1.1.2

Parts of the Brain & MARGE Conclusions

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Parts of the Brain

The brain has six main regions, and based on Shimamura's MARGE we can make five key conclusions from the interactions between different parts of the brain.

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Parts of the brain

  • Prefrontal cortex (PFC) – controls the executive functions such as attention, decision making, and the maintenance of working memory.
  • Occipital cortex – where visual imagery is processed.
  • Heschl's gyrus – where auditory information is processed.
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Parts of the brain (cont)

  • Medial temporal lobe (MTL) – binds information into episodic memory.
  • Cerebral cortex – where conceptual knowledge is stored.
  • Midbrain – contains the rewards circuit; linked to motivation and memory.
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MARGE conclusions

  • To ensure students remain motivated to learn, we need to foster epistemic curiosity, activating the midbrain reward pathways.
  • Consideration must be given to the amount and layout of text being presented, as well as what is being said, to ensure the prefrontal cortex knows what to attend to.
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MARGE conclusions (cont)

  • The delivery of new concepts needs to allow our medial temporal lobe to relate new information to existing information.
    • Build-in opportunities for students to generate connections in the cerebral cortex, through repeated usage and reactivation of learned information.
  • Without the prefrontal cortex focussing on the right stimulus and evaluating the knowledge we have gained, the process of learning becomes obsolete.

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