Radio Talk Show Host "Loves the idea of brain plasticity"

Radio talk show host "loves the idea of brain plasticity"

Greetings!

Chief Brand Provocateur Mary van de Wiel ("Van") of Zing Your Brand hosts a weekly radio show (NY Brand Lab Radio) on Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m. where she interviews guests, plays with new ideas, and dissects actual brands.

Last week I was her radio show guest and we had a fabulous time discussing brain engineering, entrepreneurs, what it means in business to have a strong visual or verbal brain, and how to use the brain's inherent plasticity to re-engineer the under-used brain for more effective brain functioning.

You can listen to the whole radio show by clicking here. And also be sure to read below about the importance of creating a "Maverick Support Network."

Van loves the idea of "brain plasticity"
"Thanks to Dr. Florance, you can find out how you can generate, launch and execute your next big idea," Van wrote on her blog, adding: "Clue: Issues that once bogged you down will disappear, and creativity and productivity will flourish. Our brains, after all, affect how we communicate, learn, perform in school and at work."

Van especially liked the idea of "brain plasticity" -- a relatively new finding in brain science. As we discussed on her radio show, though it is true that neglected, unused portions of the brain will atrophy over time ( in scientific terms, "brain pruning") it is also true that the underused portions of the brain can be re-engineered, so that our brains can bounce back.

The great news, Van writes on her web site, is now that we understand brain plasticity, we can use our own brain print to decide how we want to change and enhance our brain. "Our brains, after all, affect how we communicate, learn, perform in school and at work. They also determine how we approach our relationships and life's challenges."

Visual or Verbal Brain? Opti-Coder or Lexi-Coder?
Another topic we explored on Van's radio show was the importance of identifying whether you are an Opti-Coder (strong visual brain) or a Lexi-Coder (strong verbal brain).

Van, as an entrepreneur and international branding expert is clearly a visual thinker. I had to admit that I am a visual brain "wannabe." My academic success came early and naturally for me. When I dream at night I don't see a picture -- it's more like a radio. When I read, there are no pictures in my mind. So to offset that, as I told Van, I take dance and art classes and play tennis. In my dance class, there's no talk. The teacher demonstrates and we imitate -- we use our mirror neurons.

I posed the question to Van: Are you an Opti-Coder? Can you imagine a stick figure? Now, can you imagine it standing, sitting, turning around, eating an apple? In a meeting, do you wish people would get to the point? Do you feel you already know how the meeting is going to end? The Opti-Coder brain works so much faster than the Lexi-Coder brain because it is thinking in pictures and is not slowed down by the need to translate these pictures to words.

As an Opti-Coder, you may get impatient in business meetings like this. But the Lexi-Coders need to go through that process of talking things through because they're thinking while they're talking. They're thinking in words, not pictures.

How You Can Use This News

As Van put it: "For entrepreneurs, it's a matter of figuring out how to fall in love with our brain. As business people, it's a matter of becoming aware of our brains and giving them more respect."

There is no "right" or "wrong" brain, just an innate preference for how we make our thoughts, visually or verbally. The important point is that we understand if we are over-using our visual or verbal memory and then work on it. It takes an awareness of how we are undercapitalizing on our visual or verbal part of the brain. And once we have that awareness, we can learn how to re-direct the way we think and process ideas and communication.

When we do that, as Van wrote, "With strengthened attention and memory, and a well-functioning brain 'central executive,' issues that bogged you down in the past will disappear, and creativity and productivity will flourish."

You can listen to the whole show here.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Dr. Cheri L. Florance
Brain Engineering Labs
www.cheriflorance.com

Free Screening

The purpose of the screening is to do an initial assessment to determine if you or your child would be a good candidate for Brain Engineering programs.

The screening is done by telephone and takes about 30 minutes.

To schedule a free screening, call or email:

Tia Zorne, Dr. Florance's assistant

1-866-865-9820 ext. 2 ~ tiazorne@cheriflorance.com

OR schedule the appointment yourself:

Click on the button below, select a day and time that's convenient, and Tia will call you then.

Create a Maverick Support Network
One of the most important goals of brain engineering is to create a learning environment in which the child feels safe to explore their newfound abilities and encouraged to take the next steps. It is so important for the child's immediate and extended family to be involved and supportive in this process:

"The bonding has been incredible and it has changed our complete family dynamic from one based more on reaction, anger, and frustration to one based on mutual understanding, empathy, and respect. Like all families, we aren't perfect, but any setbacks we do have are fewer and far between and can be quickly resolved. We couldn't ask for more."

"I have truly enjoyed the classes, the sharing of info, the encouragement, the fascinating lessons of why some (my own family!) learn differently than others. I have shared this info 'around town' and know it has helped bring understanding to other folks/kids too - thanks!"

It is also important for Maverick children and their families to reach out to other Mavericks and their families, to share their experiences and successes and create a Maverick support network:

"My daughter finally got a chance to talk to [another Maverick child] about how fun the Maverick program is because the other child was expressing a lot of anxiety about what would happen. It was a thrill to see my daughter talking so confidently to her about how her anxiety went away and how she feels so much better now. She was very confident, proud, and happy to encourage her on ... I thought this showed a lot of maturity."

"I used something called Survey Master on Facebook. We received three responses --- one is from a young lady who I met from a Facebook synesthesia group. She has a lot of anxiety and has been writing a lot on Facebook about her problems in life. I asked her to take the survey and as I suspected, she seems to be very Maverick. Her Mom is looking into it. I felt so great that I could help her try to turn around her outlook from negative to positive. In just a short conversation, I could see her looking at her synesthesia more as a gift than a negative ... That is such a huge lesson that you have taught me and I thank you."

"I'm so grateful for meeting other kids and parents who are going through this. People who are as determined as we are to break through the negativity and paradigms that were suppressing the incredible talents and contributions these kids have to offer. It is incredibly empowering for all of us. "

It is also highly important to involve those who are responsible for your child's schooling to know and understand what it is to be a Maverick. In fact, a large part of our program involves teaching parents how to be their child's best advocate, and becoming educated about the science behind brain engineering.

Many times, I have asked that the child's teacher join in a session, or allow the child to come to the classroom and help set up the room before the semester begins - something that I did with my own Maverick child, Whitney. It is just as important to educate those who make up a child's support group, as it is to educate the individual child: