How the Brain Works Part IV: Leverage the Doer

Early in this series we talked about how to Strengthen the Thinker. That the Thinker, which is responsible for planning, setting goals, controlling impulses, solving problems, thinking creatively, making decisions, etc., uses up a lot of energy. And I shared a few strategies for strengthening this incredible resource from scheduling brain breaks to planning your day in the best possible order.

However, one of the most effective strategies is to create patterns–to embed or automate specific information and skills so that you don’t need to continuously draw from the Thinker to do them.

And that is to topic of today’s post–How to transfer information and skills into our Basal Ganglia–our automatic “Doer.”

Basal Ganglia: the Doer

Let's see if you can finish a few little songs.

If you answered, “Folgers in your cup” and “cheese, pickles, onion on a sesame seed bun” then you have just engaged your Doer. It has likely been years since you heard either one of those jingles and yet you were able to recall them almost without effort.

This is the incredible power of the Doer.

You see, your basal ganglia are central to how the brain stores habits and routines. And when you go into habit mode, your brain can shift from taking energy from the Thinker to utilizing the much more efficient basal ganglia--your Doer.

What’s even more interesting is neuroscientists have learned that once your brain encodes a pattern or habit into your basal ganglia, it never fully disappears. This is why you can recall a song you haven’t heard in years, ride a bike without effort even if you haven’t ridden one since childhood, and cook an amazing meal for the entire family even while lost in thought or conversation.

How to transfer information and skills into our Basal Ganglia

So how do we leverage this powerful region of our brains for learning? How do we create those patterns, habits, and memories that free up the Thinker to focus on the higher level, more complex activities that lead to success?

1. Create Patterns

The basal ganglia are designed to execute patterns. So, once you create a pattern your Doer can drive the process. For some, only three repetitions of a routine is enough to embed something into the basal ganglia and thus make it a long term habit; for others it may take much more repetition and review. But helping your child develop routines that can be repeated over and over again helps them become more efficient and able to tackle the next challenge.

Some simple routines include how to begin and end the school day, where to store their books, or the step-by-step process for tackling a specific math problem. Setting up your homeschool environment effectively is a great place to start.

2. Memorization

You can also leverage the Doer by committing things to memory. Memorizing those multiplication and division facts so they become second nature helps you focus on more complex algebra problems, knowing laws of motion or the order of operations allows you to focus on how to solve the problem at hand, and memorizing prepositions makes writing and diagramming is easier… get the picture?

Focus on committing to memory those things that need to be used for more complex operations. By powering up the Doer you give yourself a head start.

3. Music

One fantastic way to create patterns or memorize information is to set it to music. Remember those little jingles you were able to finish? That was your Doer kicking in. Music ignites learning. And where but in music do you find consistent patterns, catchy melodies, rhythm and rhyme? Find a way to set important information to music and get ready to be amazed at what your child can learn!

4. Practice

With today’s technology, we have the incredible ability to add brain training to our daily routine and firm up important cognitive abilities. Here are some of my favorite apps and games that you and your kids will love:

Desktop Apps:

1. Mind Games—Designed for younger kids, Mindgames.com includes all 13 of Mindware’s brain exercising games. Available online. (Warning--this one does include quite a few ads)
2. Memory Racer—practice for your brain’s working memory (prefrontal cortex) and processing speed. This one does require a download in order to play.

Mobile Apps:

1. Memory Trainer for Android — Memory Trainer works out your spatial and working memory, focus, chunking and concentration skills.
2. Peak (My current favorite). Designed for all ages, Peak games are short, intense brain games that challenge your focus, memory, problem solving, mental agility and processing skills. The free version includes a short workout each day.
3. Lumosity—find this one online or as an app called Lumosity Brain Training. Lumosity is designed to work out your brain a little each day and improve working memory, visual attention, fluid intelligence, and executive function (your braking system). They do include a free version but there are in-app purchases to upgrade to the full version.

When you make brain training part of your daily routine you increase cognitive abilities and help sharpen the brain. And as stated above, creating automated, embedded patterns and routines leverages the Doer, which preserves the Thinker, which often results in better control of both the Filter and the Reactor!

Wrapping Up the Brain Busters Series

I hope you enjoyed our Brain Busters series brought to you by the minds of Bridgeway Academy. As you can probably tell this subject is especially close to my heart. In fact, the knowledge I’ve gained and continued to build over the past decades is why I have built a homeschooling program that strengthens your students’ ability to grow and learn at a rate that surpasses traditional schooling in leaps and bounds. That’s the Bridgeway way. If you’d like to learn more, visit our website to view the brain workshop sessions we offer. You’ll love learning with us.

The previous posts in this series

• Learning Brain Busters Part I: Strengthen The Thinker
• Learning Brain Busters Part II: Dampen The Reactor
• Learning Brain Busters Part III: Engage The Filter