Reading in the brain

"In Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention, French neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene points out that humans did not have time to evolve reading-specific brain circuitry; instead, our brain “recycles” existing networks for the task. "  


This concept helps explain why it is that clapping your hands and stomping your feet improves reading scores.

The Brain’s Internal Clock Keeps Time and Shifts Attention

Meck and Benson from Duke University write, "The review of the literature presented here suggests that the frontal cortex and related basal ganglionic areas are involved both in the generation of attentional set shifting and in interval timing behavior."  In  layperson's terms:  Brain regions involved in attention and shifting of focus are the same brain regions activated when one is keeping track of time, such as in IM training. IM improves attention at a foundational level.  Read the whole article here.

IM as a possible diagnostic tool for ADHD?

Another must read post from Dr. McGrew. Some quotes, "This study found that adults with ADHD lose their ability to keep rhythm (maintaining a tapping beat) when the tempo is varied. This pilot study suggests that the "effective span of rhythmic feel" is apparently contracted (narrower) in ADHD adults when compared to normal’s.

Might this not suggest that a sensitive metronome-based measurement technology (e.g., the measurement component of Interactive Metronome - conflict of interest disclosure---I'm on the scientific advisory board for IM), that can carefully calibrate the ability to maintain the "feel" for varying tempo's/rhythms might serve as a diagnostic marker for possible ADHD?"

Automatizing movement makes the brain more efficient

In the book, The Brain Advantage, Dr. Van Hecke describes how automatizing behavior makes the brain more efficient.  In IM, after working a task down to under 20 milliseconds, one seems to 'automatize' the movement, requiring much less mental effort. Sharp Brains authors discuss this book. Here's an excerpt.  "Neurologist Richard Restak summarized a UCLA study that compared individuals with high IQs to those with average IQs. Restak wrote, “The researchers started off with the seemingly reasonable idea that ‘smarter’ brains work harder, generate more energy, and consume more glucose. Like light bulbs, the brains of ‘bright’ people were expected to illuminate more intensely than those of ‘dimwits’ with a reduced wattage.” What they discovered instead was exactly the opposite. Higher IQ people had cooler, more subdued brain scans “while their less intellectually gifted counterparts lit up like miniature Christmas trees.” ….

Why would “smarter” brains work less hard? One strong bet is that when we are inexperienced—when we still have a lot to learn—we have to make a conscious effort to think about what we’re doing. But later, after we’ve become more adept, much of what initially took effort becomes automatic.

The good news is that functioning on autopilot allows us to expend less brain energy on the routine aspects of the work. Our expertise allows us to direct our energy elsewhere."

Dyslexia associated with auditory processing.

"The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University. But for children with developmental dyslexia, the teacher's voice may get lost in the background noise of banging lockers, whispering children, playground screams and scraping chairs, the researchers say." Read more here.  IM helps train the brain to process auditory information more accurately and efficiently.  Group mode IM often exercises the skill used to tune out irrelevant auditory information and focus on the relevant auditory information. You can measurably and visually see the difference as children/adults develop this skill in IM.

Malfuctioning clock gene associated with bipolar disorder !

Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers writing in the open access journalBMC Psychiatry found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder. Click here for entire article. 

IM Presentation from Dr. Kevin McGrew

This 3 year old presentation from Dr. McGrew was presented at an IM conference several years ago. It's Dr. McGrew's attempt to explain what he believes in happening in the brain during IM that results in so many varied gains, including physical, mental, social, emotional, and academic. If you want very in depth information, view this - it will take some time and is not for those who are seeking quick information!

Metronome: Whats happening under the hoodInteractive Metronome: Whats happening under the hood

View more presentations from iapsych.

Research from 1951 suspected children with dyslexia had a poorer sense of rhythm.

Read Dr. McGrew's recent post about reading/dyslexia and it's relationship to timing here.

Part of education must be to give every child a better brain.

In this PBS special, Brain Fitness for Kids, Dr. Michael Merzenich states, "Part of education must be to give every child a better brain, a stronger brain, to actually change their neurology positively so that they can take in more information.

The Science of Education

The Cerebrum magazine has an interesting article about Neuroeducation,. "Research shows that learning changes the brain. The brain is “plastic”—it makes new cellular connections and strengthens existing ones as we gain and integrate information and skills.

