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.