NORTHWESTERN

UNIVERSITY

THE POWERS OF THE MIND

LEARNING COMPETENCIES:
1. Identify causes and effects of stress in one’s life
2. Demonstrate personal ways to cope with stress and maintain
mental health

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Discuss that understanding the different parts of the brain,
processes and functions may help in improving thoughts, behavior
and feelings.
2. Explore ways on how to improve brain functions for personal
development
3. Develop a personal plan to enhance brain functions

THE POWERS OF THE MINDTHREE MAJOR PARTS OF THE BRAIN

It connects the spinal cord and the brain. Controls

Brain stem functions that keep people alive such as breathing,
heart rate, blood pressure and food digestion.

It controls voluntary movement. It translates your

Cerebellum
will into action.

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Right Brain Left Brain

*It controls muscles on the left side of the body *It controls muscles on the right side of the body.
*Sensory information from the right side of the body crosses over to*Sensory
the left side of the brain
information from the left side of the body crosses o
*Damages in the right side of the brain will affect the left side of the*Damages
body in the left brain will affect the right side of the bod

Neurons

The basic functional units of the nervous system,

are three-part units and are key to brain function. They
power the rapid-fire process that turns thought into
movement. The thought moves as an electrical signal
down the axons to the dendrite and then jumps to
another nerve cell across a space with the help of some
chemicals.

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Critical Age
There is a consensus among researchers that brain cells regenerate through out life.
“The size of the brain doesn’t increase much after 3” It is during the first three years of life,
the brain experiences most of its growth and develops most of its potential in learning.
1. The brain parts are adaptable.
2. Deprivation of intellectual stimulation occurs dramatically before age 3.

Drug Damage
“The question scientists can’t answer now is if the damage is permanent.” Inhalants
such as glue, paint, gasoline and aerosols, destroys the outer lining of nerve cells and make
them unable to communicate with each other.

Marijuana hinders memory, learning, judgment and reaction times. Ecstasy destroys
neurons that makes serotonin - a chemical crucial in controlling sleep, violence, mood
swings and sexual urges. Steroids cause aggressions and violent mood swings.

The Lateralization Of The Brain : The Left And Right Brain Theory

The theory of brain lateralization was developed by Nobel-prize winners Robert

Ornstein and Roger Sperry. It states that each side of the brain has different specific
functions. While humans use both sides, each one has a dominant side which, according to
the theory, explains much about his or her behaviour, interests, personality, and mode of
thinking. This led to the coined terms left-brained or right- brained individuals

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Robert Ornstein Roger Sperry

It is a complex and ongoing process by which differing regions of the brain “take-over”
the functioning of specific behaviors and cognitive skills. Lateralization literally means that
certain functions are located (in par or total) on one side of the brain.

LEFT-BRAINED RIGHT-BRAINED
These people are These people are
Organized Intuitive
Logical Risk-takers
Detail-oriented Creative
They prefer They prefer
Sequencing Imagination
Linear thinking Holistic thinking
Mathematics Rhythm
Thinking in words Feelings visualization
Like to set goals Daydreaming
Can interpret information well Adventure
Keep a tidy room Writing
Answer questions spontaneously Fantasies
Follow directions and read directions Expression

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The Theory’s Advantages And Disadvantages

Pro : Learning
Upon knowing the brain inclination or to which brain a person is ‘affiliated’, he or she
could think of ways to boost strengths and compensate for weaknesses. It may lead
someone to develop effective ways to learn and study.

Con : Stereotyping
Brain dominance may have a negative effect or may even impede learning when this
results in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Collaborative Mind Map

Popularized by Tony Buzan, a mind map is a thinking technique used to visually

organize information. It is a creative and logical way of organizing thoughts and ideas in
your mind through a diagram. It usually revolves around a central subject. Major ideas in
the form of images and/or words branch out from the main subject. Texts, lines, colors,
images, and symbols may be used to make mind maps. Mind maps can be simply done by
manual drawing or sketching or through more intricate processes using computer
applications.

Making a Mind Map

1. Decide on what type of mind map you will create
2. Think of the main idea for your mind map.

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3. Add branches to the main idea.
4. Supplement with keywords
5. Incorporate colors into the branches.
6. Attach images if possible.

New Research Suggests the Brain is More like a Muscle

It changes and gets stronger when you use it. Scientists have been able to show how
the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn. A person who can’t lift 20 lbs when they
start exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 lbs after working out for a long time. “Use
it or lose it!”
Inside the cortex of brain are billions of neurons connecting in a complicated network.
Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems.
When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get
stronger. The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow.

Checkpoint 1

Instruction : Read the following statements. Write True if the statement is correct and Fal
se if it is not correct. Wrte your answer on the space provided before each number.
___________ 1. The Cerebrum controls one’s will into action.
___________ 2. Cerebellum is the largest part of the brain.
___________ 3. The right brain controls muscles on the left side of the body.
___________ 4. A human person has two brains.
___________ 5. Ecstacy is a chemical crucial in controlling sleep and mood swings.
___________ 6. Brain lateralization is the process in which sensory information from the
right side of the body crosses over the left side of the brain.
___________ 7. Damage to one side of the brain will affect the opposite side of the body.
___________ 8. Tony Buzan popularized the Lateralization of the Brain Theory.
___________ 9. According to the Brain Lateralization Theory, right-brained person are most
like creative and risk-takers.
___________ 10. Neurons are key to brain functions.
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Self Assessment Check

Instruction : Answer each question briefly but substantially.

Mark calculates and solves mathematical problems quickly and accurately. In fact, he was the
school’s representative in the Division Level Math Olympiad in 2019 and bagged the First Place
in the Senior High School category.
Subsequently, he portrays well as an actor in a school’s theatrical presentation and obtained a
three-in-all turns in the blind audition at ABS-CBN in 2019 when he rendered an amazing Pinoy
version of “Dance with my Father”.
Indeed, Mark is a mathematician and an artist.

1. How will you classify Mark? Is he more of a left or right-brained student? Why?

2. Which functions do the right-handed differ from that of the left-handed students or
individuals? Explain briefly.

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3. What was the result of your handedness test? If you are a left-handed, how will you
develop the functions and other specialized skills in your right hemisphere to be an
ambidextrous? Draw your personal plan to enhance your brain functions .

Job well done, Northwesternian!

Resources: Reference Book and Online Sources

https://www.slideshare.net/JohnLabrador3/personality-development-module-6-powers-of-mind
https://www.google.com
http://nspt4Kids.com/healthtopics-and-conditions-database/brain-lateralization
https://nspt4Kids.com/healthtopics-and-conditions-database/brain-tateralization/https://
faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html

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