IM helps PDD patient focus.

This new case study about a child with PDD is posted on the national IM website.  For complete case study, click here. “Aiden” is an 11 year old boy diagnosed with Pervasive  Developmental Disorder (PDD), high functioning. He is friendly, bright and talkative but has difficulty staying focused and following instructions. While talking he will sometimes insert random comments irrelevant to the topic.

Matching Funds for Learning Quest Savings!

Not an IM post but good information to pass on. The state of Kansas will match dollar for dollar up to $600 of your contributions for your child's educational savings through the Learning Quest program  here - Kansas Investments Developing Scholars (KIDS). You have to be pretty tight on money (Family of 5 needs to make less than $51,000) but it's a great opportunity!

Lemonaid Hand Jive

We need to bring hand jives back alive for our children. These teach rhythm, all kinds of movement patterns, crossing midline, attention, reading others, and are great FUN! Great support for IM.  I particularly like this one I just ran across. 
Links to other versions In Spanish slowed down

Positive Negative IM Gains

On occasion, a student may start 'getting in trouble' at school post IM. Why is this? You would expect just the opposite. This usually has a lot to do with the child feeling more empowered, less willing to accept being bullied, or more confident, all positive mental gains.  But the children do not know how to behave more empowered, deal appropriately with bullies, or be assertive in a positive way. Therefore their behavior may be seen as aggressive, fighting for a new position in the class rank, standing up for themselves, but inappropriately so.  This is the time to re-teach assertiveness skills. These are positive negative responses to IM. 

Free Brain Games

Looking for something other than Suduko and crossword puzzles? Lumosity is a site with some free brain games.  You can sign up to purchase more, but you can also just play a few of the free ones. These are good working memory, visual processing, and decision making games.

Autism Prevalance

Today, one out of every six children born will be diagnosed with a neuro developmental delay (NDD) I believe my son, born in 1985, was one of those early cases.

Re-wiring the Brain - It's possible!

Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist specializing in neuroplasticity discusses the cause and cure for children with language  delays. Most children with learning impairments have a brain that has specialized for "noisy" speech. The brain processes in a defective form because early in life the process was noisy. Causes vary from noisy environments, to ear infections, to a 'noisy' brain. That is, a brain that has different time concepts and different space concepts!

Don't be the child in the classroom left with dial up.

"Very little has been focused on the fact that we could potentially improve the child's ability to learn any content by making a better brain." says Dr. Paula Tallal, "An analogy I use is that, I pay an awful lot more money to have a faster internet connection. You can do a lot more with fast speed cable connections. I don't want to be the child in the classroom left with dial up."

In this town hall meeting at the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center at the University of California educators and scientist collaborate to find the best educational experience for our children.

Dyslexia Link

As many as 15% of our children may have some form of dyslexia. Visit here to view the warning signs and find more information.

Brain Connectivity and Autism

"One of the current hypotheses about the biological basis of autism is that individuals with autism differ in their patterns of brain connectivity.

Sensory Diet Link for Squirrelly Behavior

Can you give me a general idea of “squirrelly” ? Extreme silliness maybe? Emotional?  During IM, a good percentage of students have a day or two of 'squirrelly behavior, some times a week or two, worse case senario, the entire IM training, but this fades in a few weeks after IM is over.

VEN Cells, Insular Cortex, Autism

Not specifically an IM post at this time, but Dr. Craig from the Barrow Neurological Institute researches brain cells and their location in the insular cortex that are believed to impact decision making speed. Interesting autism research.

How IM might impact sleep patterns and night terrors.

Washington University just published some fasinating research discussing how ones 'master clock', a specific region of the brain, helps us keep track of our 24 hour sense of time. This master clock seems to talk with various other 'clocks' with in our body.

My child has above average timing, now what?

Would you recommend IM if my son scored in the above average or superior range on his IM pretest?

Though it is true that the child's general timing is above average it's important to note that IM impacts more than timing. Quality of movement, connectivity in different brain regions, distractibility, and stamina are a few of the other significant factors to consider.

Right or Left

Many students that I see have mixed dominance. They have not established consistent use of either the right or the left side of the body. Here is a good link with relevant vocabulary and activities for you to check out. Mixed handedness connected with social competence here.

