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Dear Students,
Welcome to Week 8!
We hope you have had a chance to log in to Canvas at least once and were successful. As you know, the biggest step is simply logging in—after that, it becomes much easier, and you’ll start to enjoy exploring the features Canvas has to offer.
Here is a quick review of how to log in:
Open your web browser and go to SDCCD.EDU (or search for San Diego Community College District).
On the homepage, click the Canvas tab on the top menu bar.
Log in using your student email as your ID and your Portal password (the same password you use for registration).
If prompted, complete multi-factor authentication (like online banking) to keep your account secure. You can receive the verification code via text message or personal email.
Once verified, you will be taken to your Canvas dashboard. 🎉 Congratulations — you’ve made it!
How to Access Your Courses
On the left side under the SDCCD logo, you’ll see Dashboard or Courses.
Click either one to view your Canvas courses.
Feel free to click on all buttons and hyperlinks to get familiar with Canvas.
Explore the different tools, such as:
Quizzes – for self assessment and practice questions
Discussions – to post and reply to classmates and instructors
Need help connecting to Canvas? Contact Student Support:
Email: support@student.sdccd.edu
Phone: 619-388-1140
Last Week: Family Relationships & Birth Order:
Last week, we discussed how family relationships shape the brain from early childhood through older adulthood. Early caregiving experiences influence stress regulation, emotional development, and attachment patterns that guide how we respond to relationships across the lifespan. Bowen’s Family Systems Theory highlights how emotional patterns—such as anxiety, conflict, and caregiving roles—can be transmitted across generations unless interrupted through self-awareness.
We also explored how sibling relationships and birth order contribute to identity, social intelligence, and coping styles. While these influences are meaningful, they are shaped by context and are not permanent. Chronic family conflict can dysregulate stress systems and impact long-term brain health, whereas supportive relationships reduce stress and strengthen resilience.
Finally, we emphasized that the aging brain remains adaptable. Intergenerational engagement, forgiveness, and self-reflection promote neuroplasticity, emotional regulation, and cognitive reserve. With awareness and intentional relational choices, lifelong brain health and well-being can be strengthened.
This Week: Religion & the Brain
This week, we explore how religion and spirituality interact with the brain. Rather than proving or disproving beliefs, neuroscience examines the biological processes underlying spiritual experiences, moral commitments, and meaning-making. Research shows that spirituality engages multiple brain systems involved in attention, emotion regulation, social cognition, reward, and identity. Religious experiences arise from dynamic interactions across distributed neural networks, not from a single brain region.
Below is the Zoom link for all classes:
Monday, 9:30 - 11:30 AM (Erika Peralta, Instructor)
Tuesday, 10-12 PM (Minoo Pakgohar, Instructor)
Tuesday, 1:00 – 3:00 PM (Minoo Pakgohar, Instructor)
Wednesday 9:30 - 11:30 AM (Minoo Pakgohar, Instructor)
Wednesday 6:30 – 8:30 PM (Charisse Winston, Instructor)
Thursday 10 - 12:00 PM (Charisse Winston, Instructor)
Thursday 1:00 - 3:00 PM (Sharon Gregory, Instructor)
Friday 9:30 - 11:30 AM (Erika Peralta, Instructor)
Remember: as a Brain Fitness Topics student, you are welcome to attend any of the Brain Fitness Topics classes listed above, even more than one per week.
Special topics (separate registration)
Brain Fitness Lab: Cognitive Wellness Through Hands-On Exercises and Living Stories, Monday 10:00 – 12:00 PM (Yael Lorberfeld & Desiree Harguess)
Diverse Approaches to Brain Health, (Mindy Sloan, Instructor)
Monday 3:00 – 5: 00 PM
Tuesday 6:00 - 8:00 PM
· Brain HQ: Cognitive Training and Navigation, Thursday 6:00 – 8:00 PM (Sharon Gregory, Instructor)
Quick Links
Course website: bfclass.com
BrainHQ site: https://v4.brainhq.com/
Student site with schedule and more: sdcestudent55.com
Site to enroll in classes: myportal.sdccd.edu
Official SDCCE site: sdcce.edu
Enjoy a brain-healthy week! We are looking forward to another great week of learning together.
Sharon, Erica, Charisse & Minoo
Sharon Gregory
sgregory001@sdccd.edu
Erica Peralta, MS
eperalta@sdccd.edu
Charisse Winston, Ph.D.
cwinston@sdccd.edu
Minoo Pakgohar, Ph.D.
mpakgohar@sdccd.edu
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