Scientific Research Support For
Jensen Learning Programs:

The sources for the Jensen Learning Programs are listed below. These are sources that may be classified as basic, clinical or applied. They provide firm and credible scientific support, which suggests that the programs use proven strategies that are based on sound, research-based principles. Over 90% of these sources appear in peer-reviewed journals of high quality.

Table of Contents

Research on memory models used in brain-based learning
Research on how to make learning endure
Research on how to motivate students
The scientific support for the existence of allostatic loads
Research on appropriate engagement of emotions
Research supporting the use of a wide variety of teaching and learning styles in brain-based learning
The research behind creating an enriched environment
Research behind the value of using music in the environment
The research behind changing the brain through skill-building & neural plasticity
Research supporting a more active classroom environment
Scientific support for Uniqueness in the brain—How the Brain varies
Evidence of Neurogenesis
Evidence of Allostasis
Evidence of Environmental Effects on Gene Expression, Mutation & Brain
Evidence for Role of Emotional States

Research on memory models used in brain-based learning

Buckner R., Wheeler M. (2001) The cognitive neuroscience of remembering. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2 (9): 624-634.
Buckner RL, Koutstaal W., Schacter D., Wagner A., & Rosen B. (1998) Functional-anatomic study of episodic retrieval using fMRI. Retrieval effort versus retrieval success. Neuroimage, 7:151-162.
Cassaday H., Bloomfield R., & Hayward N. (2002) Relaxed conditions can provide memory cues in both undergraduates and primary school children. Br J Educ Psychol., 72(4): 531-47.
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1): 87-114.
Gold, B. & Buckner R. (2002). Common prefrontal regions coactivate with dissociable posterior regions during controlled semantic and phonological tasks, Neuron 35: 803-812.
Johnson M. (1992) MEM: mechanisms of recollection. J Cogn Neurosci 4: 268-280.
Koens, F., Ten Cate OT, & Custers E. (2003). Context-dependent memory in a meaningful environment for medical education: in the classroom and at the bedside. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract,8(2): 155-65.
Loftus, E. (2003). Make-believe memories. Am Psychol. 58(11): 867-73.
Moscovitch, M. (1989). Confabulation and the frontal systems: strategic versus associated retrieval in neuropsychological theories of memory. In: Varieties of Memory and Consciousness: Essays in Honor of Endel Tulving (Roediger H., Craik F., eds.), pp 133-160. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rugg M., Fletcher P., Chua P. & Dolan R. (1999). The role of the prefrontal cortex in recognition memory and memory for source: an fMRI study. Neuroimage 10: 520-529. Rugg, M., Henson, R., & Robb, W. (2003). Neural correlates of retrieval processing in the prefrontal cortex during recognition and exclusion tasks. Neuropsychologia 41: 40-52.
Schacter D. (1987). Memory, amnesia, and frontal lobe dysfunction. Psychobiology 15: 21-36.
Schacter, D., Alpert, N., Savage, C., Rauch, S., & Albert, M. (1996). Conscious recollection and the human hippocampal formation: evidence from positron emission tomography. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93: 321-325.
Schacter, D. (2001). The Seven Sins of Memory. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin
Lindsay, D., Hagen, L., Read, J., Wade, K., & Garry M. (2004). True photographs and false memories. Psychol Sci., 15(3):149-54.
Tehan, G., Humphreys, M., Tolan, G., & Pitcher C. (2004). The role of context in producing item interactions and false memories. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 30(1): 107-19.
Wheeler, M. & Buckner , R. (2003). Functional dissociation among components of remembering: Control, perceived oldness, and content. The Journal of Neuroscience, 23(9): 3869

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Research on how to make learning endure

