Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function

Send us a textIn 2015, at the White House Correspondents' Dinner something hilarious transpired. President Obama invited Luther, his anger translator, on the stage with him and the Comedian Keegan-Michael Key obliged. The tongue in cheek display of Obama’s true frustrations expressed through “Luther” was not only ironic but brilliant reminding us how we all need an anger handler.On this episode author, researcher and associate dean, Ryan Martin, Ph.D., discusses what anger is, why we get angry, and how it also serves a purpose and has benefits. A predictable response to stress and obstacles in learning is slowly escalating frustration; which tends to manifest itself as irritation or annoyance at first but more of an anger or even rage down the road. Those who are interested in Executive Function can gain insight from this discussion to learn to manage anger and related negative behaviors which often gets undue attention more so than the underlying learning obstacles. About Dr. Ryan MartinDr. Ryan Martin researches and writes on healthy and unhealthy expressions of anger. His book, Why We Get Mad: How to Use Your Anger for Positive Change, explores why people become angry, some of the common consequences of anger, and how people can use their anger in productive ways.  Ryan also hosts the popular psychology podcast, Psychology and Stuff.  He was trained as a counseling psychologist at the University of Southern Mississippi where he first started studying anger after earning his undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of St. Thomas.  He has worked with clients- angry and otherwise- in a variety of settings including community mental health centers, college counseling centers, and a VA Hospital.He is a Professor of Psychology and an Associate Dean for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.  His work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR’s Invisibilia podcast, BBC Radio’s Digital Human, TED.com, and elsewhere.  When he’s not thinking about feelings, he runs and spends time with his family.  Website:http://alltheragescience.com/martin/Helpful Articles:How to Be Angry: https://psyche.co/guides/anger-is-a-potent-beneficial-force-if-used-in-the-right-wayTED: Why We Get Mad -  https://www.ted.com/talks/ryan_martin_why_we_get_mad_and_why_it_s_healthy?language=en#t-427199About 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 schooling of American children is marred by our notions that hard and long hours of classroom learning is a defining feature of K-12 school success even though such environments lack a playful approach to learning or room for imaginative interactions with the world. In their book Out of My Skull, Neuroscientists James Danckert & John D. Eastwood write, “When we have a sense of meaning and purpose in life, options for engagement with the world are evident and compelling.” So if we know this about schooling, learning, and engagement then why is it so hard for us to pivot?  On this episode, globally recognized voice in education, Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, and author of many books including a memoir, Learning By Heart: An Unconventional Education, Tony Wagner, Ph.D. discusses how his own childhood learning experiences that were neither pleasant nor rewarding failed to channel his natural curiosity and what it took for him to find his way back to flourishing as a life-long learner.About Tony WagnerA globally recognized voice in education, Tony Wagner currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, founded by Linda Darling-Hammond in 2015. Prior to this appointment, Tony held a variety of positions at Harvard University for more than twenty years, including four years as an Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director, for more than a decade, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His previous work experience includes twelve years as a high school teacher, K-8 principal, university professor in teacher education, and founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility.Tony is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and a widely published author. His work includes numerous articles and seven books, including three best-sellers: Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for The Innovation Era, co-authored by Ted Dintersmith, was published by Scribner in 2015. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World, was published in 2012 to rave reviews and has been translated into 19 languages. His 2008 book, The Global Achievement Gap continues to be an international best seller, with more than 150,000 copies in print. Tony’s memoir, Learning By Heart: An Unconventional Education, was published by Penguin/Random House in 2020.Tony served as the Strategic Education Advisor for a major new education documentary, “Most Likely to Succeed,” which had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and has since been shown in more than 11,000 communities around the world. He also collaborated with noted filmmaker Robert Compton to create a 60 minute documentary, “The Finland Phenomenon: Inside The World’s Most Surprising School System.”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-emoSupport the show

