The brain plays a vital role in controlling and coordinating the body to perform various functions. It also helps direct a person to learn certain skills or adopt a specific behavior. One needs to understand the brain's structure and functions before getting a clear picture of different cognitive and learning processes. The brain constitutes a soft structure with numerous supportive nerves and tissues that join the spinal cord, forming the central nervous system. Those sensory nerves coordinate primary body functions after joining this spinal cord, for instance, personality, walking, and breathing rate. Other nerves link to major sensory organs, for instance, the ears, eyes, and the skin. Each brain structure has a specific role in enabling a person to acquire, synthesize, and translate certain information for appropriate action.
Learning to Skate
Cerebrum
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain, accounting for many functions that the body performs. One of the major activities of this section is learning and cognition. The two main parts of the cerebrum responsible for learning how to skate are the right and left hemispheres. This process begins with an individual deciding in the left hemisphere. The next stage will involve learning how to handle the object while alternating different brain parts for the movement. The person who engages in this exercise believes that this activity will produce the desired outcome, like reducing the time he/she uses to cover a certain distance or making the body fit. The cerebrum is also responsible for developing thought through the right and left hemispheres. The former is responsible for controlling the right part of the body while the latter coordinates its functions. Learning to ride a skateboard involves learning to hold both sides of the object. Therefore, the right hemisphere will cater to the right handle's control while the left side directs the left-hand function (Phillips, 2017) . The two parts are also responsible for varying functions that aid a person in learning how to skate. The right hemisphere helps recognize independent vision objects, enabling one to know the parts to hold when riding. On the other hand, a person will use the left hemisphere to process language and logical reasoning. This process becomes especially necessary when a trainee relies on a trainer who may give verbal instructions.
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Figure 1: Structure of the left and right hemisphere. Courtesy of https://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/chapter/3-2-our-brains-control-our-thoughts-feelings-and-behavior/
Cortex
The primary functions of the cortex involve sensation, memory, thoughts, and voluntary physical actions. When an individual starts learning how to skate, various cognitive actions occur to make the exercise succeed. First, a person decides whether to undertake this exercise by developing a thought (Perri et al., 2017) . The cortex then transfers this thought to other parts of the body, for instance, hands and legs, thus stimulating a physical action. Secondly, the cortex aids a person in storing certain information about a particular activity. Learning how to skate may involve memorizing specific information, which will be useful in future related activities. This process helps a person develop a skill that will make him/her become a better skater. The cortex also processes information and determines whether it will be useful in the coming activity. If this scenario will be the case, the information stays in the brain for later use, thus becoming a memory. It helps in memorization, thus aiding the person to succeed in the learning process. The third function of the cortex that is useful in learning how to ride a bicycle involves voluntary physical actions. This brain part directs one to undertake particular activities which he/she has control over. When learning how to skate, the cortex stimulates voluntary physical activities, making a person know how to operate different parts like the steering handle and the board.
Figure 2. Cerebral cortex. Courtesy: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-experiential-learning-cycle-and-regions-of-the-cerebral-cortex-Reprinted-with_fig1_241157771
Cerebellum
The cerebellum's primary functions involve receiving signals from the ears, eyes, joints, and muscles, bringing posture and balance, and coordinating muscular parts of the body. Such roles are particularly useful to a person when learning how to skate as the activity involves the coordination of mental and physical activities. The process starts when an individual knows how to hold and see particular objects. To put the skateboard in motion, a person has to hold the steering handle, see the path to follow, and hear particular instructions. He/she will involve the eyes, ears, and muscles, which act as primary receptors of various signals. The information gathered is then relayed to the cerebellum in the form of signals, which then coordinates various body parts. For instance, when the skater sees a porthole, the optical nerves relay this information to the cerebellum. The cerebellum then coordinates the hand muscles to pull the brake to minimize the speed and avoid the danger. Another function of the cerebellum in learning how to skate involves bringing balance and posture. A person can only avoid falling by balancing the bodyweight depending on the movement and the direction he/she has taken. The cerebellum will coordinate various body parts to ensure that they evenly distribute weight and avoid falling.
Figure 3: Cerebellum control system. Courtesy: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-cerebellum-operating-in-a-feedforward-control-system-A-The-mossy-fibers-are_fig1_264973013
Limbic System
The limbic system contains various parts that significantly aid the person learn how to skate. First, the basal ganglia are responsible for organizing motor behaviors. This function involves inhibiting particular movements until the person approves the appropriate circumstances to move. In learning how to skate, a person has to practice a high level of control to avoid making movements that may be disastrous. The second part of the limbic system that aids in this process is the amygdala, which helps retain memory, among other functions. Therefore, a person learning how to skate remembers certain information and experiences to improve the coming learning activities (Vasile et al., 2017) . The hippocampus is another part of the limbic system that aids in learning and cognition. Its primary function involves forming a new memory from past events. A person learning how to skate will retain particular pieces of information while discarding others. They include pedaling, maintaining balance, and controlling direction of the skateboard.
Figure 4: Limbic system learning process. Courtesy of https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-cerebellum-operating-in-a-feedforward-control-system-A-The-mossy-fibers-are_fig1_264973013
Mastering New Language
Learning a new language has complex procedures that involve exchanging information between different parts of the brain. The process involves learning the sounds of certain words, remembering, and how to write. Various parts of the brain take part in mastering a new language to help a person receive and synthesize certain information for better understanding and translation. A lot of coordination also takes part between those sections, thus boosting the learning process. To understand those functions, one needs to study the structure of each part.
