Page 50 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

34 • Chapter 2

humor! The people with damage to that area had difficulty
selecting the correct response to a joke similar to this one:
A teenager is being interviewed for a summer job.
“You’ll get $50 a week to start off,” says his boss. “Then
after a month, you’ll get a raise to $75 a week.”
Punch-line selection:
A. ”I’d like to take the job. When can I start?” (straightfor-
ward logical choice)
B. “That’s great! I’ll come back in a month.” (correct funny
choice—original punch line)
C. “Hey boss, your nose is too big for your face!” (slapstick
ending—right-frontal damaged patients are likely to
choose this one) 15
Now that we have led you through a discussion of the
brain’s general anatomy and structure, let’s talk about the
brain, learning, and intelligences so that we can apply this in-
formation to our learning capability. You know your abilities
and talents. Maybe you are talented at fixing things, cooking,
writing, solving crossword puzzles, cheering other people up,
or gardening. Before you begin reading about intelligences
(and all these “talents” are actually forms of intelligence), re-
view your skills and abilities. Then see whether you recog-
nize yourself in any of these intelligences. The following facts
and figures will provide you with some interesting informa-
tion if you have ever dealt with someone who has had a
stroke or other brain injury.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Seven Intelligences
Linguistic Bodily-Kinesthetic
Musical Personal
Logical-Mathematical Naturalist
Spatial
As a framework for our discussion of more specific capa-
bilities of the brain, we will use Howard Gardner’s theory of