ANTs - Automatic Negative Thoughts

During IM training, I use the term ANTs alot. Automatic Negative Thoughts - ANTs. I borrowed the concept from Dr. Daniel Amen's book, Making a Good Brain Great. As many as 75% of the individuals I see, both children and adults, have atleast one day of some ANTs.

Can We Fine Tune Our Brain Clocks?

Dr. McGrew has a particularly infomative post about timing, a good overview of all research he's collected. Check it out. This image of timing in the brain I particularly like too. If you could draw a picture of what I believe IM can do in the brain, that is, line up those hills and valleys in our brains electrical signaing during sensory processing so as to 'calm' the storm or organize the brain, this might be what it looks like. Read his post. Great information.

Digging Deeper - Other programs with scientific backing for neuro plasticity.

I recently had the opportunity to meet a family that visited the Restored Hope Remedial Sevices in the Kansas City area. I was impressed with the number of scientifically based interventions recommended to this family.

A neuro-typical 12 yr old male - what does 'typical' look like?

One of the greatest blessings of my career in IM is the wide variety of individuals that I have an opportunity to see. People do not need to go to the doctor, have a diagnosis, or even struggle to go through IM with me. As a result, I see many neuro-typical (NT) people, both children and adults, and of all ages.

What do I mean by neuro-typical (NT)? I mean average, typical, having no neuro-developmental delays/disorders, no diagnosis ... just solid, healthy, typically functioning people. Most of the NT individuals that I see are family members of a child I saw for developmental delays. NT students move differently than the children with neuro-developmental delays. This video of one NT student I trained shows typical movement patterns.

Impulsiveness as a timing disturbance: neurocognitive abnormalities in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

This paper, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Journal sites impulsiveness as a timing disturbance.

20 Milleseconds - Can your child score this low?

Dan Feldman, from the UC Berkley,  recently discovered that rats brains synchronize for optimal learning at about 20 milliseconds.  Early in my IM career, I discovered that when students work the ms average down to about 20 milliseconds (ms), magic occurs.  Not real magic of course, just mental processing becomes extremely efficient, high quality, in the elite range on the IM charts and most of all, it feels great! People love to get into the teens in IM.

IM Media Coverage

A Neuropsychologist talks about IM for children and adults.

IM at Notre Dame

IM and Stuttering:

IM and Learning Disabilities:

IM and ADHD

A Web MD video link

IM and the younger child - 6 yr old. Also 16 yr old. IM and Motor control.

IM and APD

IM and College Law Student

Neurons that "sing with the choir" help quiet brain noise.

IM seems to be impacting in the brain in a couple of different ways. One is that the neuronal tracts that fire in IM may be increasing in mylination, speeding up the signal. Another way is these tracks may be synchronizing together.   Jernigan from the UC San Diego spoke at the TDLC All Hands meeting this past February (2009) about these two processes.

Parts of the right hemisphere of the brain implicated in Dyslexia

Parts of the right hemisphere of the brains of people with dyslexia have been shown to differ from those of normal readers. Researchers writing in the open access journal note that in all cases, differences could be seen in either the right cerebellar declive or the right lentiform nucleus. Click here for more information.

IM is considered a cerebellar exercise by many professionals. If the right cerebellar declive is exercised during IM, maybe this is a link to the large improvement in reading often seen through IM.

Brad's Early IM Gains

For those who don't know me, I am doing IM because my son, Brad, found so much success with the IM program. Recently I pulled out old notes about my son's IM training in 2002. If you are interested in what I saw back then, here's the document.

Executive Functioning - the skills IM seems to impact greatly.

Here are 3 core executive functioning (EF) skills impacted by IM that Dr. Adele Diamond discusses in her presentation. 

1 Inhibitory control (self control)

2.Working Memory -(attention)

3.Cognitive Flexibility -(awareness of other perspectives, shifting gears)

Adele Diamond, from the University of British Columbia, was UC Davis MIND Institutes most recent lecturer talking about Cognitive Control in the Younger Child. If you are an educator or have preschool children at home the 6 pm lecture is a must see.

What do you do at assessment?

What do you do at the assessment? 

Assessment for the older child is usually done in the group, for the child under 10, individually.

Advanced tasks of IM -what comes after 15 sessions

Lori, Could you give us some examples of how working on these skills will benefit our son.

This is a great question from a mom who's son has completed basic IM training. Many children and even adults go on to do more IM. What does that look like and what do they gain?

Neural Synchrony and Selective Attention

Neurons that fire in synchrony, have a greater impact on neuroplasticity (learning) than those neurons firing alone. This technical lecture about Neural Synchrony and Selective Attention tells us that by aligning the firing of neurons up in time, you get a big bang for your buck in terms of efficient processing in the brain.

Why Time Matters

When you learn new facts, interact with colleagues and teachers, experiment with new gadgets, or engage in countless other learning activities, timing plays a role in the functioning of your neurons, in the communication between and within sensory systems, and in the interactions between different regions of your brain. The success or failure of attempts to communicate using gestures, expressions and verbal language also depend on timing.

In short, timing is critical for learning at every level, from learning the precise temporal patterns of speech sounds, to learning appropriate sequences of movements, to optimal training and instructional schedules for learning, to interpreting the streams of social signals that reinforce learning in the classroom. These are the opening words to the NSF Science of Learning website, Why Time Matters. Check out the whole article here.

Temporal Information processing (timing) is an index of intelligence research

Rammsayer and Brandler publish a more in depth research paper about how timing (temporal processing) is related to intelligence.

Intelligence And Rhythmic Accuracy Go Hand In Hand

"People who score high on intelligence tests are also good at keeping time" This is the opening statement of a recent article in Science Daily.  Read more of this very IM supportive article here.  IM has long been proven to be helpful for neuro-development issues such as ADD and LD. But more and more research is showing that IM is good for the neuro-typical population too. Just like vitamins and exercise, IM helps just about everyone reach their fullest potential! 

How autistic are you?

 Check out your autistic quotient here. Not IM but a good resource.

Rhythmic Activity for Educators

Here's a great little activity for the classroom about metacognition. It uses alot of RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT, a good supportive activity for any classroom.  Be creative, make some more!

UC Davis MIND Institutes Toxicology Conference

This is not an IM post but a potential reason WHY we are needing so much IM. Click here to watch Dr.Stuart Freedenfeld, M   as he speaks in VERY people friendly terms in his presentation, Defending Your Child From a Toxic World. "The brain is particularly sensitive to toxic exposures during development.

IM during the Summer Months

Summer is a great time to complete IM training.  At IM Focused, summer IM training looks like a 'mini IM camp.'  

Brain works best when the rhythm is right.

New Stanford University research suggests that brain cells need to follow specific rhythms for proper brain functioning.  "A unifying theme here is that of brain rhythms," said Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD,  senior author of both papers. Like the cells that keep the beat of the heart, certain brain cells oscillate and guide cells in the brain.

10 yr old girl - One year later.

I saw this little girl last summer as a 9 yr old and recieved this letter from her mom today, the end of her first school year after IM. It was too much to add to my Data Spread Sheets so I just cut and pasted it here.

J--- has had a much better year this year at school.  As far as her gains from IM, these are the things I have noticed:

Lanuage disorders are slowed auditory processing - A Matter of TIME!

Paula Tallal from Rutgers University gives this great presentation on how timing is essential for language processing."Language impaired children have difficulty in both receiving and producing brief, rapidly successive signals, specifically in the tens of millisecond time range."

Body In Space Issues are Related Too

Body in Space Issues May be Related to Conscious and Subconscious processing: You learned your own body in space as a toddler, but you can get a feel for the concept of 'body in space' better if you remember what it felt like when you learned to drive. When you first went behind the wheel, you spent most of your energy just thinking about body in space issues - whether you were in the middle of your lane, where was the gas and the brake, did you have enough room to pass around that parked car, etc. The car became an extension of your body. Simple body in space awareness took your conscious thought.

Looking at Conscious and Sub Conscious Mental Processing

Dr. Catherine Fassbender discusses 3 important regions of the brain that must be connected to attend well. Without good connectivity between various regions of the brain, even simple tasks like driving can become too difficult.  

Working the Subconcious in IM - IM is a cerebellar exercise

What if you relied more heavily on a region of the brain responsible for conscious, effortful movement while typically developing students utilized a region of the brain important for automating motor tasks?   