Amabile, T. & Rovee-Collier, C. (1991). Contextual variation and memory retrieval at six months. Child Development, 1155-66.
Backman L., Nilsson, L., & Nourp, R. (1993). Attentional demands and recall of verbal and color information in action events. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 34(3): 246-254.
Boller, K. & Rovee-Collier, C. (1992). Contextual coding and recoding of infant’s memories. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 53(1): 1-23.
Bower, G. & Mann, T. (1992). Improving recall by recoding interfering material at the time of retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology 18(6): 1310-20.
Bradley, B., Mogg, K., & Williams, R. (1994). Implicit and explicit memory for emotional information in non-clinical subjects. Behavior Research Therapy, 32 (1): 65-78.
Cahill, L., Prins, B., Weber, M., & McGaugh, J. (1994). Nature. “Emotional Memory” 371: 702.
Christianson, S. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2): 284-309.
Della Valle, J., et al. (1986). The effects of matching and mismatching student’s mobility preferences on recognition and memory tasks. Journal of Educational Research, (79)5: 267-72.
Fabiani M., Karis, D., & Donchin, E. (1990). Effects of mnemonic strategy manipulation in a Von Restorff Paradigm. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 75(2): 22-35.
Healy, A. & Bourne, L. (1995). Learning and Memory of Knowledge and Skills. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hermann, D. & Hanwood, J. (1980). More evidence for the existence of the separate semantic and episodic stores in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6 & 5, 467-478.
Luiten, J., Ames, W., & Ackerson, G. (1980). A meta-analysis of the effects of advance organizers on learning and retention. American Educational Research Journal, 17: 211-18.
Parente, R. & Anderson-Parente, J. (1991) Retraining Memory: Techniques and Applications. Houston, TX: CSY Publishing.
Scroth, M., et al. (1993). Role of delayed feedback on subsequent pattern recognition transfer tasks. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 18(1): 15-22.

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Research on how to motivate students

Ames, C. (1992). Achievement goals and the classroom motivational climate. Student Perceptions in the Classroom. (Schunk, D. & Meece, J., Eds.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84: 261-71.
Ames, C. (1987). The enhancement of student motivation. Advances in Motivation and Achievement, 5: 123-148. (Maeher & Kleiber, Eds). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
Brophy, J. (1987). Socializing student’s motivation to learn. Advances in Motivation and Achievement, 3: 181-210. (Maeher & Kleiber. Eds.). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
Butler, R. (1988). Enhancing and undermining intrinsic motivation. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58: 1-14
Butler, R., & Nissan, M. (1986). Effects of no feedback, task-related comments, and grades on intrinsic motivation and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78: 210-216.
Deci, E. (1978). Application of Research on the Effects of Rewards. The Hidden Costs of Rewards: New Perspectives on the Psychology of Human Motivation. (Lepper & Greene, Eds.) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum & Assoc.
Deci, E. (1980). The Psychology of Self-Determination. Lexington, MA: DD Heath.
Deci, E., et al. (1982). Effects of performance standards on teaching styles: Behavior of controlling teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74: 852-59.
Deci, E. and Ryan, R. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.
Deci, E., et al. (1992). Autonomy and competence as motivational factors in students with learning disabilities and emotional handicaps. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25: 457-71.
Deci, E., et al. (1991). Motivation and education: The self-determination perspective. Educational Psychologist, 26: 325-46.
Ford, M. (1992). Motivating Humans. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Ford, R. (1969). Motivation Through the Work Itself. New York, NY: American Management Association.
Kohn, A. (1993). Punished by Rewards. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Lepper, M. (1981). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in children: Detrimental effects of superfluous social controls. (Collins, W., Ed.). Aspects of the Development of Competence: The Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology, 14: 155-214
Mills, R. (1987). Relationship Between School Motivational Climate, Teacher Attitudes, Student Mental Health, School Failure and Health Damaging Behavior. (Paper at Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association). Washington, D.C.
Nakamura, K. (1993). A Theory of cerebral learning regulated by the reward system. Biological Cybernetics, 68(6): 491-8.
Peterson, C., Maier, S., & Seligman, M. (1993). Learned Helplessnes. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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The scientific support for the existence of allostatic loads

