Brain Science

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[edit] Brief Summary

Brain science has a quite long history. However, it is only in recent years that technology has been developed to look into a brain and see some of its activity. With the use of computerized scanning devices and computer analysis of the data obtained, the field of brain science is expanding quite rapidly. It may well be that the totality of knowledge in this area is doubling every five years.

Increased understanding of brain functioning is quite important in education. A superb example is provided by the research and development in dyslexia. This is a relatively common reading disorder. Appropriate interventions actually "rewire" the brain.

[edit] Innate Math Skills

Cantlon JF, Brannon EM (2007) Basic Math in Monkeys and College Students. PLoS Biol 5(12): e328 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050328. Retrieved 12/19/07: http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050328.

Quoting from the document:

Adult humans possess a sophisticated repertoire of mathematical faculties. Many of these capacities are rooted in symbolic language and are therefore unlikely to be shared with nonhuman animals. However, a subset of these skills is shared with other animals, and this set is considered a cognitive vestige of our common evolutionary history. Current evidence indicates that humans and nonhuman animals share a core set of abilities for representing and comparing approximate numerosities nonverbally; however, it remains unclear whether nonhuman animals can perform approximate mental arithmetic. Here we show that monkeys can mentally add the numerical values of two sets of objects and choose a visual array that roughly corresponds to the arithmetic sum of these two sets. Furthermore, monkeys' performance during these calculations adheres to the same pattern as humans tested on the same nonverbal addition task. Our data demonstrate that nonverbal arithmetic is not unique to humans but is instead part of an evolutionarily primitive system for mathematical thinking shared by monkeys.
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The fact that humans and nonhuman animals represent numerical values nonverbally using a common cognitive process is well established [1–7]. Both human and nonhuman animals can nonverbally estimate the numerical values of arrays of dots or sequences of tones [8–12] and determine which of two sets is numerically larger or smaller [13–19]. When adult humans and nonhuman animals make approximate numerical comparisons, their performance is similarly constrained by the ratio between numerical values (i.e., Weber's law; [7]). Thus, discrete symbols such as number words and Arabic numerals are not the only route to numerical concepts; both human and nonhuman animals can represent number approximately, in a nonverbal code.

[edit] The Flynn Effect

Gladwell, Malcolm (12/17/07). None of the Above: What I.Q. doesn't tell you about race. The New Yorker. Retrieved 12/19/07: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/12/17/071217crbo_books_gladwell.

This article provides an extensive review of a new book by James Flynn that discusses the increase in IQ that has been going on in recent decades, throughout the world. The book and the review also discusses assertions about differences of IQ of various races.

Quoting from the review:

Flynn has been writing about the implications of his findings—now known as the Flynn effect—for almost twenty-five years. His books consist of a series of plainly stated statistical observations, in support of deceptively modest conclusions, and the evidence in support of his original observation is now so overwhelming that the Flynn effect has moved from theory to fact. What remains uncertain is how to make sense of the Flynn effect. If an American born in the nineteen-thirties has an I.Q. of 100, the Flynn effect says that his children will have I.Q.s of 108, and his grandchildren I.Q.s of close to 120—more than a standard deviation higher. If we work in the opposite direction, the typical teen-ager of today, with an I.Q. of 100, would have had grandparents with average I.Q.s of 82—seemingly below the threshold necessary to graduate from high school. And, if we go back even farther, the Flynn effect puts the average I.Q.s of the schoolchildren of 1900 at around 70, which is to suggest, bizarrely, that a century ago the United States was populated largely by people who today would be considered mentally retarded.

In brief summary, Flynn argues that:

  1. The increase in IQ is due to better informal and formal education in areas of abstract ideas, abstract reasoning, and use of metaphors.
  2. The so called "findings" about racial differences in IQ are not supported by the data on which these findings have been based.

[edit] Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs

Caffeine is an example of a widely used cognitive-enhancing drug. The following article summarizes some important ideas about the growing availability and use of a variety of cognitive-enhancing drugs.