IM Tasks Variations for Hockey

An IM provider in Australia I believe, works with a professional hockey player. This video is a bit long, but it's interesting. I use some similar variations but relate them to visual processing and faster mental processing for academic reasons.

New Beginning II? In Second Graders Family

Cool Cool Story.... and it so fits with my earlier blog today! Today may be the beginning of a new beginning in this family........ and this girl's only in 2nd grade, not a senior in high school like Brad!

Tonight one of my winter IM little girls stopped by with her mom.  Both this 2nd grader and her big sister had gone through IM at the same time a couple of months ago.

A New Beginning

I was visiting with my 24-year-old son, Brad, today. We were talking about what were our greatest life joys and losses - an engaging and insightful topic. Great discussion for tonight's dinner table....

When asked about his childhood, Brad again disconnected himself from his childhood saying something like, "I don't think of my childhood as me." Plain and simple. That wasn't me. This is about the fourth time I've heard him say with very honest and true feelings that he does not feel connected with his past. Of course we went on to talk about how your past absolutely is a part of you but doesn't have to define who you are now. Given that, he sincerely does feel like he started a new life, a new beginning - 7 years ago now, with his first IM training!

Building a Circuit - Diagram for the Brain

This is a very informative video about brain circuits - what I think is being impacted with IM. Jennifer Raymond from Standford University speaks very clearly and is easy to understand. She focuses specifically on the cerebellum. Some professionals call IM 'cerebellar stimulation' as the cerebellum seems to be very involved in IM tasks.

New Baby? MUST HAVE!

Dr. and Mrs. Philip Teitelbaum have written a book that has is so right on the money.  A few posts back I've mentioned retained infant reflexes and how I believe this is an important piece of the puzzle in helping many of our atypical children with neurodevelopmental issues.

Typical Development In their book, the Teitelbaums lay out exactly what typical neurodevelopment looks like physically in babies. Exactly how do typical children roll over, crawl or walk?

Visual Processing Resource

Dr. Kenneth Lane wrote a wonderful book about visual processing issues and how to address them. You can purchase it at Barnes and Nobles for about $50.

Impulsitivy linked to specific region of the brain

This article  and the orginal research in the Oxford Journal suggests that the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex has less volumn in impulsive boys.  Could it be that we build neuronal pathways, build volumn, in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)  during IM, and could that be the reason why many IM students see gains in impulsivity after IM training? The Anterior Cygulate Cortex (ACC) and the amygdala also seem to be a piece of the puzzle too.  

Do you have any strategies I could use in the classroom that would support IM?

Rhythm and Movement are foundational to mental processing. Research shows that through IM's feedback based intense movement and rhythm activities, children can gain as much as two grade levels in reading! How does this seemingly unrelated timing and movement process impact reading, as well as math, focus, social skills, emotional stability, initiation, every aspect of a the person? The quick answer is: academic pathways are built on motor pathways. A child uses pre-existing motor pathways as reading pathways. You can take a 10 yr old child from the outback of Australia whose ancestors have never even seen a book (proof that there are NO reserved 'brain' pathways for reading) and a few months later this child can read. We are not hard wired to read. We are hard wired to run, climb, twist and move from left to right. Those motor pathways are the pathways we use to read. The better these movement as well as other sensory pathways work together, the better the child can do in academics. Teachers, you already know that at a subconscious level.

Kindergarten Girl Finds Success with IM

As time allows, I've been working on getting some video documentation of what IM does visually. In IM the physical, visual changes are blantantly obvious, but there are just as many emotional, social, attentional and academic changes. These visible changes represent some of the non-visible mental pathway changes that impact the quality of life. Below is a note from this kindergartner's mom when I asked her if I could post this video. Her daughter went through IM about 5 months ago.

"Posting this is fine with me. Thanks for asking. E---- is doing well. She does seem to have matured a LOT this year. It feels like she went from kindergarten to 2nd grade. She’s doing well in school. "

Maturation - that's the single most common statement that I get post IM, they just seem to be maturing, quickly! :)



Note - I'll mostly show the basic IM tasks as those are the tasks everyone is familiar with, a good reference point. Most providers, myself included, use a variety of tasks. My 'Basic' format uses the researched basic IM tasks for the most part. Sync, Core conditioning, Advanced and Visual Modes use other tasks for the most part. I mix and match tasks according to the child's needs.

Processing Speed located throughout the brain

Many individuals gain signifantly in the speed at which they complete tasks after IM training. This  study  may help explain why.

The circadian clocks are the essential time-tracking systems

Quotes from the article, "Circadian rhythms of 24 hours govern fundamental physiological functions in almost all organisms." "The circadian clocks are the essential time-tracking systems."  Read more.  Does IM impact the circadian clock?  My guess is that they may be connected in some way.  Read my Data Speaks (right column towards top) charts to see what parents say about changes in sleep habits. Many of my students that tend to have difficulty falling asleep, or rising the next morning see improvements in this circadian clock type behavior after going through IM. Not all, but more than enough for me to believe there is a connection.

Hyperbaric therapy for autism shows potential

Though this has nothing to do with IM, many people interested in IM are on the autism spectrum. Here's the link 

IM compared to DDR, Rock Band, or just using a metronome

We had DDR (Dance Dance Revolution)  years ago and my son Brad played it quite a lot. Intuitively, I knew this game was good for him. It works neuronetworks, the physical body, rhythm and visual processing (feedback is in visual form). I can't say we saw gains with DDR for Brad, but it was probably helpful.  

IM in the Schools

Here is a link to one school that is using IM for their students.

Brain Regions involved in Timing

This fMRI research paper show what parts of the brain are used in timing.

Abstract. Cognitive time management is an important aspect of human behaviour and cognition that has so far been understudied. Functional imaging studies in recent years have tried to identify the neural correlates of several timing functions, ranging from simple motor tapping to higher cognitive time estimation functions.

Right or Left Brained Test

I ran across this video test measuring which hemisphere of your brain is dominant.  I don't know if this actually measures what it says it does or not but would be interested in seeing it's potential application if it does. I see some students that show definite preferences to one side of the brain. If you watch this video and then do IM with me, let me know which direction the dancer spins Then post IM watch again and let me know if you can get her to spin the other direction.  I can get her to spin both directions, but one way still dominates.  

Peak Sports Performance with IM

IM is growing in Kansas

I just counted, there are 51 IM providers in Kansas now, 23 (nearly half) of which are in TOPEKA! Topeka is leading the way in this state! Yes! Go Topeka!  

A 'noisy' brain linked with attention difficulties.

Dr. John Rubenstein spoke at the University of California's MIND Institute last month discussing signaling and growth patterns in the brain. He spoke of how certain disorders may have to do with excited neurons that are not able to be inhibited by the surrounding inhibitory cells. The neurons are firing 'noise', unnecessary uninhibited extra electrical activity. One of the IM research results presented a few years back spoke about this exact phenomenon in children with attentional challenges. Children with attentional challenges tend to have extra 'noise' in their brains. After IM training this noise became quieter, closer to the typical populations amounts of noise.

Dr. Rubenstein has also identified Fgf's that especially impact the frontal lobes and the cerebellum. Many IM gains seems to be related to gains in frontal lobe and cerebellum functioning. I believe IM helps to reconnect connectivity issues through out the brain, but especially in the frontal lobes (in charge of planning, sequencing, time management, organizing, inhibiting, all called executive functions) and cerebellum (the movement area).

ADHD and Time Perception

This article from the American Psychological Association discusses one way that ADHD seems to be related to timing, and helps explain why IM is so beneficial for individuals with ADHD . A quote, "People with ADHD do in fact have a rhythm cut-off that is faster in tempo than those without ADHD..., essentially recalibrating the clock that sets the time scale for the subjective experience of temporal events." Temporal is the term often used in scientific journals meaning - relating to time.

Memory Formation during Sleep

"By listening in on the chatter between neurons in various parts of the brain, researchers from the California Institute of Technology have taken steps toward fully understanding just how memories are formed, transferred, and ultimately stored in the brain--and how that process varies throughout the various stages of sleep."

To read the full article, click here . Authors not only mention that sleep is important for memory formation, but also the timing relationship in the firing of the neurons during various stages of sleep seems to play a role. I tell my students constantly, go to bed early and eat well!

Anticipation - What's it look like in the brain

Recent fMRI's research shows anticipation, a very complex mental task, activates many parts of the brain that scientists hadn't expected to be activated. Many of these areas also have been shown to fire in IM tasks. Click here for the article.

