Building better brains
Typically you don’t use a zombie playing a pinball machine as a metaphor for brain functions, unless your name is Barbara Oakley.
Oakley, in a talk held Thursday night in Plachta Auditorium entitled Learning How To Learn: Insights from Neuroscience (And Zombies!), Oakley presented new ideas to a full auditorium on a variety of brain function ideas.
She began the talk by explaining that often the most important way to gain a new perspective on life is by trying things that make you uncomfortable or things that you don’t think you can do.
Oakley herself is a good example of this. She is now a professor of engineering at Oakland University but in the past has served in the Army, worked in the Antarctic and worked as a Russian translator.
“I was following my passion,” she explained. “But I saw that if I wanted a new perspective on life I had to try something I thought I couldn’t do.”
Through this, she became interested in research about how people learn and how people can learn better.
Oakley explained that the brain is usually in one of two modes: focused or diffuse, or relaxed. While focused mode is somewhat self-explanatory, diffuse mode can be effective for solving problems in a creative way.
“Diffuse mode shows there is another way of solving problems that involves stepping back, and looking at the problem in a broader way,” she said.
Here, Oakley used the example of a zombie (simply because she enjoys zombies) playing a pinball machine likened to how the brain functions. When the brain is in focused mode, the “pinball” sticks to a specific track. When the brain is in diffuse mode, the pinball bounces around a little more.
Oakley presented many different ideas for focusing on a task, learning new skills, the importance of sleep and the detriments of multitasking.
Oakley also presented the Pomodoro technique, which suggests 25 minutes of intense focus on a task such as homework, followed by a short break. This could be one of the most effective ways to complete a task because it takes the focus off completing the task, which can sometimes be stressful.
These and other ideas presented resonated with students and professors that attended the lecture.
“I thought the presentation had a lot of useful information for my research and life,” said Qingli Lei, a graduate student from China.
Erin Woirol, a senior from Muskegon, explained she found the idea of the Pomodoro technique especially helpful, and Joshua Keeler, a junior from Marion, said he learned a lot of new ideas from the presentation.
“Some of the stuff I knew already, but learning about the two different modes of brain activity was new and the tips for getting in the right mindset for work could be helpful,” he said.
Oakley ended the lecture with a few words about passion.
“Following your passion can be a double-edged sword,” she said. “I like to say to broaden your passion, and your life will be greatly enriched.”