Left and Right Hemisphere
The cerebrum forms the largest part of the human brain located on the upper side. It constitutes the right and left hemisphere, with each responsible for a specific function. One of the critical functions of the cerebrum is language processing and comprehension. According to various scientists, the left hemisphere is the central section that enables a person to recognize various linguistics before interpreting. The left hemisphere has various nerves connected directly to the significant sensory organs like eyes and ears (Vymetalkova, 2017) . The process begins with an individual reading a particular text using the eyes. The optic nerves transport this information to the left hemisphere, where each word's translation occurs to give its meaning. A person can also receive specific language as a voice that travels to the left hemisphere. After processing this information, the person makes logical reasoning on different words, meanings, and uses.
Figure 5: Language learning in the cerebrum. Courtesy of https://pt.slideshare.net/EkaAndriyani/2-the-language-learning-process/10
Temporal Lobe
The temporal lobe has various functions in ensuring mastery of a new language, including retaining short-term and long-term memory. This process is particularly useful in the lexicon or recalling particular words that make a specific language. The temporal lobe will also aid in the processing of auditory information, naming, and language comprehension. A person with strong temporal lobes will understand different languages by listening and synthesizing certain linguistic information. They include words and their pronunciation. To show an understanding of the language, a person may need to repeat how his/her tutor pronounces or spells particular words. This ability depends on one’s level of memory retention and recall processes. The temporal lobe will significantly help a learner develop short-term and long-term memory where he/she can keep the learned words. The person will also remember individual voices and liken them to specific linguistic components.
Figure 6: Temporal lobe learning process. Courtesy of https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Neural-and-functional-organization-of-systems-involved-in-representing-and-learning_fig1_40026504
Cortex
The cortex plays an integral role in learning a new language by helping a person perform all sensory functions like memory, perception, and thought. It is found as a thin grey layer covering the outer part of the cerebrum. The cortex connects to major sensory organs like the eye and the ear, which are the brain's primary information source. When the eye reads a text, it transfers the information to the cortex through the optic nerve. On the other hand, the ear receives a voice and passes it to the brain in an auditory signal (Lotfi et al., 2017) . The cortex synthesizes all this information, determining which is useful and the one not worth keeping. It then memorizes particular words, their sounds, and rhythm for future use. If those words are repeated in written or pronounced form, they relay the cortex's signals, which matches them to a particular meaning and use. Another essential function of the cortex in learning a new language is the development of thought. This part of the brain synthesizes different forms of information and later forming their meaning. In turn, such meanings are vital in making a person think about specific words, their meaning, and their pronunciation.
Figure 7: Role of the cortex in language learning. Courtesy of https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00476/full
Corpus Callosum
The corpus callosum plays a vital role in coordinating the right and left hemispheres' functions, vital in information processing and translation. As earlier seen, the left hemisphere plays a significant role in absorbing particular words related to particular words and forms a comprehension. On the other hand, the right side is responsible for recognizing independent objects like words. It passes this information to the left hemisphere and other parts of the brain, like the cortex for translation and response. However, the right hemisphere can take over the roles of the left one should the need arise. All those processes are possible due to the corpus callosum and a network of highly developed nerves and nodes. Those structures enable faster transfer of information from one side to another, making a person read and understand individual words related to a particular language.
Figure 8: Corpus Callosum structure. Courtesy of https://www.knowyourbody.net/corpus-callosum.html
Various brain parts play vital roles in learning and cognition processes by allowing them to acquire, process, and translate certain information for action. They include the cerebrum, cerebellum, cortex, and different lobes. A person needs to understand their structures and functions to understand how they aid the learning and cognition processes. This knowledge is useful in cognitive psychology as it helps a person understand how perception, attention, creativity, and problem solving occurs. One can also understand the brain aids in learning specific skills like learning how to cook, skate, ride a bicycle, or a new language. It is from this knowledge that cognitive psychologists can develop different treatment methods for people with learning problems. Lastly, psychology finds an excellent application of the brain's cognitive and learning function by developing specific theories concerning each person's behavior and response towards individual signals.
References
Lotfi, E., Khazaei, O., & Khazaei, F. (2017). Competitive Brain Emotional Learning. Neural Processing Letters . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11063-017-9680-9
Perri, R., Berchicci, M., Bianco, V., Spinelli, D., & Di Russo, F. (2017). Brain waves from an “isolated” cortex: Contribution of the anterior insula to cognitive functions. Brain Structure And Function . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-017-1560-6
Phillips, W. (2017). Cognitive functions of intracellular mechanisms for contextual amplification. Brain And Cognition , 112 , 39-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2015.09.005
Vasile, F., Dossi, E., & Rouach, N. (2017). Human astrocytes: structure and functions in the healthy brain. Brain Structure And Function , 222 (5), 2017-2029. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-017-1383-5
Vymetalkova, D. (2017). Blended Learning and MyEnglishLab application as a powerful tool leading towards autonomy in learning English language targeting and activating both brain hemispheres. New Trends and Issues Proceedings On Humanities And Social Sciences , 2 (6), 75-81. https://doi.org/10.18844/gjhss.v2i6.1433