Think about it, in IM you are anticipating every single hit,  initiating another choice, analyzing the feedback, and planning a response.  All these mental tasks are considered executive functions - higher level thought processes that I often see gains in with IM.  Parents report gains in these more often a few months out of IM  rather than immediately after IM  usually.  Sometimes it takes building the support skills first and then these higher level tasks can come on line a bit later. 

Abnormal Connectivity for Dyslexia

Recently I have read several researchers who are calling autism a connectivity disorder. This NIH reasearch paper, Dec 2008, expresses that Dyslexia is a connectivity disorder as well. 

This study shows that with in a very short time, you can change the functional connectivity of the brain impacting how the brain preforms.  A quote: "fMRI functional connectivity may provide additional information about the temporal coordination of brain regions during specific tasks." Temporal Coordination - I believe this to mean  syncronized timing between brain regions. That's what IM does, synchronizes timing between various regions of the brain.

What Does IM Feel Like?

Many people who watch others do IM think it looks easy. You just clap your hands or stomp your feet to a beat. How hard can that be?! I make IM fun, too, as fun as I possibly can. I need to! Children need to find success with the program to stay engaged. From a distance, it may look like the children just come and "play" all day. But when I hook up onlookers to the machine and let them have a go at it, almost every one is surprised at how much focus, attention, and energy the program takes. Often times they'll say, "Wow, that was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be!" Looks can be deceiving. You need to try it!

Personally, when I went through IM, after every session I felt like I had just finished a day of college finals - you know - your brain feels squishy and spent. Think about the process.

In IM, a person is given a goal: To move to the beat. Upon clapping, they receive feedback as to how close they were to the beat and what correction they need to do to be more successful. They then have to process that information very quickly, adjust accordingly, and attempt to reach the next goal more accurately, all with in one second.

Now add the emotional piece. If your choice proved to be erroneous (you hit farther off the beat than you expected to) then you will have an immediate emotional response to that error. Some children have quick impulse to give up. They only want to do something if they can do it well the first time. For these students I have to catch and praise them very early to keep them engaged. On the other end of the spectrum, if you hit exactly on for a bit, often you have an emotional reaction of excitement that can cause you to lose focus too. All emotions need to be checked and controlled - not easy for some people. When individuals reach "mastery" level on a task - about 18 ms or lower, they enter a very unique and positive mental state of calm intense focus with exceptional control of any emotions. At this point you enter an almost meditative state.

Back to the challenge of IM tasks, now we add distractions. I may be talking, someone else is clapping slightly different than you, there's visual movement outside the window. Distractions can be added to load the tasks as children become more proficient. One IM provider said she doesn't graduate her students until the siblings can come in and play beside the child while the child maintains their best performance. This will help children stay focused in the classroom when their neighbor gets up to sharpen a pencil or the computer is on across the room.

We're not done yet, add physical fatigue. At first you are only stringing together about 100 to 300 decisions/hits, but I am always working towards longer and longer tasks. This lengthens your focus time. Functionally I want a kindergartner to be able to sit and do about 10 minutes of work before their brain needs a break, by 4th grade this is maybe closer to 25 or 30 minutes, in high school 45 minutes or so. This length of focus time requires one to two thousand hits/decisions strung together. Please don't share these numbers with your child. Even the thought of a 1000 rep task overwhelms many children early on. I get them up there, but let me do it. :). I offer bigger prizes and tell them how awesome they are so most children will push themselves physically. Every child is different and I adjust accordingly. In the end most children make it up to the focus length that I believe is appropriate for their age.

The whole IM picture put together: You make a decision, move accordingly, receive the feedback, deal with the emotional response and the distractions, every second, all while analyzing the feedback, adjusting your next hit accordingly, for increasing lengths of time all while your muscles are aching. The amazing part is, with a few prizes and a quick smile, they love it - usually.

I often ask the children at the end of the day if their brain feels squishy. If the child says yes, I give them an excited high five and say, 'Good for you! Awesome! Great Job!' I know they worked VERY hard that day! IM is harder than it looks! Sometimes children are having so much fun, they don't realize how hard it is! Shhh, let's keep this part of IM our little adult secret! But if your child mentions it's hard, acknowledge that she/he is telling you the truth, but then quickly shift the focus on to the fun breaks and great prizes!

