Update Seminar #5 10:30‐11:45 AM, Monday, 25 May
The Human Brain and Learning Norbert Myslinksi, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Maryland Dental School Recent neuroscience research has given us insight into how the human brain learns and remembers. Understanding how the brain understands will make us better teachers, better students and better parents. By focusing on key concepts of cellular and anatomical neuroscience, we can demonstrate how the brain is built for change. What parts of the brain are involved in attention, emotions, stress, sleep, vision, and hearing, and how can we use them to improve learning? Why are plasticity and synaptic facilitation the basis of learning? How do gender and age differences in the brain affect learning? Examining the neuroanatomical correlates of learning will help us answer these questions. Dr. Myslinski is a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and Stevenson University. He received his research training in sensory‐motor integration at the University of Illinois in Chicago, Tufts University in Boston and Bristol University in England. Currently, his interest is neuroscience education for the professional and non‐professional, for which he took additional courses at Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities. He has created, directed or taught 40 courses to 20,000 nursing, dental, graduate, undergraduate, high school, and elementary school students, and students in prisons and special schools. Recently, he has been involved in virtual reality courses, long‐distance education and on‐line courses through Laureate, Inc. He has been a member of 12 journal review committees, 7 grant review committees, and 22 state or national committees including literacy and ethics committees. He chaired 26 workshops, was an invited presenter 78 times, editor of 3 newsletters, awarded 15 grants and published 58 articles and book chapters. He is past‐president of the Baltimore Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and Director of Maryland Brain Awareness Week. He is the founder of the International Brain Bee, a neuroscience competition for high school students with chapters in 75 cities and 12 countries around the world. He appeared 37 times on radio and television. He is the recipient of the Alumni‐of‐the‐Year Awards from St. Mary’s High School and Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y.; the Society for Neuroscience Distinguished Teaching Award; and the University of Maryland Founder’s Day Award. He also served as Captain in the United States Army; represented Maryland since 2005 in the USA Senior Olympics; and is the proud parent of eleven‐year‐old Kelly and thirteen‐year‐old Matthew.
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