Kaplan, Karen and Gellene, Denise (12/20/07). Brain boosters: the mental edge? The Seattle Times. retrieved 12/20/07: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004083846_brain20.html.

Quoting from the article:

The medicine cabinet of so-called cognitive enhancers also includes Ritalin, commonly given to children for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and beta blockers, such as the heart drug Inderal. Researchers have been investigating the drug Aricept, which is normally used to slow the decline of Alzheimer's patients.


They are all just precursors to the blockbuster drug that labs are racing to develop. "Whatever company comes out with the first memory pill is going to put Viagra to shame," said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe.


The use of cognitive-enhancing drugs has been well-documented among high-school and college students. A 2005 survey of more than 10,000 college students found 4 percent to 7 percent of them tried ADHD drugs at least once to remain focused on exams or pull all-nighters. At some colleges, more than one-quarter of students surveyed said they had sampled the pills.

[edit] Computer Modeling of a Brain

Witchalls, Clint (12/20/07). Lab comes one step closer to building artificial human brain. Guardian. retrieved 12/21/07: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/dec/20/research.it.

Quoting from the article:

In a laboratory in Switzerland, a group of neuroscientists is developing a mammalian brain - in silicon. The researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in collaboration with IBM, have just completed the first phase of an ambitious project to reproduce a fully functioning brain on a supercomputer.
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Modelling seems to be the way forward for neuroscience. Each year, there are about 35,000 neuroscience papers published - and the number of papers being published is increasing at a rate of between 20% and 30% a year. Most neuroscientists only get to read about 100 of these papers a year, if they're lucky. Pouring all of this knowledge into Blue Brain seems an obvious way to use and preserve it.

The second paragraph quoted above represents a key idea in all areas of human knowledge in which there is an accumulation, with new knowledge building on and depending on previous knowledge. The number of researchers and the amount of research in various frontiers of science and technology far exceeds the ability of a person to keep up. However, some of this knowledge can be "captured" in the form of computer systems that make use of the knowledge. In that sense, a person can build upon the knowledge without having to learn it in detail.

[edit] Mirror Neurons

Quoting from the Wikipedia:

A mirror neuron is a premotor[1] neuron which fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially conspecific) animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself acting. These neurons have been directly observed in primates, and are believed to exist in humans and in some birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. Some scientists consider mirror neurons one of the most important findings of neuroscience in the last decade. Among them is V.S. Ramachandran[2], who believes they might be very important in imitation and language acquisition. However, despite the popularity of this field, to date no plausible neural or computational models have been put forward to describe how mirror neuron activity supports cognitive functions such as imitation.

Mirror neurons have received quite a bit of publicity. A January 2005 NOVA contains an excellent 14 minute video about Mirror Neurons. See also an article first published in Brain Connections written by Bobert Sylwester.

Here is a very brief book recommendation quoted from an email message written by Robert Sylwester:

Marco Iacobonni, Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect With Others (2008, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
Within the brains of humans, apes, and monkeys is a small set of neurons that simulate the actions of others in real time. When you see Humphrey Bogart lock lips with Ingrid Bergman, the same brain cells fire as when you kiss your honey. When you hear co-workers crack open a soda, in your brain it's as if you'd opened the can yourself.
Since their discovery in monkeys less than two decades ago, mirror neurons have been called into service to explain just about everything that makes us human -- from empathy and language to politics and pornography. Are these cells really the be-all and end-all of human nature? In one of the first books on the subject, neuroscientist Marco Iacobonni clearly explains what we do know (and how) and what we don't know (and can't).
Want to learn what mirror neurons have to do with Super Bowl commercials, violent video games, autism, addiction, and even free will? This is your book. Watching someone else read Mirroring People doesn't count.

