Understanding the Brain

Objective: Learn how your brain works and grows.

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Brain Architecture

Your brain is like a city, with different areas handling emotions, movement, memory, and more — all working together to keep you functioning.

3D Brain

Author: Wellcome Trust

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Motion by Evolving Play. Explore how movement and balance are linked to brain regions that control coordination.

In Real Life:

Draw a “brain map” showing areas like memory, movement, and emotion. Use colours or symbols to show how they connect. 

Early Neural Development

The brain and spinal cord begin forming early in pregnancy, laying the foundation for all future learning and development.

Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Celestial or Inspire — these games promote sensory awareness and rhythm, helping you build foundational regulation skills that reflect early neural development processes.

In Real Life:

Create a timeline from conception to birth. Mark key brain milestones like the formation of the neural tube and early brain regions. 

Neurons

Neurons are brain cells that send messages using electrical and chemical signals — they’re the building blocks of thought and action.
Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground

Try Lo-Fi Room — this game mirrors how neurons fire in sequence by encouraging rhythm and timing, reinforcing the concept of signal transmission.

In Real Life:

Sketch a neuron and trace how a signal travels from dendrites to axon terminals. 

Neural Communication

Neurons connect through synapses, forming circuits that allow us to think, feel, and learn.
  • Video 1 Title: Synapses
  • Author: Marc Dingman
  • Video 2 Title: What is a Brain Circuit?
  • Author: BrainFacts.org

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Blob Beats — Google Arts & Culture — coordinating beats and timing reflects how neurons must fire in sync to communicate.

In Real Life:

Play a rhythm-copying game with a friend. Take turns clapping patterns and repeating them — just like neurons passing signals. 

Action Potential

Action potentials are tiny electrical impulses that travel along neurons, allowing them to send messages quickly and accurately. 

Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Tripwire — this game’s fast-paced timing and precision reflect how neurons must fire at just the right moment to transmit signals.

In Real Life:

Draw a neuron and trace the path of an action potential. Use arrows to show how the signal moves and where it jumps across synapses. 

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to change and adapt through experience. It’s how we learn new things, form habits, and recover from challenges.

Author: Sentis

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Inspire by Lio Lim — this game uses breath control and sensory focus to help you build new skills over time, just like how neuroplasticity strengthens brain pathways.

In Real Life:

Choose a new skill (like juggling, sketching, or a dance move) and practice it daily for a week. Track how your ability improves — that’s your brain rewiring itself. 

The Nervous System

The nervous system is your body’s communication network. It sends signals between your brain and body to control movement, sense the world, and respond to danger.
Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Celestial — this game enhances sensory focus, helping users tune into the nervous system’s role in processing external stimuli.

In Real Life:

Close your eyes and have someone place different objects in your hands. Try to identify them using only touch. This helps you notice how your sensory nerves send information to your brain. 

Amygdala

The amygdala helps detect threats and triggers emotional responses like fear. It also plays a role in memory and decision-making, especially in emotionally charged situations.  

Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Thoughtful Snow — this game encourages emotional reflection and release, helping users observe and regulate emotional responses linked to the amygdala.

In Real Life:

Reflect on a recent emotional reaction. What triggered it? How did your body respond? This helps you recognize your amygdala in action. 

Basal Ganglia

The basal ganglia help control movement and coordination. They’re also involved in habits and motor learning. 

Author: Marc Dingman

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Rhythm Cafe — coordinating tasks to music reflects how the basal ganglia support rhythm, movement, and habit formation.

In Real Life:

Practice a repetitive movement like bouncing a ball or tapping a rhythm. Notice how it becomes smoother with repetition — that’s motor learning in action. 

 

Brainstem

The brainstem controls basic life functions like breathing, heart rate, and sleep. It keeps your body running automatically.  

Author: Dingman M

Activity

In the Playground:

Try In Rhythm with Nature — syncing your breath with natural rhythms helps you tune into the automatic processes your brainstem manages.  

In Real Life:

Sit quietly and focus on your breathing. Try slowing it down and notice how your body responds — your brainstem is adjusting your heart rate and breath in real time. 

Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex helps with planning, decision-making, and self-control. It’s key for setting goals and thinking ahead.  

Author: Dingman M

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Good Morning! by cnnmon — planning your morning routine builds executive function and strengthens goal-directed thinking.  

In Real Life:

Plan your next morning the night before. Write down 3 things you want to do and check them off as you go. 

The Brain’s Reward System

The brain’s reward system uses dopamine to reinforce behaviours that feel good or help us learn. It’s key for motivation and habit formation.  

Author: Dingman M

Activity

In the Playground: Try Motion by Evolving Play

Try Get Help by Will, NiCl2 — helping others and seeing their progress activates empathy and reward circuits. 

In Real Life:

Do something kind for someone else — then reflect on how it made you feel. That warm feeling? That’s your reward system at work. 

Sympathetic Nervous System

This system prepares your body for action — it’s responsible for the “fight or flight” response when you’re stressed or in danger.

Author: Dingman M

Activity

In the Playground:

Try Cafe Calm by tomputergames — use breath control to calm your body in a busy environment, just like regulating your stress response.

In Real Life:

When you feel stressed, try box breathing: inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. This helps calm your nervous system.
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