Data Speaks - A nice letter

Every now and then, I just want to share some parent feedback. This is an email I received from a parent who's child went through IM last spring, 10 months ago. Her older grade school age boy started IM through another provider and covered by insurance over a year ago, and then moved on to me a few months later. If your child can get coverage by Kansas Rehab, or Capper's (both under the insurance umbrella), I recommend that you do IM there first to help cut the costs, then come to me (an educator and not under the insurance umbrella -though some flex spending accounts are now covering IM with me.) You might as well get what you can for free. I think most children will need more IM after the amount insurance will cover.

Back to the story, the mom had seen some very nice gains from IM through the other provider, more focus, etc. and upon beginning IM with me, her son seemed to 'loose' some of those gains. He still had some significant sensory issues and the intense IM (He trained 5 days a week for 3 weeks in a school setting) caused his system to become unsettled for a while. (Actually a good sign that things are changing.) This was what I call the squirrellies. The mom was concerned, but reassured her that this unsettled phase would be short lived. I have watched enough children get out of sorts while going through IM, only to hear very positive feedback a few months later. I always value hearing the positive feedback though. Here is this families feedback 9 months post IM. Read her note.


"Lori- I feel IM has SIGNIFICANTLY changed J-----! This year he is able to do homework independently and is getting A,B and C's without any help from me. Last year I thought I was losing him. We decided this year he was going to have to do it on his own or we would repeat 7th grade again next year. J-----has not only been able to keep his grades up but has managed to move classrooms like 7th graders do. I won't say he hasn't had any missing work or bad grades but overall HUGE improvement.

I am telling everyone I know about you and giving your email out still. People seem very interested but then since they haven't heard about it kind of back off unless they have a kid that has very high needs and they are at their end. Keep me posted on what you are doing, it is exciting! Hope things are going good for you! "

Thanks for the feedback mom! I think it's worth noting that between insurance and my IM, this boy received more than just 15 sessions with in one year's time. He was at an age that if things did not change soon, some very negative events could have taken place in his life, assaulting his young self esteem. If the child is only 6 yrs old, I often recommend spreading the sessions out over a couple of years, rather than all in one year, though by 6th grade, you may need to act more swiftly as this family did.

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How soon should I expect to see gains with IM training?

IM is an extremely fast program. If a child trains 3 to 5 times a week, they can complete 15 sessions in about a month or so. In just that short amount of time, when pre and post tested on nationally standardized tests, the students often have gained over one grade level in reading and math, sometimes as much as two grade levels.

Timing Research

Dr. McGrew has just posted a review of all the areas of the brain presently known to be involved in mental time keeping. This is a good technical overview of the mental processes involved in timing.

IM is like 'brain' exercise - it's good for everyone

This media clip shows the wide range of individuals that benefit from IM training. IM impacts the brain at a foundational level, the processing of time and space. This is the reason IM is helpful for so many different populations and in so many different ways. It's like building a house on solid ground, if the foundation is shaky, you'll see the cracks in the house somewhere, but the location may vary. If you solidify the foundation, you can not only then repair the cracks but prevent others from forming.

Emma's Story - IM and the Very Young Child

Last year at our IM conference we were able to watch some video of an AMAZING story of a little 18 month old girl who was the first infant documented to receive IM training. Her gains were absolutely phenomenal. I was recently visiting with a mom about the gains I've seen with preschoolers - wonderful gains - and Emma's story came up. I thought I would link to it. Even if you don't have an infant needing IM, it's a great story of success. A baby, never thought to be able to even sit up by herself or functionally talk, now is in preschool walking with a walker and working on gaining language skills every day.

Occasionally I have parents that note changes immediately - after just one IM session. It seems so bizarre, but I hear comments enough that I know they are happening. Emma laughed for the first time after her first IM session. When listening to this mom speak, it seemed as if almost every session brought on a new behavior.

A word of caution: When I share such things, parents sometimes get the idea they will see gains in one day. That's the exception, not the rule, but when it happens, it's so exciting!

To read Emma's story , click the blue link, then on the Most Recent Posts link, then the search button. On the 10th question down on this page you can read the story (You'll see "18 month old" at then end of the title). I expect it won't be located there long as it's a 'recent post'. I was hoping I could link right to the story but no such luck.