[edit] Sex Differences

Substantial progress is occurring in identifying differences in human female and male brains. The following article contains a good discussion of some of the latest findings:

Hoagh, Hannah (7/16/08). Brains apart: The real difference between the sexes. New Scientist magazine, pages 28-31. Quoting from this article:
But it's becoming obvious that the hypothalamus is only the beginning of the story. For a start, the relative sizes of many of the structures inside female brains are different from those of males. In a 2001 study, Jill Goldstein of Harvard Medical School and colleagues measured and compared 45 brain regions in healthy men and women. They found that parts of the frontal lobe, which houses decision-making and problem-solving functions, were proportionally larger in women, as was the limbic cortex, which regulates emotions. Other studies have found that the hippocampus, involved in short-term memory and spatial navigation, is proportionally larger in women than in men, perhaps surprisingly given women's reputation as bad map-readers. In men, proportionally larger areas include the parietal cortex, which processes signals from the sensory organs and is involved in space perception, and the amygdala, which controls emotions and social and sexual behaviour. "The mere fact that a structure is different in size suggests a difference in functional organisation," says neurobiologist Larry Cahill at the University of California, Irvine.

[edit] Some Useful Educational Results

Penttila, Nicky 10/13/06). Brain Science in the Classroom.The Dana Foundation. Retrieved 1/28/08: http://www.dana.org/events/detail.aspx?id=5196.

Quoting from the article:

What can neuroscientists tell us about how to help a child learn to read, especially a child who is having great difficulty?
In some respects, quite a lot; in others, not yet nearly enough, said a panel of experts at a forum Oct. 12 at the Dana Center in Washington, D.C., on how advances in neuroscience might be translated into school lesson plans.
…
“The shining message of neuroscience research so far is how important it is to teach not only the first language in the early grades but also second languages,” when the parts of the brain responsible for that sort of learning are their most energetic, said panelist Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the U.K. Medical Research Council. Unfortunately, he said, many school systems still do not follow that advice, and wait to teach “foreign” languages until the upper grades.
In fact, Blakemore pointed out, all children need to learn to cope with the foreign environment called a schoolhouse. “The brain we house was not designed to sit in a classroom” but wander the plains hunting and gathering. Neither was it designed to read, he said: Homo sapiens has been around more than four thousand years, but has been reading and writing for only a thousand years or so. So it’s not surprising that educators have found success exploiting the natural features of the brain itself, such as the importance of repetition, focused attention and linking what is learned to actions. Neuroscientists also have helped show how the way information is presented, such as in action or on a blackboard, singly or in groups, can affect how much a child retains, Galaburda said.