Send us a textPoet and philosopher Rumi once wrote, “Love is the bridge between you and everything.” As much as a loving bond between people may be the starting point for close relationships, the future of it however, is shaped by stress, communication, coping, mental health, and interpersonal support; which are the defining factors that allow those relationships to last or crumble. Bicker, squabble, argue, wrangle, fight, disagree, dispute, and spar are some of things that we do when we’re in a relationship with someone that we care about. Without the full knowledge of the psychological science behind it, it’s hard to know if the behaviors and approaches to conflict resolution are effective or even healthy. On this episode, relationship expert, award-winning teacher, professor at Monmouth University and author of Stronger Than You Think: The 10 blind spots that undermine your relationship and how to see past them, Dr. Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., discusses how seeking personal growth and undergoing self-expansion can help us grow. Relationships are the vehicles to broaden the lens we use to look at ourselves and inspecting our blind spots can carry tremendous benefit.About Dr. Gary LewandowskiDr. Gary W. Lewandowski Jr. is a an award-winning teacher, researcher, writer, and relationship expert. He is a Professor at Monmouth University and author of Stronger Than You Think: The 10 Blind Spots That Undermine Your Relationship…and How to See Past Them, and co-author of an innovative research methods text, Discovering the Scientist Within. His work has been featured by the Washington Post, IFLScience.com, Daily Mail, Business Insider, Salon, The New Republic, Time, the New York Times, The Atlantic, VICE, CNN, and NPR. His TEDx talk, “Break-ups Don’t Have to Leave You Broken” has viewed over 2 million times, while his relationship articles have been enjoyed by over 3.5 million readers.Websites: http://www.GaryLewandowski.comhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thepsychology-relationshipsAbout 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 textOn February 18, 1981, Mr. Rogers asked Jeffrey Erlinger a 10-year old quadriplegic with multiple challenges to show the television viewers how his wheelchair worked and by celebrating Jeffrey with warmth and amazement, Mr. Rogers helped crystalized the modern neurodiversity movement. For a long time, normal and abnormal have been the only two concrete buckets cultures have used to determine an individual’s worth and value based on their capacity to partake in and serve the workforce. And by pathologizing physical or mental challenges and various brain conditions, we have deemed such individuals as either subhuman or useless. On this episode, author of Nobody’s Normal and Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at George Washington University, Roy Richard Grinker, discusses how disability and the stigma associated with it are social constructs and invites all of us to investigate the history social stigma which has led to the ‘invention’ of mental illness. As today’s citizens do their best to fit in the capitalistic world that demands a productive and self-sufficient worker, let’s not forget that everyone can be productive in their own ways and contribute meaningfully if we expand the definition of normal and socially acceptable.About Roy Richard GrinkerRoy Richard Grinker is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Grinker was born and raised in Chicago where his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father worked as psychoanalysts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1983 and received his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at Harvard University in 1989.He is the author of Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness and Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism.Grinker is also the author of In the Arms of Africa: The Life of Colin M. Turnbull, Korea and its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished War, and Houses in the Rainforest: Ethnicity and Inequality among Farmers and Foragers in Central Africa. He is co-editor of Perspectives on Africa: Culture, History, and Representation and Companion to the Anthropology of Africa.He was a 2008 recipient of the National Alliance on Mental Illness KEN award for “outstanding contribution to the understanding of mental illness” and the 2010 recipient of the American Anthropological Association’s Anthropology in the Media award for “communication of anthropology to the general public through the media.”Website: www.royrichardgrinker.com 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 soSupport the show

Send us a textIn his 1890 seminal book, The Principles of Psychology, William James wrote, “There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.” One such key form of indecision is procrastination; and research shows that procrastinators act as if there’s no future. There is a way however, to rein in the reckless disregard for the future-self by evoking the empathic connection between the present and future-self. On this episode, psychologist and expert on imagination and wellbeing, coach at Impact Hub Ottawa, and owner of Bevy Creative, Eve-Marie Blouin-Hudon, Ph.D. discusses how we can and should help people change their connection to their future-self which has multitude of benefits including reduction in procrastination. A key function of strengthening Executive Function is to alter behaviors and actions to attain goals set by self and bring the needs of the future-self to become fruitful.About Dr. Eve-Marie Blouin-HudonEve-Marie Blouin-Hudon is a psychologist and expert on