2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

337714
Brain Power: From Neurons to Networks


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 8:40 a.m. - 8:51 a.m.

Tiffany Shlain, Let it Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change (501c3), Mill Valley, CA
With major research institutes using advanced neuroscience to reveal groundbreaking insights into the importance of the first five years of life, we are now in a unique position to influence public perception and policy about early brain development. This new science shows how critical the early years are to future life outcomes and that brain development only persists in social contexts. Relationships are key and we have scientific data to prove it.

We have been studying amazing research that includes Dr. Patricia Kuhl and Dr. Andy Meltzoff’s research from University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), and Dr. Jack Shonkoff’s research from The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. 

This 10-minute film and accompanying TED Book based on this new research on how to best nurture children’s brains. The film explores the parallels between a child’s brain development and the development of the global brain of Internet, offering insights into the best ways to shape both. Made through a new crowd-sourcing creativity process called “Cloud Filmmaking,” the film was created by putting into action the very ideas that the film is exploring: the connections between neurons, networks, and people around the world. The filmmaker draws on her experience as the on-air Internet expert on ABC’s Good Morning America, advisor to The Institute for the Future, and former Internet and Technology advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to further explore these connections and draw parallels on the research by Dr. Patricia Kuhl and Dr. Andy Meltzoff.

The film premiered at the California Academy of Sciences on November 8, 2012 and is available to screen for free at any time.

Learning Areas:

Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Compare the human brain to the modern technology known as the internet. List the differences in development of a child brain compared to an adult brain. Identify how over/under stimulation of a child/adult brain affects his/her life. Discuss how the shape of the internet affects the shape of our brain and vice-versa.

Keyword(s): Social and behavioral sciences

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I worked with Neuroscientist Patricia Kuhl. The film, and book, are based on children's brain development research from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child and University of Washington’s I-LABS. The film draws parallels to the global brain of the internet, I served as the on-air Internet expert on ABC’s Good Morning America, am an advisor to The Institute for the Future, and advised former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the Internet and technology.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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