[edit] Related Pages in the IAE-Pedia

[edit] References

  • deCharms, Christopher (February 2008). Looking inside the brain in real time. TED Talks. Retrieved 3/30/08: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/236. This is a 4-minute video showing real time imaging of activity in a person's brain. This real-time visual information provides a basis for a person to train specific parts of their brain. The video discusses using this for pain control.
Quoting from the report's summary:
  1. An interest in a performing art leads to a high state of motivation that produces the sustained attention necessary to improve performance and the training of attention that leads to improvement in other domains of cognition.
  2. Genetic studies have begun to yield candidate genes that may help explain individual differences in interest in the arts.
  3. Specific links exist between high levels of music training and the ability to manipulate information in both working and long-term memory; these links extend beyond the domain of music training.
  4. In children, there appear to be specific links between the practice of music and skills in geometrical representation, though not in other forms of numerical representation.
  5. Correlations exist between music training and both reading acquisition and sequence learning. One of the central predictors of early literacy, phonological awareness, is correlated with both music training and the development of a specific brain pathway.
  6. Training in acting appears to lead to memory improvement through the learning of general skills for manipulating semantic information.
  7. Adult self-reported interest in aesthetics is related to a temperamental factor of openness, which in turn is influenced by dopamine-related genes.
  8. Learning to dance by effective observation is closely related to learning by physical practice, both in the level of achievement and also the neural substrates that support the organization of complex actions. Effective observational learning may transfer to other cognitive skills.
Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, asks why we aren’t more compassionate more of the time. Sharing the results of psychological experiments (and the story of the Santa Cruz Strangler), he explains how we are all born with the capacity for empathy -- but we sometimes choose to ignore it.
To date, there hasn't been an overarching theory of how the human brain really works, Jeff Hawkins argues in this compelling talk. That's because we still haven't defined intelligence accurately. But one thing's for sure, he says: The brain isn't like a powerful computer processor. It's more like a memory system that records everything we experience and helps us predict, intelligently, what will happen next. Bringing this new brain science to computer devices will enable powerful new applications -- and it will happen sooner than you think.
This article provides an excellent overview of many different aspects of how brain research is relevant to and is impacting education. The article is available free, online, at the website given in the citation.
The same issue of the Phi Delta Kappan contains several articles responding to the article by Jensen. See Willis (February 2008). Quoting from the article:
It has been more than 20 years since it was first suggested that there could be connections between brain function and educational practice. In the face of all the evidence that has now accumulated to support this notion, Mr. Jensen advocates that educators take full advantage of the relevant knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines.
Another study points to changes in blood flow in the inner brain in an area known as the amygdala, related to the forming and storing of emotional memories. Studies indicate that decreases in cerebral blood flow can be found in this area when a person is in a stressful or negative emotional state, affecting their ability to retain information.
What implications does this have for teaching? Given that the brain has versatile neuroplasticity, developing student strategies to strengthen their abilities to create new pathways, connecting new knowledge to previously learned concepts and patterns, teaching students to look at problems from multiple perspectives or providing periodical shifts in attention when teaching through the use of word puzzles or discrepant events—what Willis calls “syn-naps”—can aid student understanding and capitalize on the innate processes of each individual. Such strategies are the hallmark of good teaching, but having a better understanding and intentional focus on brain-based strategies is a useful tool for any teacher.
The complexity of the connectivity between these cells is mind-boggling. Each neuron can make contact with thousands or even tens of thousands of others, via tiny structures called synapses. Our brains form a million new connections for every second of our lives. The pattern and strength of the connections is constantly changing and no two brains are alike.

I::: t is in these changing connections that memories are stored, habits learned and personalities shaped, by reinforcing certain patterns of brain activity, and losing others.

  • Sylwester, Robert. Brain Connection Columnist. About eight years of monthly articles on brain science are available. All are education-oriented and written at a lay-person level. The sequence of articles provides an excellent overview of this rapidly changing field.
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions—motion, speech, self-awareness—shut down one by one. An astonishing story.
  • Wikipedia (n.d.). Cognitive neuroscience is providing us with important new understanding of brain functioning. Brain science research is producing a number of practical applications in education, medicine, and in human performance.
  • Willis, Judy (February 2008). Building a Bridge from Neuroscience to the Classroom. Phi Delta Kappan. Quoting from this article:
The brain-research evidence for certain instructional strategies continues to increase, but there still is no sturdy bridge between neuroscience and what educators do in the classroom. But educators’ knowledge and experience will enable them to use the knowledge gained from brain research in their classrooms. For example, choice, interest-driven investigation, collaboration, intrinsic motivation, and creative problem solving are associated with increased levels of such neurotransmitters as dopamine, as well as the pleasurable state dopamine promotes. Novelty, surprise, and teaching that connects with students’ past experiences and personal interests and that is low in threat and high in challenge are instructional strategies that appear to be correlated with increased information passage through the brain’s information filters, such as the amygdala and reticular activating system. Lessons in which students are engaged and invested in goals they helped to create have the potential to stimulate and restimulate networks of new memories as students actively process information in the construction of knowledge. These instructional strategies date back to theories developed decades before neuroimaging. But they are consistent with the increasing pool of neuroimaging, behavioral, and developmental psychology.
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