Learning Difficulties May Be Related To Emotional Problems Volume 4 - Issue 4

Branco Luciana Maria Depieri*

Departamento of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto SP, Brazil

Received: June 19, 2023   Published:June 23, 2023

*Corresponding author: Branco Luciana Maria Depieri, Departamento of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto SP, Brazil

DOI: 10.32474/OAJCAM.2023.04.000195

Abstract PDF

This article seeks to address the importance of emotions in the teaching-learning process. Nowadays, children present more and more learning difficulties in several aspects. Diagnoses are often make early in their varied disorders results, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD (Attention Deficit ), among others, where in the vast majority of times it is neurological immaturity , insecurity and fear. Children often feel insecure, withdrawn, with low self-esteem, starting to close themselves in their world. At that moment, she is no longer able to pay attention in class or dedicate herself to her studies as before, significantly reflecting on her school performance. When we go through moments of anxiety and stress, for example, our capacity for attention and concentration is deficient, with difficulties in absorbing new content and information, which ends up producing a weaker school performance. Students exposed to stress have the release by the brain in their body called cortisol and adrenaline, which aims to prepare them to deal with danger and alert actions more effectively, thus inhibiting the process of retaining and understanding new information. This is because the amygdala, part of the brain responsible for processing emotions, also acts actively in the areas of cognition, memory, attention and thinking. It is as if the brain was “locked” to the teaching/learning process due to the moment of stress and anxiety.

We must be attentive to the reactions and behavior of the students, observing a drop in performance, increased aggressiveness, lack of interest in classes, increased impatience, irritability, following other changes that indicate that something is wrong with that student. Many times, a change in a student´s behavior, or a change in their school performance, is associated with emotional problems (Figure 1). It is common, initially, to attribute the problem to the difficulty in a content or to the inability of the teacher. Of course, these are factors that may be present, but they are not the only ones. The fact is that a student’s low school performance signals that something is not going well, and the problem is not always related to learning disorders, specific difficulties, such as language, hearing, vision problems or some disease that causes brain dysfunction (Figure 2).

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Learning difficulties are always a manifestation of balance linked to emotional issues and can originate from a family problem, the teacher-student relationship, the lack of awareness on the part of parents and educators about the child’s real needs, the excessive number of students per room , in the parents’ expectations regarding their children’s learning, among others. These are factors that must be observed before labeling the problem as being disinterested or lazy.

Learning difficulties can arise from several factors:

a. Environment in which the child and/or adult lives

b. Real possibilities that the environment offers in terms of quantity, quality and frequency of stimuli;

A. The primary cause of a “deficit” or “difficulty” is not always in the child; the stimulating family environment, social expectations, the teacher’s motivation to teach and the school’s teaching methodology may represent important points for the origin of the problem.

B. Students with intellectual and/or cognitive disabilities in stimulating, innovative activities and educator dedication.

C. Anxious, low self-esteem, insecure and fear students Learning is a cognitive function that always involves cellular, electrical and chemical neurological modifications. Synapses are related to the ability to learn by interacting with the environment. Thus, the structures of the nervous system process new information by creating, strengthening and weakening synapses. Improving a skill with training and memorization, learning to read and write, for example, implies strengthening synapses and increasing processing and execution speed. The radial areas responsible for reading and writing skills will be cognitively myelinated (mature) by age 6 or 7. Before this age, the brain is not mature for the literacy process. Some children can learn to read and write before this age if they are encouraged to do so. It is necessary to follow the characteristics of each phase and stimulate according to what is foreseen. However, if this is not done and important stages of the child’s development are “skipped” or “accelerated”, they may be compensated by neuroplasticity, the possibility of making new connections and promoting the birth of new neurons (neurogenesis).

However, we know that many times some children are not yet “mature” neurologically and have greater difficulty in learning. From that moment on, they begin to observe and feel different from the other children in the room, as it generates a feeling of impotence, negativity, making the child feel inferior, unmotivated, generating a “nervous block”, it is as if If there were a “lockup” in the synapses and disorders in the production of air motors, it is as if the brain were in a “freezing state” for learning and even if the teacher and parents try to teach them in a calmer way, the child does not will be able to absorb the learning. This whole process causes the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, preparing our body to defend itself, generating intense moments of anxiety and stress (Figure 3).

Figure 3:

3. Multimedia Rehabilitation –Gymnastics for the Brain a way to improve the brain and achieve permanent results

It is necessary to strengthen the child’s neurological system, working their emotions from the inside out, that is, through intense neurological stimulation, there is an increase in synaptic connections, the birth of new neurons (neurogenesis) and regulation of the hormones oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, thus strengthening security, self- esteem, independence, happiness, pleasure, making the child gain an emotional structure to “unblock the brain” so that he/she receives learning in a concrete and effective way. Neuroplasticity exists as we move towards change, that is, when we allow ourselves to learn new things. The intensity of the stimuli and the reframing of something end up making different connections and promoting the development of different areas. The vast majority of patients who attend Gymnastics for the Brain sessions have different diagnoses, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, among others. Children vary between the ages of 6 and 10, where they exhibit excessive anxiety, stress, fear and insecurity. They are unable to pay attention in class or store the information explained by the teacher during class, generating low self-esteem and comparison with other colleagues, making the process of stress even greater.

When we started the intervention through the Multimedia Rehabilitation –Gymnastics for the Brain sessions where we participated, we stimulated all areas of the brain simultaneously, instantly lowering the levels of cortisol and adrenaline and increasing the levels of serotonin, dopamine, endorphin and oxytocin, promoting in an integral way and harmonious regulation of hormones, moreover, in each Gymnastics for the Brain session, new neurons are born and synaptic connections increase, bringing relevant, intense and significant results right in the first sessions. Patients show improvement in several aspects, all patients participating in the consultations show in the first two weeks greater concentration, joy, focus, improvement in thinking, memory, increased self-esteem, security, creativity, motor coordination, discovery of new skills and talents , as well as an increase in general neurological maturity. Starting to feel more secure, independent and autonomous in carrying out school and day-to-day school activities.

We all have a giant power within us to be developed and discovered. Our brain needs to be stimulated at all times seeking to discover new skills and potential. Multimedia Rehabilitation – Gymnastics for the Brain is an intense and active stimulation technique that promotes this cardiac maturation with fast and accurate results. Taking care of the Mind is Taking Good Care of Life! (Figure 4)

Figure 4: