Page 17 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

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6 The Creative Training Idea Book
capacity to function on many levels and in
many ways simultaneously. Thoughts, emo-
tions, imagination, predisposition, and
physiology operate concurrently and inter-
actively as the entire system interact with
and exchanges information with its envi-
Right Left
1
hemisphere hemisphere ronment.” The exciting part, related to
research findings, is that trainers and edu-
cators have an ongoing opportunity to
influence that growth in learners.
The brain is composed of three major
structures: the cerebrum, the cerebellum,
and the brain stem. The largest part of the
human brain (cerebrum) is covered and
protected by a thin layer called the cere-
bral cortex or neocortex. This thin layer
FIGURE 1-1. Brain hemispheres (cerebrum)
of nerve cells constitutes about 70 percent
of the nervous system and serves to gather
and decipher patterns received into the brain by identifying relationships between
objects, data, and other stimuli. Further, the cerebrum is divided into a left and a right
hemisphere (see Figure 1-1) and made up of four areas called lobes—frontal, temporal,
parietal, and occipital (see Figure 1-2). Each lobe is responsible for a different function.
The frontal lobe is located around the forehead and is responsible for such things
as problem-solving, creative thinking, planning and organizing, judgment, and will
power. The temporal lobes are located on both the left and right sides of the head. They
are tasked with such functions as processing sounds, language meaning, and some
memory. The parietal lobe is found on the
top rear area of the brain and receives and
processes higher sensory data received, as
Neocortex Parietal
lobe
well as assists in processing language input.
The occipital lobe is located in the back
middle section of the brain and has pri-
Frontal
mary responsibility for vision. Some scien-
lobe
Occipital tists believe that there is also a fifth area
lobe
imbedded in the midbrain called the lim-
bic system. The limbic system includes the
Temporal thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus,
lobe
and amygdala (see Figure 1-3). It accounts
for 20 percent of brain volume. Scientists
Brain believe that this area is responsible for,
stem
among other things, body regulation, emo-
tions, attention, sleep, hormone produc-
FIGURE 1-2. Lobes tion, sexuality, and smell.