Cohen, S., Line, S., Manuck, B., Rabin, E., Heise, R., & Kaplan, J. (1997). Chronic social stress, social status, and susceptibility to upper respiratory infections in nonhuman primates. Psychosomatic Medicine, 59: 213-221.
Johnston-Brooks, C., Lewis, M., Evans, G., & Whalen, C. (1998). Chronic stress and illness in children: The role of allostatic load. Psychosomatic Medicine, 60(5): 597-603.
Kirschbaum, C., Prussner, C., Stone, A., Federenko, I., Gaab, J. Lintz, D., Schommer, N. and Hellhammer, D. (1995). Persistent high cortisol responses to repeated psychological stress in a subpopulation of healthy men. Psychosomatic Medicine 57: 468-474, 1995.
Lupien, S., DeLeon, M., De Santi, S., Convit, A., Tarshish, C., Nair, N., Thakur, M., McEwen, B. Hauger, R., & Meaney, M. (1998). Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nature Neuroscience 1: 69-73.
Lynch, J., Kaplan, G. & Shema, S. (1997). Cumulative impact of sustained economic hardship on physical, cognitive, psychological, and social functioning. NEJM, 337: 1889-1895.
McEwen, B. (1997). Possible mechanisms for atrophy of the human hippocampus. Molecular Psychiatry 2: 255-262.
McEwen, B. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338: 171-179.
McEwen, B. (1999). Stress and hippocampal plasticity. Annual Review Neuroscience 22: 105-122.
McEwen, B., Biron, G., Brunson, K., Bulloch, K., Chambers, W., Dhabhar, F., Goldfarb, R., Kitson, P., Miller, A., Spencer, R., & Weiss, J. (1997). Neural-endocrine-immune interactions: the role of adrenocorticoids as modulators of immune function in health and disease. Brain Res.Rev. 23: 79-133.
McEwen, B., Sakai, R., & Spencer R. (1993). Adrenal steroid effects on the brain: Versatile hormones with good and bad effects. In Schulkin, J., ed. Hormonally-Induced Changes in Mind and Brain, 157-189. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Newcomer, J., Selke W., Melson, G., Hershey, A., Craft, T., Richards, S., & Alderson, A. (1999). Decreased memory performance in healthy humans induced by stress-level cortisol treatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(6): 527-33.
Seeman, T., Singer, B., Rowe, J., Horwitz, R. & McEwen, B. (1997). Price of adaptation–allostatic load and its health consequences: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Arch Intern Med 157: 2259-2268.

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Research on appropriate engagement of emotions

Adolphs R, Damasio H, Tranel D, Cooper G, & Damasio A. (2000). A role for somatosensory cortices in the visual recognition of emotion as revealed by three-dimensional lesion mapping. Journal of Neuroscience, 20(7): 2683-90.
Bechara, A., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. (2000). Emotion, decision-making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10: 295-307.
Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Damasio, A. R., & Lee, G. P. (1999). Different contributions of the human amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex to decision-making. Journal of Neuroscience, 19: 5473-81.
Bechara A, Damasio H, Damasio A. (2003). Role of the amygdala in decision-making. Acad Sci 985: 356-69.
Behavioral Brain Research, 58 (1-2): 69-79, (1993). Emotional memory systems in the brain.
Bradley, M. & Lang, P. (2000). Measuring emotion: behavior, feeling and physiology. In R. Lane & L. Nadel (Eds.), The Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion, 242-276.
Cacioppo J., Berntson, G., Adolphs, R., Carter, C., Davidson, R., McClintock, M., McEwen B., Meaney M., Schacter D., Sternberg E. et al. (2001). (Eds): Foundations in Social Neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2 (2): 191-7, (1992). Brain Mechanisms of Emotions and Emotional Learning.
Davidson, R. (2003). Affective neuroscience and psychophysiology: toward a synthesis. Psychophysiology, 40(5): 655-65.
Davidson, R. (1992). Anterior cerebral asymmetry and the nature of emotion. Brain and Cognition, 20(1): 125-51.
Eich, E. (1995). Searching for mood dependentmemory. Psychology Sciences, 6: 67-75.
Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: integrative, multidisciplinary approach to the study of the study of brain-behavior. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
Larson, R., Clore, G., & Wood, G. (1999). The emotions of romantic relationships: Do they wreak havoc on adolescents? In W. Furman, B. B. Brown, & C. Feiring (Eds.), The Development of Romantic Relationships in Adolescence, 19-49. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
LeDoux, J., & Hirst, W. (1986). Attention. Mind and Brain: Dialogues in Cognitive Neuroscience: 105-85, New York, NY: Cambridge.
LeDoux, J. (1989). Cognitive-emotional interactions in the brain. Cognition and Emotion: 267-89.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
Matthews, G., Campbell, S., Falconer, S., Joyner, L., Huggins, J., Gilliland, K., Grier, R. and Warm, J. (2002). Fundamental dimensions of subjective state in performance settings: task engagement, distress, and worry. Emotion. 2(4): 315-40.
Moss, H., & Damasio A., (2001). Emotion, cognition, and the human brain. Acad Sci. 935: 98-100.
Nelson, C., Bloom, F., Cameron, J., Amaral, D., Dahl, R., & Pine, D. (2002). Relations in the context of typical and atypical development. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 499-520.
Phelps E., O’Connor K., Cunningham, W., Funayama E., Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. (1997). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science 275: 1293-1295.
Riskind J., Williams N., Gessner T., Chrosniak L., & Cortina J. (2000). The looming maladaptive style: anxiety, danger, and schematic processing. J Pers Soc Psychol. 79(5): 837-52.
Scientific American, 270 (6): 50-57 (1994). Emotion, Memory & The Brain.

