Brain Asymmetry

Phra Ajan Jerapunyo-Abbot of Watkungtaphao. by ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ – เทวประภาส มากคล้าย – Captured by uploader. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Annotated Links

BrainFacts.org The Society for Neuroscience and others created this web resources to advance the teaching of neuroscience on the K-12 level. This extensive site includes suggestions and links for activities, animations/simulations, assessments, articles, case studies, fact sheets, games, images, interactive web experiences, videos, lesson plans tutorials and more.

The Dana Sourcebook of Brain Science The Dana Alliance, a nonprofit organization of brain research scientists offers The Dana Sourcebook of Brain Science, a basic introduction to brain science, its history, our current understanding of the brain, new developments, and future directions free to high school teachers and students and online as a PDF.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Understanding Mindfulness Meditation Mindfulness meditation may be particularly powerful because it draws on attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation and sense of self according to research by Britta Holzel published in Perspectives on Psychological Science and summarized here in Science Daily, October 31, 2011.

Lateralization of Emotion Explained by Paul Achuff in this article from Brain & Mind Electronic Magazine on Neuroscience.

Maps of the Brain According to the website: BrainMaps.org is an interactive zoomable high-resolution digital brain atlas and virtual microscope that is based on over 15 million megapixels of scanned images of serial sections of both primate and non-primate brains and that is integrated with a high-speed database for querying and retrieving data about brain structure and function over the internet. Currently featured are complete brain atlas datasets for various species.

‘Mindfulness’ meditation being used in hospitals and schools. Studies suggest the practice can ease pain, improve concentration and immune function, lower blood pressure, curb anxiety and insomnia, and possibly even help prevent depression. Newer research tools, such as high-tech brain scans, show how meditation might have diverse effects [on areas of the brain]] From USA Today, June 8, 2009.

Neuroscience for Kids Eric H. Chudler and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) sponsor this extensive and entertaining site for students and teachers filled with neuroscience activities. While much of the site is geared toward K-12, the site includes materials that are useful for higher levels including a newsletter, neuroscience in the news, postcards, books and articles, experiments and even “brain songs”.

Assignments, Exercises, and Activities

Current Researchers and Research Team Pages

Electronic Texts

Brain Facts The society for neuroscience provides this free 74-page primer on the brain and nervous system designed as an introduction to neuroscience for a lay audience.

Examples and Illustrations

The Secret Life of the Brain A companion site to the PBS series The Secret Life of the Brain this site contains definitions and examples of CAT scans, PET scans, MRI, fMRI, MEG, a 3-D tour of the brain, and mind illusions. Divided into five segments (the baby’s brain, the child’s brain, the teenage brain, the adult brain, the aging brain), the site contains numerous video clips including infant vision, the birth of the brain, motherese, sleep, addiction, culture and schizophrenia, laughter, emotions, Alzheimer’s, memory, and more.

Lecture Notes

Slide Presentations

Tests, Measures, and Scales

Multimedia Resources

Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation Philippe Goldin, researcher and head of the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience group in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University gives this talk on meditation and functioning: Mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how meditation may influence brain functions. This talk will examine the effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems in which psychological functions such as attention, emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and self-view are instantiated. We will also discuss how different forms of meditation practices are being studied using neuroscientific technologies and are being integrated into clinical practice to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.

Neuroscience A companion site to the PBS series The Secret Life of the Brain this site contains definitions and examples of CAT scans, PET scans, MRI, fMRI, MEG, a 3-D tour of the brain, and mind illusions. Divided into five segments (the baby’s brain, the child’s brain, the teenage brain, the adult brain, the aging brain), the site contains numerous video clips including infant vision, the birth of the brain, motherese, sleep, addiction, culture and schizophrenia, laughter, emotions, Alzheimer’s, memory, and more.

Psychology Cartoons Spice up your lectures with one of these classic single-panel cartoons of Sydney Harris. In this online collection of science cartoons you will find references to Freud, Rorschach, brain dominance, skinner, existentialism, and more.