Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function

Send us a textLife is complicated and we all are doing the best we can to manage its inherently challenging nature and predictably unpredictable flow. Developmental disorders like ADHD, and mental disorders like anxiety and depression, further exaggerate this uncertainty and creates a permanent state of flux.On this episode, our guest, Dr. Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician and an author of multiple books, talks about best ways to understand ADHD and augment care through the lens of mindfulness. Such approach allows children and parents with ADHD to see things as they are; just with more clarity. ADHD and Executive Dysfunction are synonymous entities and the management approach leads to greater success if it is rooted in compassion and human wisdom. There cannot be a better guide to survival than that!About Mark Bertin, M.D.Dr. Bertin is a developmental pediatrician and author of How Children Thrive, Mindful Parenting for ADHD and The Family ADHD Solution, which integrate mindfulness into the rest of evidence-based pediatric care.  He is a contributing author for the book Teaching Mindfulness Skills to Kids and Teens.  Dr. Bertin is on faculty at New York Medical College and the Windward Teacher Training Institute, and on the advisory boards for the non-profits Common Sense Media and Reach Out and Read.  He is a regular contributor to Mindful Magazine, and his blog is available through Mindful.org and Psychology Today.  For more information, please visit his website at www.developmentaldoctor.com.Helpful Linkshttps://www.developmentaldoctor.com/how-children-thrive/https://www.developmentaldoctor.com/books-mindful-parenting-adhd/https://www.developmentaldoctor.com/the-family-adhd-solution/About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textYou might be great at problem solving but the true test of executive function proficiency is not just helping someone get their car out of a ditch, but applying those same skills and principles to help yourself and get your own car out of a ditch. The process of self-directed learning is gradual and insidious where the individual gathers knowledge through experiential learning and subconsciously assimilates and integrates ideas to bounce back.In this big-picture episode, Sucheta discusses how parents can guide children to develop the self-directed thinking, which has a self-help component to it, so that they can survive everyday roadblocks, set-backs and disappointments and “MacGyver” through everyday problems.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textLearning is magical but not every teacher is a magician! Astronaut Scott Kelly celebrated for his curiosity for space missions, struggled to find his footing in the midst of “dull and boring” high school years. More than ever before, distracted, disengaged, and disillusioned kids finding themselves stuck in the ever widening gap between a ”ready to learn” mindset and a “ready to be inspired” mindset.On this episode, Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and a former classroom teacher, shares her passion that integrates neuroscience research regarding learning and the brain to galvanize the educators to let the glitter spill all over their classroom floor. By reintegrating effective and practical ideas into teaching, Dr. Willis believes every teacher can sprinkle magic dust that unleashes one’s inner zeal for discovery.About Judy Willis, M.D.Dr. Judy Willis combined her 15 years as a board-certified practicing neurologist with ten subsequent years as a classroom teacher to become a leading authority in the neuroscience of learning. Dr. Willis has written nine books and more than 100 articles about applying neuroscience research to classroom teaching strategies. She is on the adjunct faculty of the Williams College.Dr. Willis travels nationally and internationally giving presentations, workshops, and consulting while continuing to write books and staff expert blogs for NBC News Education Nation, Edutopia, Psychology Today, and The Guardian. In 2011 she was selected by Edutopia as a “Big Thinkers on Education.”Website:www.RADTeach.comBooksUpgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets NeuroscienceUnlock Teen Brainpower: 20 Keys to Boosting Attention, Memory, and EfficiencyResearch-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom TeacherLearning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get ResultsThe Neuroscience of Learning: Principles and Applications for EducatorsHow Your Child Learns Best: Brain-Friendly Strategies You Can Use to Ignite Your Child’s Learning and Increase School SuccessTeaching the Brain to Read: Strategies for Improving Fluency, Vocabulary, and ComprehensionBrain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion ClassroomInspiring Middle School Minds: Gifted, Creative, & ChallengingAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExSupport the show

Send us a textWhen learning, why is it that people often use the most exactly ill-fitted strategies or fail to appreciate the ones that do work? An educator who assumes the role of parting knowledge without much attention to imparting the wisdom of learning HOW to learn is churning our unenlightened students who could never take charge of their learning and self-knowledge.On this episode, Professor Mark McDaniel returns to discuss the idea of gaining more durable knowledge through effort, problem solving, and rehearsal. Tune in to find out why such processes create life-long effective learning.About Mark McDaniel, Ph.D.Mark McDaniel is a Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Co-Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education.  He received his Ph.D. from University of Colorado in 1980. His research is in the general area of human learning and memory, with an emphasis on prospective memory, encoding and retrieval processes in episodic memory and applications to educational contexts. His educationally relevant research includes a series of studies on elaborative study techniques and enhancing learning through testing (repeated retrieval), with much of this latter work being conducted in actual college and middle school classrooms. This research was sponsored by the Institute of Educational Sciences and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.McDaniel has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition and as President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association and of Division 3 of the American Psychological Association. He has published over 275 journal articles, book chapters, and edited books  on  human learning and memory, and is the co-author with Peter Brown and Henry Roediger of the recent book:  Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning  (Harvard University Press, 2014).BooksMemory Fitness (2004)Prospective Memory (2007)Make It Stick (2014)About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textThe charm of entering college camouflages the real invitation to become responsible for yourself by figuring out what you want while taking care of the mundane, yet obligatory tasks of daily student life. The dread of “adulting” is further muddled by having to navigate the world with the unseen layers of executive function challenges that compromise attention, new learning, slower thinking, and goal management, pushing away the dream of joining the workforce and transitioning into successfully adult life.On this episode, Mary R.T. Kennedy, Ph.D., Professor and Chair at the Communication Sciences and Disorders at Chapman University, discusses the special challenges and the proposed road to recovery for college students after a traumatic brain injury.About Mary Kennedy, Ph.D.Mary R.T. Kennedy, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is Professor and Chair, Communication Sciences and Disorders at Chapman University, Orange, CA. She is a certified speech-language pathologist and is a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Dr. Kennedy has extensive clinical and research experience working with individuals with cognitive impairments after traumatic brain injury, specifically executive functions, metacognition and self-regulation. Her work to translate scientific evidence into practice has helped practitioners engage in evidence-based practice (EBP). In recent years, her work has focused on how best to support college students with brain injury. In 2017, she authored a book for rehabilitation professionals and educators titled, Coaching College Students with Executive Function Problems, by Guilford Publishing.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWe have all done it; followed the GPS blindly and reached the international terminal instead of the domestic one or forgotten to turn off the car lights, leaving them on overnight. The only solution is to pay attention to attention and see how to get it under our conscious control.On this episode, Courtney Stevens, PhD, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Willamette University in Portland discusses selective attention and the bearing it has on learning, thinking, and behavior throughout your lifespan. Attention is a gateway to information processing and it’s vital that a connection be made transparent between attention, thinking, and Executive Function.About Dr. Courtney StevensCourtney Stevens, PhD, is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Willamette University. She is an expert in the development and plasticity of the human brain, including the role of stress and early socioeconomic adversity on neural systems. In the course of her research, Stevens has partnered with preschool, K-12, and college programs to study factors that influence students’ academic success and emotional well-being. In one line of research, she has contributed to the development and evaluation of a program to support families with preschool children living in poverty, including adaptations for different cultural contexts. Her research has been funded by the NSF and NIH. Dr. Stevens has been recognized with national awards for excellence in teaching and neuroscience outreach. She has presented her research nationally and internationally, to academic, policy, and community audiences. Dr. Stevens completed her undergraduate degree at Reed College and her master’s and doctorate at the University of Oregon.Website:Cognitive Neuroscience Lab – Willamette University, Department of PsychologyArticles:Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolersAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWell-built Executive Function lends itself to thoughtful decision making and on-point problem solving, advantageous to meeting personal goals. However, the shifting nature of cognitive resources warrants keen attention to making crafty adjustments to our daily schedules to actualize the best results. William James was onto something when he wrote, “The great thing, then, in all education, is to make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and to guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to us, as we should guard against the plague.”On this episode, we talk with Daniel Pink, the author of six provocative books including his latest book When that challenges the perception that all times of day are created equal. He offers the valuable science behind the world changing idea of “timing”, which if taken seriously can offer insights into an optimally functioning self.About Daniel PinkDaniel H. Pink is the author of six provocative books — including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, which has spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list and has been named a best book of 2018 by Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads, and several more outlets. His other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 39 languages. He lives in Washington, DC with his family.Books:When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect TimingAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textGoals may not change but circumstances do. Executive Function means to accomplish the goals by changing gears, repurposing solutions, and shifting perspectives by successfully adapting to the changed conditions And doing it without losing focus, waning interest or destabilizing emotions. Tune in to this Big Picture episode as I discuss the brain finest ability to orchestrate actions when put to good use yields outcomes that are emotionally desirable, appropriate, and future centered.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textIn 2018, John Legend became the 13th and the youngest winner of "EGOT" which stands for the big-four possible outstanding awards in the entertainment industry: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. An awe worthy accomplishment certainly points out the talent in John Legend, but is it cultivated? There are those who do things, those who do it well, and those who do it exceptionally well. An expert performer produces superior or exceptional performance without an exception. The journey to gain expertise however, is far from simply being effortful.On today’s podcast, Professor Anders Ericsson, and co-author of the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, will discuss how particular skill-sets and particular mindsets shapes the mastery of skills, which are attainable to all. At the heart of superior Executive Function is goal-directed actions and tolerance for discomfort and annoyances that interfere while building skills. So through focused effort to strengthen Executive Function, one can easily forge the path towards developing expertise.About K. Anders EricssonK. Anders Ericsson, PhD, is presently Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University.  After his Ph. D. in Sweden, he collaborated with the Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Herbert A. Simon on verbal reports of thinking leading to their classic book “Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data” (1984). Currently he studies the measurement of expert performance in domains, such as music, chess, nursing, law enforcement, and sports, and how expert performers attain their superior performance by acquiring complex cognitive mechanisms and physiological adaptations through extended deliberate practice.He has edited several books on expertise, the influential “Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance” consisted of over 40 chapters and 900 pages and the recent “Development of Professional Expertise, which appeared in 2009. His most recent book (2016) “Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise” was co-authored with Robert Pool. His research has been featured in cover stories in Scientific American, Time, Fortune, Wall Street Journal and New York Times.He has been invited to give keynote presentations at conferences of surgeons, musicians, teachers, clinical psychologists, athletes, and coaches as well as professional sports organizations, such as Philadelphia Eagles (American football), San Antonio Spurs (basketball), Toronto Blue Jays (baseball) and Manchester City (soccer).Books:Peak: Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWhat do Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, academy award winning actor Leonardo de Caprio, designer Ralph Lauren, and entertainment mogul Jay Z have in common? They all grew up poor. Their success is enviable, but breaking the cycle of poverty is a mammoth task; one that requires educational opportunities that compensate for the disadvantages created by the socio-economic gap, appropriate structural support, and exposure to the larger world. Every young mind has the right to dream big, but not all dreams are destined to become a reality.On this episode, Elise Davis-McFarland, the Immediate Past President of American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA 2019) and an ASHA Fellow, discusses how poverty is a serious condition and a potential cause of deprivation and educating students from low income families warrants more than just tolerance, but strong cultural competence. Robust Executive Function and self-regulation are essential ingredients for raising independent children, but ongoing environmental stressors and economics adversity can prove to be an obstacle in bringing forth future-ready children.About Dr. Elise Davis-McFarlandDr. Elise Davis-McFarland has enjoyed a rewarding career in higher education that includes teaching, development, and leadership of speech-language pathology programs; research; and executive-level college administration. She began her career as a school speech-language pathologist (SLP) in North Carolina where she provided diagnostic and therapeutic services for children in pre- and elementary schools. Following an audiology internship at the VA and Duke Hospitals and graduate study, she joined the faculty of the University of Houston as an assistant professor where she taught graduate courses in language development, childhood language disorders, early literacy development, and assessment and diagnosis of childhood communication disorders.In Charleston, South Carolina—in the absence of an academic program in her discipline—she took advantage of new experiences, first as vice president of Governmental Affairs for the Charleston Chamber of Commerce and later as Director of Institutional Research at The Citadel. Dr. Davis-McFarland was also elected as a commissioner for the state’s Medicaid program by the South Carolina Legislature. At the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), as an associate professor the opportunity to develop and lead the interdisciplinary graduate Communication Sciences and Disorders program in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences where Occupational and Physical Therapy programs were housed led to a teaching award and to her research at the MUSC hospital. Later, she became Vice President for Student Affairs at Trident College, where she provided executive-level leadership and supported the successful matriculation of students with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome into the college. Dr. Davis-McFarland is an ASHA Fellow.  Her service to ASHA includes membership on the Committee on Practice Guidelines for SLPs, the Professional Practices Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Executive Board Subcommittee on Examination Performance, and the Multicultural Issues Board. She was one of ASHA’s representatives on the committee formed by ASHA and the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC). She chaired the Committee on Honors and was the coordinator for SIG 14. Until her election as ASHA’s president-elect she served on the SLP Advisory Council as a representative from South Carolina, and the SIG 17 Coordinating Committee. She has also been a reviewer for Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools and the African Journal of AIDS Research. Her areas of research and publication include spSupport the show