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Research supporting the use of a wide variety of teaching and learning styles in brain-based learning

Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1987). Dispelling outmoded beliefs about student learning. Educational Leadership, 44(6): 55-61.
Dunn, K. & R. (1992). Bringing Out The Giftedness In Your Child. New York, NY: John Wiley.
Dunn, R., et al. (1985). Light up their lives: A review of research on the effects of lighting on children’s achievement and behavior. The Reading Teacher, 38(9): 863-69.
Karkowski, W., Marek, T., & Noworol, C. (1989). Stimulating work found to boost pain perception. Work and Stress, 2: 133-37.
Krimsky, J. (1982). A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Matching and Mismatching Fourth Grade Students With Their Learning Styles Preferences for the Environmental Element of Light and Their Subsequent Reading Speed and Accuracy Scores. (Dissertation): St. John’s University.
Kroon, D. (1985). An Experimental Investigation of the Effects on Academic Achievement and the Resultant Administrative Implications of Instruction Congruent and Incongruent with Secondary Industrial Arts Student’s Learning Style Perceptual Preferences. (Dissertation): St. John’s University.
MacMurren, H. (1985). A Comparative Study of the Effects of Matching and Mismatching Sixth Grade Students With Their Learning Style Preferences for the Physical Element of Intake and Their Subsequent Reading Speed and Accuracy Scores. (Dissertation): St. John’s University.
Pinkerton, D. (1994) Using brain-based learning techniques in high school science. Teaching and Chane, 2(1): 44-60.
Weinstein, C., & Mayer, R. (1986). The Teaching of Learning Strategies: Handbook of Research on Teaching, 315-27. (Wittrock, M.C. Ed.) 3rd edition. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing.

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The research behind creating an enriched environment

