Before I get started with Cognitive Skills as they are related to primitive reflexes, I wanted to tell you how excited I am about the new updated Maintaining Brains Everyday DVD! I have added an introduction, which talks a little about primitive reflexes and the importance of integrating them. There is an instruction segment in which I mention a few details to be aware of for each exercise. There is now a beginner level and an advanced level, that I know many of you will appreciate! And finally, it's on sale for the month of April! Get you updated version now, and tell your friends, as well. 

I also have to tell you about some of the results we have been seeing: we are letting people integrate all of the exercises as the same time, instead of developmentally one at a time. I did not think this would work, as I was taught not to. However, the people who have done this have had GREAT success! For one thing, it means that they are done after only 30 days as opposed to 6 months. Phew! And, similar to the effect of using several different therapies at the same time, this also is having the effect of deep results. FOR ALL AGES!! Not just those over 40.

Also, you can get it as a DVD or download. Just go to http://www.pyramidofpotential.com/maintaining-brains. The download option is at the bottom of the page.

Cognitive Skills and the Primitive Reflexes: Memory, Attention and Processing Speed

Beecause I am on the road, I won't make this article very long. However, I wanted to make a couple of points about cognitive skills and the reflexes.

First of all, in order to be successful in school, a student must be able to learn in order to learn, the student must be able to remember the material, be able to pay attention while learning the material, and be able to process fast enough to be able to keep up with the teacher and the rest of the class. without these skills, the student will simply be sitting in the class, learning nothing.

So, these skills are necessary.

Second, remember that the brain is plastic; it can change. It can be trained. 

But, most students who fail in school did not suddenly have the inability to remember or pay attention. Usually, they have always been like this. It simply was never developed. the connections were never made in brain development - during the first year - because of not fully integrating the primitive reflexes.

Memory is initially developed during the Spinal Galant integration. One mom, after her son had finished his program, noted that he still had issues of not being able to remember a word he had just sounded out, and had to sound it out again on each page. I had them revisit Spinal Galant, and after just 2 more weeks, the light bulb went off and he could now remember a newly decoded word as if it were never a problem.

One reason for slow processing is when the corpus callosum is not fully developed. This part of the brain is the linking area between the hemispheres, so if it is not fully functioning and mature, could cause slow processing between hemispheres. we need a well developed functioning brain running on all cylinders to process quickly. Integrating the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex works on developing this part of the brain.

Finally, several different reflexes help with attention. A retained Moro Reflex can contribute to hypersensitive hearing, causing the student to pay attention to all the sounds around him. The student with a retained Spinal Galant may have the type of ADD that is characterized by racing thoughts, while a retained Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex may cause a student's mind to wander.

One last note: the primitive reflexes are not the silver bullet. While a lot of progress can be made by doing the exercises found on the  Maintaining Brains Everyday program, the students I have worked with still need brain training - directed daily work to improve these cognitive skills. And by starting with the reflexes, the cognitive work is more effective and takes less time.