imagination and wellbeing. Based on her research, she teaches courses at Carleton University on the psychology of creativity and innovation, coaches at Impact Hub Ottawa, and offers consulting to individuals and organizations through her business Bevy Creative. She is also the Organizational Health lead at Statistics Canada, where her team helps employees adapt to change and experience greater psychosocial health.Website: http://ww.bevycreative.comAbout 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 textNot now, later! These are three words we have come to value. The Marshmallow experiment from the 1960s popularized the idea of self-control and brought it into cultural consciousness; however, sometimes it has mislead us to think that kids who don’t wait for two marshmallows at the age of 4 might be destined to lead less fruitful lives. Instead of focusing on self-control through a narrow lens as an individual’s choice-making ability, there's another way to view this complex process using broader constructs such as social regulation in the face of conflicting tendencies, ideas, and desires.On this episode, Dr. Sabine Doebel,  Assistant Professor at George Mason University, discusses how creative and novel experimental designs can help explore the social and conceptual processes behind self-control skills in children across many contexts. Those who care about helping children develop self-regulation should consider giving them opportunities to acquire a wide-range of experiences and knowledge to benefit from the cultural context.About Sabine Doebel, PhDSabine leads the Developing Minds Lab in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University. The lab focuses on questions related to how we become capable of  exercising conscious control over our thoughts and actions in the pursuit of goals  (executive function), and how this capacity develops through experience, particularly social experience.She completed her Ph.D. at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota (advisors: Melissa Koenig and Philip D. Zelazo), and her NIH-funded postdoc at the University of Colorado Boulder (advisor: Yuko Munakata). Sabine is interested in cognitive development, with much of her research to date focusing on the development of executive function -- the ability to control thoughts and actions in the service of goals, especially in the face of conflicting habits, desires, or tendencies. She's particularly interested in how social and conceptual processes may support the development of skills in using control across contexts. Sabine is also doing work to promote open science practices in developmental psychology, with the goal of making it easier to help researchers build on one another's work.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 his short story, The Girl Next Door, essayist and comedian, David Sedaris writes, “In the coming days, I ran the conversation over and over in my mind, thinking of all the fierce and sensible things I should have said.” To some extent, each of us are trapped in our own mind’s echo chamber like David Sedaris describes and if kept unchecked, listening to the unfiltered stream of thoughts can feel like we’re losing control. The neuroscience of self-talk can provide valuable insights to shift our perspective to step outside our heads and step into the world and manage life.On this episode, the world's leading expert on controlling the conscious mind, award-winning professor at the University of Michigan and the Ross School of Business, and the director of the Emotion and Self Control Laboratory, Ethan Kross, PhD, discusses what exactly is mental chatter and how we can reshape the voice inside of us to gain a sense of control over our mind and our life.About Ethan Kross, PhDEthan Kross, PhD, is one of the world's leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor at the University of Michigan and the Ross School of Business, he is the director of the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory. He has participated in policy discussion at the White House and has been interviewed on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper Full Circle, and NPR's Morning Edition. His pioneering research has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science. He completed his BA at the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD at Columbia University.Book: Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters and How to Harness ItHelpful Articles:Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-stop-the-negative-chatter-in-your-head-11609876801About 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 text“You stupid idiot!” Most of us in the civilized world would refrain from using such hurtful and aggressive language when addressing others. However, if someone were to be a fly on our mind’s wall and hear the things we say to ourselves, they might be horrified. When individuals face challenges, encounter failures, and make fools of themselves, the harsh and judgmental critic within gets cracking with self-flagellation. However, a learned alternative is to extend self-compassion, which is less about judging yourself positively - when undeserving and more about relating to yourself kindly. On this episode, one the world’s leading experts on self-compassion, author, and Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Kristin Neff,  discusses what self-compassion is, the wide-ranging benefits of engaging in self-compassion, and how self-compassion