This post references tools and resources found in The Neurodivergent Toolkit [CLICK HERE TO GET THE TOOLKIT]

Today

One sentence recap: Glutamate helps neurons turn on and strengthen connections (that’s how learning sticks). When neural pathways don’t get reinforced they become “depressed” and that’s how skills/knowledge fade. Stress can push the brain toward weakening instead of strengthening—because the brain is obsessed with being energy efficient.

Last Time We Were Together

If you haven’t read Part 2 yet, start there first:
🧠 Part 2: How the Brain Learns [READ PART 2 HERE]

If you’re new start here:
🧠 Part 1: Mental Health is a Learning Issue [READ PART 1 HERE]

Glutamate: What Turns Neurons On 🥰

Glutamate 🦠 is a neurotransmitter or a signal 🛜 neurons send back and forth that help neural connections 🔗 get stronger and grow neural pathways 👣. 

So—glutamate is kind of like a neural love letter from one neuron to another, turning neurons “on” and helping them connect and talk to each other ❤️.

When you watch learning happen—like when a kid has an “Aha! Moment” or uses a strategy without you prompting—you’re seeing glutamate activate neurons over and over. The “Aha! Moment” is the neuron fully activating and connecting to a neural network.

You can think of a neural network as the brain's ability to create long-term memories— when new neurons connect to old neurons they store new info. The neurons can now send that new info back and forth across the network 📡. The new information goes into long term memory and that is the learning that “STICKS”.

If You’re Using The Toolkit:

In the Behavior Detective Toolkit, pull up the Student Needs Checklist—if you’re seeing “learning isn’t sticking and it’s leading to behavior” you need to identify how the students' struggles are compromising their NEEDS.

Don’t have The Neurodivergent Toolkit? [CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE]

The Brain Is Not a Garbage Disposal for Information

3 things about the brain:

1. The brain can’t remember everything 
2. It’s super “energy hungry“.
3. It’s designed to be energy efficient 🍃and it prioritizes what info will be stored by how important/urgent it “feels”.

So, what the brain “allows” itself to learn- 99% of that info feels ‘’important’’ or at the least “relevant.”

The Brain Strengthens What’s Used and Fades What Doesn’t 

Long-Term Depression (LTD📉) and Long-Term Potentiation (LTP 💪)

LTD📉or long-term depression occurs when neurons are ignored long enough the brain starts to de-prioritize them to save energy. This de-prioritization causes the neural connection 🔗 to “fade”.

 LTP💪 or long-term potentiation occurs when the brain keeps neurons “warmed up” or slightly activated so that information stays hot and ready to use. LTP 💪 is the brain growing.

Remember that time you fell out of a tree and broke your leg? No? 

Fine. Pretend. 👇

While your leg was in a cast the connections between your brain and leg faded, or the brain “depressed”  those connections. 

Because of that, you had to relearn how to walk.

That’s an example of how USE strengthens pathways that lead to LTP💪 and non-use weakens or “depresses” them, which leads to LTD📉.

All so the brain can save every bit of that precious, precious energy.

Stress Matters

Stress changes what neural networks activate.

‼️Which means stress impacts which neural networks get faster, stronger, and more efficient. 

Stress activates the survival brain which has its own networks. Since the survival brain is “on” it gets hit by glutamate and its connections and pathways 👣  get faster.

Stress can strengthen networks in the survival brain and actually slow down growth in the PFC thinking brain.

Guess which one we need to be strong and efficient in the classroom?

Yup, the PFC thinking brain.

Guess which one we want to be strong and efficient during a zombie 🧟 apocalypse?

Yup, the survival brain 🧟.

Here’s What Teachers SHOULD Know:

Stress doesn’t just “distract.” It changes plasticity.

Stress can tip the PFC thinking brain toward LTD📉 (long term depression), instead of LTP💪 (long term potentiation) or long term growth.

This helps explain why some negative behaviors, typically “survival behaviors”, are so hard to get rid of. 

The survival brain 🧟 is active in the classroom so often we end up reinforcing survival behaviors. That’s why behavior and learning shift so dramatically under chronic stress. This is especially true for “trauma brain” or PTSD.

If You’re Using The Toolkit:

In the Instruction Kit, use Prompts and Cues for transitions. They conserve mental energy by cueing the brain and “warming it up” , decreasing the energy demand of the move.
Hot tip: Visual prompts help glutamate hit even more 🥳.

Prompts and Cues also add a layer of predictability which increases felt safety (one of the 5 needs), they help the brain sync with its environment and regulate.
All around AHMAZING option, 5 out of 5 stars.

Learn more in The Neurodivergent Toolkit [CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE]

What Teachers Can Do With This 👇

Decrease the cognitive load and increase the amount of energy the brain has on hand.

Two Things to Try Tomorrow 

1) Reduce Mental Static Caused by Stress 

In the Toolkit use the Classroom Environment Kit and implement ONE environmental change tomorrow to make sure YOU are the clearest signal in the room.

- label learning zones, reduce visual clutter at the front, add a predictable “start task”

If students don’t have to worry about finding “it”, “it’s” neural pathways can strengthen faster. 
LTP💪 in the PFC 😎.

2) Reduce Cognitive Load To Boost Mental Energy

In the Instruction Kit, check out Sentence Stems to lower the cognitive load during writing/discussion. Stems conserve energy, especially for slow starters or students who struggle to transition.

In the Appendix there is a list of Questions and Sentence Stems, print them out and add 3 stems to an independent work task tomorrow.

🗣️ The goal is to reduce the cognitive load so the brain has the energy to keep the PFC thinking brain on and the survival brain 🧟 off.

Quick Toolkit Note

Everything mentioned above is all a part of  The Neurodivergent Toolkit.

If you want the one toolkit that can get you meeting psychological needs for all of the students in your classroom—that’s the Neurodivergent Toolkit. [GET IT HERE].

Coming Next

Next post: 🧠 Part 5: Stress, The Brain, ADHD and Autism

I'm showing you how stress, ADHD, and autism influence all the above 👆

And! If you want the one toolkit that can get you meeting psychological needs for all of the students in your classroom—that’s the Neurodivergent Toolkit. [GET IT HERE].