys or maybe even in what
parking space we parked our car. Why
colonize unexplored regions of space when
we haven’t even unlocked the brain’s true
potential.
7|-|3 3|\|Ð
 References
Nemours Foundation (1995) Kids Health. Available from
http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/brain.html
Retrieved March, 2010.

Discovery Channel (2008) How the brain works. Available from

http://www.howstuffworks.com/brain.htm
Retrieved March, 2010.

MindShare (2010) How the brain creates meaning. Available from

http://www.mindsharecorp.com/blog/neuroscience/how-the-brain
creates-meaning/
Retrieved March, 2010.

Maher, J. (2009) How the brain constructs meaning. Available from

http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/brain5.html
Retrieved March, 2010.

Snider, B. & Arthur, S. (2001) Dorsal and Ventral stream. Available from
http://ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca/kin356/dorsal/dorsal.htm
Retrieved March, 2010.
 References
Boeree, G. (2009) The Emotional Nervous System. Available from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html
Retrieved March, 2010.