[MUSIC, Title: "Autistic Spectrum and Other Syndromes that May Strengthen Procedural Learning"] [Barb] In the previous video, we saw how problems related to the basal ganglia procedural system may improve students' declarative learning. But that implies that the reverse could also take place. Some students could have, for a variety of reasons, strengthened procedural learning abilities—perhaps, but not necessarily, related to declarative learning challenges. And indeed, researchers are beginning to see hints that those on the autistic spectrum are more oriented towards procedural ways of knowing. That in fact, some individuals on the spectrum may be able to use their procedural system in spectacularly effective ways. Many famous people through history are thought to have made their breakthroughs because of the gifts that the spectrum might have given them. Including Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Elon Musk, and Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin. Grandin, incidentally, didn't begin speaking until she was almost four years old. The doctors who diagnosed her recommended that she be institutionalized. Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician who was amongst the first to describe those who were mildly autistic but who were otherwise remarkably able, wrote, "To our own amazement, we have seen that autistic individuals, as long as they are intellectually intact, can almost always achieve professional success, usually in highly specialized academic professions, often at very high positions." He went on to say, "A good professional attitude involves single-mindedness as well as a decision to give up a large number of other interests. Many people find this a very unpleasant decision. Quite a number of young people choose the wrong job because, being equally talented in different areas, they cannot muster the dedication to focus on a single career. With the autistic individual, the matter is entirely different. With collected energy and obvious confidence, and yes, with a blinkered attitude towards life's rich rewards, they go their own separate way, the way in which their talents have directed them since childhood." And indeed, Vernon Smith, who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, has said that being on the spectrum is what gave him the concentration he needed to win the prize. He's also noted that he just doesn't have any trouble thinking outside the box. He doesn't feel any social pressure to do things the way other people are doing them professionally. Is he uncomfortable and "not there" in many social situations? Absolutely. But understanding that Vernon is on the autistic spectrum has helped his wife, for one, to gain perspective about how her husband can appear unemotional, cold, and insensitive, and yet still be a vibrant, wonderful human being. Another disorder that perhaps may be affiliated with enhanced or at least changed procedural system functioning is Tourette syndrome, which is characterized by tics in movement and sounds. This syndrome is thought to share some features with autism. As with many other seeming disorders, many with Tourette are able to find ways around their seeming disability. As with Canadian surgeon, Mort Doran, who is able to suppress his tics while in the operating room. Famed neurologist Oliver Sacks, wrote of "witty, ticcy Ray," who was so prone to "ticcy witticisms" and "witty ticcisisms", that he scarcely knew whether it was a gift or a curse. Ray resorted to medications during the week that allowed him to work while reverting on weekends to his vibrant and ticcy self. [Beth] In another vein, it also seems that students with lesser capacity working memory can lean into and rely more on their procedural learning systems. This makes sense. Declarative learning relies on working memory to help students move information from working memory through the hippocampus and into long-term memory. In other words, from the Conductor to Hip to Neo. If a working memory capacity isn't so large, the bottleneck can convince students to use other ways of learning. One syndrome that researchers still don't know a great deal about is aphantasia. That is the inability to visualize images. Molecular biologist Will Dreyer once noted, "The first time I realized how different brains could be, was when I bumped into Jim Hall at a dinner party back in the late '60s." Jim was a professor here at Caltech, famous for his pleasure center work. I said, "Oh yes, when I'm inventing an instrument or whatever, I see it in my head first and I rotate it and try it out and move the gears. If it doesn't work, I rebuild it in my head." And he looked at me and said, "I don't see a thing in my head with my eyes closed." We spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how two professors, both obviously gifted people at Caltech in the Biology Division could possibly think it all because we were both so different." Aphantasia shares some attributes with nonverbal learning disability or NLD. Those with NLD are children or adults with average or above average verbal intelligence, but who have difficulty in nonverbal domains. Generally, this means problems with visuospatial processing. Although experts agree that NLD exists, there's disagreement on what the core features of the disorder actually are. Some believe that NLD should be considered a learning disorder in the same way as the specific learning disorders such as dyslexia. Other experts believe NLD should instead be considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. For example, in developmental language disorder, a child shows signs even from toddlerhood of difficulties with understanding and using language. Many disorders and syndromes like dyslexia can turn disadvantages into advantages. As we've mentioned in our previous course, one of our greatest writers, Maya Angelou, suffered for five years of her childhood from "selective mutism," a severe anxiety disorder involving the inability to speak around others. The severe trauma she had experienced left an indelible mark. But at the same time, during her silence, her listening, observing, and memorizing skills improved. And she fell all the more deeply in love with literature. [MUSIC, Title: "Resiliency"] [Barb] As we close our discussion of the seesaw of the declarative and procedural learning systems, we should also mention two diseases that can be more frequently encountered as people age. Parkinson's disease disrupts operation of the procedural system, leading to tremors and loss of automatic movements. Alzheimer's, on the other hand, gradually disrupts the operation of the hippocampal declarative system. Incidentally, this means that clever tricks that can change declaratively learned information to procedurally learned information can help a person with Alzheimer's to cope. For example, my father, who suffered from Alzheimer's, wanted to remember the name of his disease, so that he could tell people why he wasn't necessarily functioning so well. So he wrote "Alzheimer's" under the bill of his cap. This meant when he was trying to remember the word Alzheimer's, instead of trying fruitlessly to recall it through his damaged declarative system, all he had to do was remember the procedural action of pulling off his cap and then reading the word that he needed. Indeed, humans can be remarkably resilient, especially us teachers. And as teachers, it's important to remember that we don't want or need to fit every student into the same box. Some students on the autistic spectrum, as with many extraordinary scientists, are extremely uncomfortable working with others. Trying to make them fit into the box of learning with others through cooperative learning, for example, much less forcing them to explain what they know through their sometimes problematic declarative systems can simply ruin their desire to attend school. Remember, when one system might be disrupted, it can make for deficits on the one hand, accompanied by extraordinary advances on the other. Finding ways to encourage students with differences in their approaches to learning can help them—and we as a society—to succeed and excel. [Beth] I'm Beth Rogowsky. [Barb] I'm Barb Oakley. [Terry] I'm Terry Sejnowski. [All] Learn it, link it, let's do it!