Aslin, R. & Hunt, R. (2001). Development, plasticity and learning in the auditory system. In C. Nelson & M. Luciana (Eds.), Handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience. (pp. 205–220). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Bellisle, F. (2004). Effects of diet on behaviour and cognition in children. The British Journal of Nutrition, 92(2), S227–32.
Benaroya-Milshtein, N., Hollander, N., Apter, A., Kukulansky, T., Raz, N., Wilf, A., Yaniv, I., & Pick, C.G. (2004). Environmental enrichment in mice decreases anxiety, attenuates stress responses and enhances natural killer cell activity. The European Journal of Neuroscience, 20(5), 1341–7.
Bornstein, M.H., Haynes, M.O., & Painter, K.M. (1998). Sources of child vocabulary competence: a multivariate model. Journal of Child Language, 25(2), 367–93.
Cacioppo, J., Berntson, G., Sheridan, J. and McClintock, M. (2001). Multilevel analyses of human behavior: Social neuroscience and the complementing nature of social and biological approaches. In: Foundations of Social Neuroscience, Ed. by Cacioppo, J., Berntson, G. Adolphs, R., Carter, S., Davidson, R., McClintock, M., McEwen, B., Meaney, M., Schacter, D., Sternberg, E., Suomi, S. and Taylor, S. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Campbell, F. A., & Ramey, C. T. (1995). Cognitive and school outcomes for high-risk African-American students at middle adolescence: Positive effects of early intervention. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 743–772
Diamond, M. and Hopson, J. (1998). Magic Trees of the Mind. New York, NY: Penguin-Dutton Book.
Dobrossy, M.D. and Dunnett, S.B. (2004). Environmental enrichment affects striatal graft morphology and functional recovery. The European Journal of Neuroscience, 19(1), 159–68.
Duyme, M., Dumaret, A.C., & Tomkiewicz, S. (1999). How can we boost IQs of “dull children”?: A late adoption study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 96(15), 8790–4.
Ferchmin, P. A. & Bennett, E. L. (1975). Direct contact with enriched environment is required to alter cerebral weights in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 88, 360–367.
Francis, Darlene D., Diorio, J., Plotsky, P.M. and Meaney, M. (2002). Environmental Enrichment Reverses the Effects of Maternal Separation on Stress Reactivity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 22(18), 7840-7843.
Frick, K.M., Stearns, N.A., Pan, J.Y., Berger-Sweeney, J. (2003). Effects of environmental enrichment on spatial memory and neurochemistry in middle-aged mice. Learning Memory, 10(3), 187-98.
Guilarte, T.R., Toscano, C.D., McGlothan, J.L., Weaver, S.A. (2003). Environmental enrichment reverses cognitive and molecular deficits induced by developmental lead exposure. Annals of Neurology, 53(1), 50–6.
Hamm, R. J., Temple, M. D., O’Dell, D. M., Pike, B. R. & Lyeth, B. G. (1996). Exposure to environmental complexity promotes recovery of cognitive function after traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 13, 41–47.
Heschong, L. & Heschong Mahone Group. (1999). Daylighting in schools: an investigation into the relationship between daylighting and human performance. A study performed on behalf of the California Board for Energy Efficiency for the Third Party Program administered by Pacific Gas & Electric, as part of the PG & E contract 460-000. Available on line at www.h-m-g.com/daylighting/main.htm
Heschong Mahone Group (2003). Windows and Classrooms: A study of student performance and the Indoor Environment. A study performed on behalf of the California Energy Commission administered by Pacific Gas & Electric, October, contract P500-03-082-A-7. Available on line at www.h-m-g.com/daylighting/main.htm
Hirsch-Pasek, K., Eyer, D. and Golinkoff, R.M. ( 2003). Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn—And Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press.
Jensen, E. (2006) Enriching the Brain. Jossey-Bass. Wiley Imprint, San Francisco.
Kirsch, I. (1999). How Expectancies Shape Experiences. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Kosmarskaya, E. (1963). The influence of peripheral stimuli on development of nerve cells. [In The Development of the Brain and its Disturbance by Harmful Factors, Klosovski, B.N., Ed.]. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing.
Liberman, J. (1985). “Looking at Colors Widens Visual Field” in Brain/Mind Bulletin, 10:14E, August 19, 1985.
Murrain, P. (1983). Administrative Determinations Concerning Facilities Utilization and Instructional Grouping: An Analysis of the Relationship(s) Between Selected Thermal Environments and Preferences for Temperature, an Element of Learning Style. (Dissertation): St. John’s University.
Pelligrini, A. And Bohn, C. (2003) The Role Of Recess In Children’s Cognitive Performance. Educational Researcher, 34(1) 13-19.
Perkins, D. N. (1995). Outsmarting IQ: The emerging science of learnable intelligence. New York, NY: Free Press.
Pizzo, J. (1981). An Investigation of the Relationships Between Selected Acoustic Environments and Sound, an Element of Learning Style, as They Affect Sixth Grade Students’ Reading Achievement and Attitudes. (Dissertation): St. John’s University.
Ramey, C. T., & Ramey, S. L. (1998). Early intervention and early experience. American Psychologist, 53, 109-120.
Ramey, S.L., & Ramey, C.T. (2000). Early childhood experiences and developmental competence. In J. Waldfogel & S. Danziger (Eds.), Securing the future: Investing in children from birth to college (pp.122-150). NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Shea, T. (1983). An Investigation of the Relationship Among Preferences for the Learning Style Element of Design, Selected Instructional Environments, and Reading Achievement of Ninth Grade Students to Improve Administrative Determinations Concerning Effective Educational Facilities. (Dissertation).
Van Praag, H., Kemperman, G. & Gage, F. (2000) Neural consequences of environmental enrichment. Nature Review Neuroscience. 1(3), 191–198.

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Research behind the value of using music in the environment

Brownley, K., McMurray, R., & Hackney, A. (1995). Effects of music on physiological and affective responses to graded treadmill exercise in trained and untrained runners. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 19 (3): 193-201.
Catterall, J., Chapleau, R. & Iwanaga, J. (1999). Involvement in the arts and human development. In: Fiske, Edward (ed.) Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts on Learning. The Arts Education Partnership. Available at http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/
Chan, A., Ho, Y., & Cheung, M. (1998). Music training improves verbal memory. Nature, 396: 128.
Eisner, E. (1998). Does experience in the arts boost academic achievement? Art Education, January: 7-15.
Fiske, E. (ed.) (1999). Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts on Learning. The Arts Education Partnership. Available at http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/
Graziano, A., Peterson, M. & Shaw, G. (1999). Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training. Neurological Research, 21(2).
Malyarenko et al. (1996). Music alters children’s brainwaves. Human Physiology, 22: 76-81. McCraty, R., Atkinson, M., Rein, G. and Watkins, A. (1996). Music enhances the effect of positive emotional state on salivary IgA. Stress Medicine, 12: 67-75.
Mohanty, B. and Hejmandi, A. (1992). Effects of intervention training on some cognitive abilities of preschool children. Psychological Studies, 37: 31-37.
Rauscher, F., Shaw, G., Levine, L., Wright, E., Dennis, W., & Newcomb, R. (1997). Music training causes long-term development of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19: 2-8.
Stein, B., Hardy, C. & Totten, H. (1984). The use of music and imagery to enhance and accelerate information retention. Journal of the Society for Accelerative Learning & Teaching, 7(4).

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The research behind changing the brain through skill-building & neural plasticity

Diamond, M & Hopson, J. (1998). Magic Trees of the Mind, 31. New York, NY: Penguin-Dutton Book.
Durston, S., Hulshoff, H., Casey, B., Giedd, J., Buitelaar, J., & van Engeland, H. (2001). Anatomical MRI of the developing human brain: What have we learned? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 40(9): 1012-20.
Farran, D. (2001). Critical Periods and Early Intervention. In Critical Thinking about Critical Periods, 233-266. (Bailey, D., Bruer, J., Symons, F. and Lichtman, J. (Eds.). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Greenough, W. (1976). Neural Mechanisms of Learning and Memory (Rosenzweig, M. R. & Bennett, E. L., Eds.) 255-278. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Huttenlocher, P. (2003) Neural Plasticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
Johansson, B. & Ohlsson, A. (1996). Environment, social interaction, and physical activity as determinants of functional outcome after cerebral infarction in the rat. Exp. Neurol., 139: 322-327.
Kempermann, G., Kuhn, H. & Gage, F. (1998b). Experience-induced neurogenesis in the senescent dentate gyrus. J. Neurosci., 18: 3206-3212.
Kilgard, M & Merzenich, M. (1998) Cortical map reorganization enabled by nucleus basalis activity. Science, 279: 1714-1718.
Klintsova A. & Greenough W. (1999). Synaptic plasticity in cortical systems. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 9(2): 203-8.
Krech, D., Rosenzweig, M. & Bennet, E. (1960). Effects of environmental complexity and training on brain chemistry. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 53: 509-515.
Merzenich, M. (2002). “Neuroscience Origins of Variability of Perceptual, Cognitive and Motor Abilities”. Presentation in San Diego, CA at The Learning Brain EXPO, January 21, 2002.
Volkmar, F. & Greenough, W. (1972). Rearing complexity affects branching of dendrites in the visual cortex of the rat. Science, 176: 1445-1447.
Will, B., Rosenzweig, M., Bennett, E., Hebert, M. & Morimoto, H. (1977). Relatively brief environmental enrichment aids recovery of learning capacity and alters brain measures after postweaning brain lesions in rats. J. Comp. Physiol. Psych., 91: 33-50.
Wommack, J., Salinas, A., Melloni, R., & Delville, Y. (2004). Behavioral and neuroendocrine adaptations to repeated stress during puberty in male golden hamsters. J Neuroendocrinol., 16 (9): 767-75.

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Research supporting a more active classroom environment

Allen, G., Buxton, R., Wong, E. and Courchesne, E. (1997). Attentional activation of the cerebellum independent of motor movement. Science, 5308: 1940-1943.
Beyers, J. (1998). The Biology of Play. Child Development, 69 (3): 599-600.
Bjorkland, D., and Brown, R. (1998) Physical play and cognitive development: Integrating activity, cognition, and education. Child Development, 69(3): 604-606.
Cahill, L, Prins, B., Weber, M & McGaugh, J. (1994). Adrenergic activation and memory for emotional events. Nature, 371 (6499): 702-4.
Calvin, W. (1996). How Brains Think: Basic Books. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Cammisa, K. (1994). Educational kinesiology with learning disabled students. Perceptual and Motor skills, 78: 105-106,
Carmichael, K and Atchinson, D. (1997). Music and play therapy: Playing my feelings. International Journal of Play Therapy, 6: 63-72.
Chase, M. (1999). New behavior therapy for kids uses touch, tones and trampolines. Wall Street Journal, 10/29/99, page B1.
Clair, Robin (1996). The effects of tactile stimulation and gross motor movement on cognitive learning: A test of Montessori’s muscular movement theory in the classroom. ERIC file #ED334611.
Curry, N. (1977). Considerations of current basic issues on play. In N.Curry (Ed.) Play: The Child strives for self-realization. Booklet for National Association of the Education of Young Children. (pags. 51-61). Washington, D.C.
Dhyan, S. (1995). The transforming force of laughter, with the focus on the laughing meditation. Patient Education and Counseling, (1-3): 367-371.
Dwyer, T., Blizzard, L., & Dean, K. (1996). Physical activity and performance in children. Nutrition Reviews, 54(4): 27-32
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Scientific support for Uniqueness in the brain—How the Brain varies

Amunts, K., Schmidt-Passos, F., Schleicher, A. & Zilles, K. (1997). Postnatal development of interhemispheric asymmetry in the cytroarchitecture of human area 4. Anatomy and Embryology 196: 393- 402.
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Evidence of Neurogenesis

Brezun J. & Daszuta A. (1999). Depletion in serotonin decreases neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone of adult rats. Neuroscience 89: 999-1002.
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Evidence of Allostasis

Cohen, S., Line, S., Manuck, B., Rabin, E., Heise, & Kaplan, J. (1997). Chronic social stress, social status, and susceptibility to upper respiratory infections in nonhuman primates. Psychosomatic Medicine 59: 213-221.
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Evidence of Environmental Effects on Gene Expression, Mutation & Brain

Cairns, J., Overbaugh, J. & Miller, S. (1988). The Origin of Mutants. Nature 335: 142-145
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Evidence for Role of Emotional States

Adolphs, R., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., Cooper, G. & Damasio, A. (2000). A role for somatosensory cortices in the visual recognition of emotion as revealed by three-dimensional lesion mapping. Journal of Neuroscience, 20(7): 2683-90.
Bechara, A., Damasio, H., & Demasio, A. (2000). Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10: 295-307.
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Matthews, G., Campbell, S., Falconer, S., Joyner, L., Huggins, J., Gilliland, K., Grier, R. & Warm, J. (2002). Fundamental dimensions of subjective state in performance settings: Task engagement, distress, and worry. Emotion, 2(4): 315-40.
Nelson, C., Bloom, F., Cameron, J., Amaral, D., Dahl, R., & Pine, D. (2002). An integrative, multidisciplinary approach to the study of the study of brain-behavior relations in the context of typical and atypical development. Development and Psychopathology, 14: 499-520.
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Free Brain Based Learning Strategies for Teachers

“I went to the workshop with a substantial amount of knowledge on the topic. However, it was very useful to review all that and to get a deeper understanding of brain-based learning. Eric did a great job, and now I feel better equipped to present the topic to my staff in the fall. My energy levels are 100% renewed. I thoroughly enjoyed the personal anecdotes Eric shared with us, and the organization of each of the presentations. Thank you, Eric and Diane, for a great experience!”
-Monica Mulholland

“If you want to further your understanding of your kids and how their environment affects their learning; then this is the PD for you. You might even learn some things about yourself in the process. I was thoroughly engaged and left with many ideas that I’m looking forward to implementing at the beginning of the new year.”
-Trudi Hestand