SEF-EDG8023 - Certificate in Brain Health

Course Description

The brain is an amazing organ. It receives information through the five senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. It's affected by virtually every aspect of our lives, including our moods, our activities, how well we sleep, our stress levels, and the foods we eat. In this innovative certificate program, you'll gain insights into the amazing brain and explore how to support health and happiness through lifestyle choices that impact this remarkable organ. You will learn about the components of the brain and examine the latest theories about neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, and epigenetics. The outcome of this certificate is for the learner to describe the basic structures and functions of the brain and explain how happiness, music, meditation, sleep, play, and lifestyle factors (such as stress, nutrition, physical activity, substance abuse, and nature) affect brain health.

Course Outline

Lesson 01 - The Amazing Brain: Understanding The Basics

The brain is an amazing organ. Weighing approximately three pounds, and containing approximately 100 billion neurons, the brain controls all necessary functions of the body, receives and interprets information from the outside world, and embodies the essence of the mind. Intelligence, emotion, and memories are just a few of the processes governed by the brain.

Lesson 02 - Wire Your Brain for Happiness

The hidden power of everyday positive experiences can change your brain and change your life. Everyone wants to be happy and healthy. By focusing on becoming happier and creating positive experiences, research suggests that you will experience increased energy, improved immune function, increased creativity, improved relationships, and increased productivity—happiness results in a healthier brain, a more vibrant body, and a longer life.

Lesson 03 - Music, Sound, and the Healthy Brain

Whether you are listening to rock music in your car or listening to Mozart at home, music has an effect on your brain. Engaging in musical activity (listening and creating) involves almost every region of your brain. Music affects the brain, the mind, the thought process, and the spirit.

Lesson 04 - Meditation and Brain Health

Meditation is a mind-body practice with many methods and variations that are all based on the silence and stillness of present-moment awareness. Exciting research is showing that a regular practice of meditation causes physical changes in the brain that can be beneficial to mental and physical health. Meditation can also change the way the brain functions.

Lesson 05 - Sleep And The Brain: What's The Connection

Do you wake up in the morning feeling sleepy? Do you feel sleepy during the day? A good night's sleep is as essential for your brain and your body as food and water. Sleep deprivation affects the brain in multiple ways, impairing judgment, affecting cognition, and slowing reaction times. Sleep quality affects your mental and physical health in ways science is just beginning to understand.

Lesson 06 - Play And The Brain: Why Play Matters To Your Gray Matter

"Act like a child" is probably not a phrase that is on the top of anyone's mind. Yet, researchers are discovering that there are many health benefits to rediscovering your inner child. Play is vital to the health of human beings, and it is an essential component of a healthy life. Play is present in all mammals, including human beings. In human beings, it is equally important for children as it is for adults. While childishness is not desirable, being "childlike" is.

Lesson 07 - Healthy Lifestyles: How Stress, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Substance Abuse, And Nature Affect Brain Health

Individuals' lifestyles can have a powerful impact on the health of their body and mind. The brain is affected by virtually every aspect of their life. Including their levels of stress, the foods they choose to eat, the amount and type of physical activity in which they engage, whether or not they abuse drugs, and whether or not they regularly spend time in nature.

Learner Outcomes

Understand how happiness results in a healthier brain, a more vibrant body, and a longer life
Explain how music affects the brain, the mind, the thought process, and the spirit
Practice meditation and understand why it causes physical changes in the brain that can be beneficial to mental and physical health
Explain how the brain is affected by virtually every aspect of your life

Notes

This is an asynchronous online course offered through the third party vendor ed2go. This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook. The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online. There are no set meeting times and you may work on the material whenever it is convenient for you. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

Completion Requirements:

You must complete all lessons to receive your certificate. You must pass the final exam in all lessons with a score of 80% or higher AND complete the Evaluation Form in order to receive your Certificate of Completion. Finals are graded as Pass or No Pass. Receipt of your certificate indicates successful completion of the course and that you have passed all final exams with a score of 80% or greater. You may retake final exams as many times as necessary within the duration of the course at no additional charge.