motivates individuals to improve personal weaknesses while diminishing our tendency to engage in social comparisons. Executive Function skills, when mastered, help create a playbook for personal success and that playbook is incomplete without the teachings from the science of being nice to one's self. About Kristin Neff, PhDKristin Neff is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion nearly twenty years ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of teachers worldwide. They co-authored the Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals. Her newest work focuses on how to balance self-acceptance with the courage to make needed change. In June 2021, she will publish Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive.For more information on self-compassion, including a self-compassion test, research articles, and practices, go to www.self-compassion.org.Books:Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to YourselfMindful Self-Compassion WorkbookTeaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for ProfessionalsFierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power and ThriveAbout 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 textKofi Annan once said, "Education is a human right with an immense power to transform. On its foundation rests the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development." The question is, how do we help developing minds gain the knowledge of the self-evident or the invisible structural oppression that creates and sustains inequity so that their learning experiences foster a sense of agency over one’s own condition to ultimately commit to taking action against oppressive forces? On this episode, author, developmental psychologist, and  associate professor of education at Simmons University, Dr. Daren Graves, talks about the concept of critical consciousness first conceived by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire that acknowledges that inequality is sustained when the people most affected by it are unable to decode their social conditions that help sustain it. Dr. Graves explores the question of what role teachers and educators play in cultivating critical consciousness in students so that they undergo a metamorphosis to become highly-engaged citizens whose work elevates the human condition. The key implication is that raised critical consciousness is a mark of strong Executive Function skills in those who understand and have natured their own individual capacities by transforming their thoughts, emotions, and beliefs to take actions that makes them the  conduits for social change.About Dr. Daren GravesDr. Daren Graves is an Associate Professor of Education and Social Work at Simmons University and Adjunct Lecturer of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research lies at the intersection of critical race theory, racial identity development, and teacher education. Dr. Graves has reported on his work in a variety of publications including Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Latinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice (Harvard Education Press, 2020). He also co-teaches Critical Race Theory in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Graves serves as co-Chair of the AERA Hip Hop Theories, Praxis & Pedagogies Special Interest Group.Website: https://www.darengraves.com/Books:- Schooling for Critical Consciousness- Pedagogy of the Oppressed  by Paolo Freire- Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad - Below The Surface by Rivas-Drake and Umana-TaylorAbout 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 is common between a middle school teacher during the pandemic, a three-generation family living together with a terminally-ill child, and an employee who just lost their job? They all are stretched to the max and stressed to the limit. These individuals and the rest of America is stressed! Studies shows that when asked, close to 80% of doctor visits for health problems are associated with stress; however, as little as 3% of doctors actually talk to patients about methods and approaches to reducing stress.Research in neuroscience is showing that by learning and practicing eastern mindfulness practices not only can change emotional experiences around stress, but also casts measurable changes in the neurochemistry and structures in the brain.On this episode, Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Sara Lazar, Ph.D., discusses the impact of skillfully developed non-reactivity states on the brain. Exploration such as “If I’m not my mind, then who am I?” is at the heart of contemplative sciences and investing in training the mind to stay open to present experiences and enter a non-judging state while caring deeply for one's self and others can have a profound impact on promoting Executive Function.About Sara W. Lazar, PhD Sara W. Lazar, PhD is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department atMassachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at HarvardMedical School. The focus of her research is to elucidate the neural mechanismsunderlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and inhealthy individuals. She has been practicing yoga and mindfulness meditation since1994. Her research has been covered by numerous news outlets including The NewYork Times, USA Today, CNN, and WebMD.More information can be found at https://scholar.harvard.edu/sara_lazarAbout 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