Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mind, Brain, and Education: A Discussion of Practical, Conceptual, and Ethical Issues

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Neuroethics

Abstract

Recent years have seen a tremendous growth in efforts to connect rapidly growing insights into how the brain learns to the field of education. Different names have been given to such efforts, including “Educational Neuroscience” and “Mind, Brain, and Education.” The aim of this chapter is to discuss these recent efforts and to provide an overview of the conceptual, practical, and ethical challenges faced by these novel, transdisciplinary efforts. To do so, the chapter begins with an overview of some examples of recent research efforts to connect research on Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE). To do so, the chapter begins with an overview of some examples of recent research in the emerging field of Mind, Brain and Education. Specifically, the chapter reviews evidence from the study of the neurocognitive processes of typical and atypical reading development in an effort to illustrate the merit of MBE. This is followed by a discussion of the conceptual and practical challenges that MBE needs to consider, such as the level at which evidence from the study of neurocognitive processes can influence education and how neuroscientists and educators can play complementary roles in the construction of the field. Against this background, the chapter considers ethical challenges, including the need to effectively and accurately communicate evidence, to carefully consider the commercialization of neuroscience, including the use of brain stimulation, to enhance cognitive functions and for classroom application.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 999.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 999.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ansari, D. (2005). Time to use neuroscience findings in teacher training. Nature, 437(7055), 26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ansari, D. (2012). Culture and education: New frontiers in brain plasticity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 93–95. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.11.016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ansari, D., & Coch, D. (2006). Bridges over troubled waters: Education and cognitive neuroscience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(4), 146–151. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=16530462.

  • Bruer, J. T. (1997). Education and the brain: A bridge too far. Educational Researcher, 26, 4–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buonomano, D. V., & Merzenich, M. M. (1998). Cortical plasticity: From synapses to maps. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 21, 149–186. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.21.1.149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coch, D. (2007). Neuroimaging research with children: Ethical issues and case scenarios. Journal of Moral Education, 36, 1–18. doi:10.1080/03057240601185430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen Kadosh, R., Soskic, S., Iuculano, T., Kanai, R., & Walsh, V. (2010). Modulating neuronal activity produces specific and long-lasting changes in numerical competence. Current Biology: CB, 20(22), 2016–2020. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.10.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence and predictors of misconceptions among teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 429. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky, J. M. (2010). Neuroscience education for prekindergarten-12 teachers. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 30(24), 8057–8060. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2322-10.2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farah, M. J., & Hook, C. J. (2013). The Seductive Allure of “Seductive Allure”. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(1), 88–90. doi:10.1177/1745691612469035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. M., Francis, D. J., Rourke, B. P., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1992). The validity of discrepancy-based definitions of reading disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25(9), 555–561. 573. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1431539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabrieli, J. D. (2009). Dyslexia: A new synergy between education and cognitive neuroscience. Science, 325(5938), 280–283. doi:325/5938/280 [pii] 10.1126/science.1171999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guttorm, T. K., Leppänen, P. H., Richardson, U., & Lyytinen, H. (2001). Event-related potentials and consonant differentiation in newborns with familial risk for dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 534–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guttorm, T. K., Leppänen, P. H. T., Hämäläinen, J. A., Eklund, K. M., & Lyytinen, H. J. (2010). Newborn event-related potentials predict poorer pre-reading skills in children at risk for dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 391–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, D. A., Farah, M. J., & Meaney, M. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status and the brain: Mechanistic insights from human and animal research. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 651–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, T. U., Rotzer, S., Grabner, R. H., Mérillat, S., & Jäncke, L. (2013). Enhancing performance in numerical magnitude processing and mental arithmetic using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 244. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeft, F., Ueno, T., Reiss, A. L., Meyler, A., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Glover, G. H., … Gabrieli, J. D. (2007). Prediction of children’s reading skills using behavioral, functional, and structural neuroimaging measures. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121(3), 602–613. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=17592952

  • Hoeft, F., McCandliss, B. D., Black, J. M., Gantman, A., Zakerani, N., Hulme, C., … Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2011). Neural systems predicting long-term outcome in dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 361–366. doi:10.1073/pnas.1008950108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hook, C. J., & Farah, M. J. (2012). Neuroscience for educators: What are they seeking, and what are they finding? Neuroethics, 6(2), 331–341. doi:10.1007/s12152-012-9159-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Illes, J., Moser, M. A., McCormick, J. B., Racine, E., Blakeslee, S., Caplan, A., … Weiss, S. (2010). Neurotalk: Improving the communication of neuroscience research. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(1), 61–69. doi:10.1038/nrn2773.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iuculano, T., & Cohen Kadosh, R. (2013). The mental cost of cognitive enhancement. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 33(10), 4482–4486. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4927-12.2013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. H. (2001). Functional brain development in humans. Nature Review Neuroscience, 2(7), 475–483. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=11433372.

  • Lenroot, R. K., & Giedd, J. N. (2006). Brain development in children and adolescents: Insights from anatomical magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 30(6), 718–729. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=16887188.

  • May, A. (2011). Experience-dependent structural plasticity in the adult human brain. Trends in Cognitive Science, 15, 475–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. P., & Castel, A. D. (2008). Seeing is believing: The effect of brain images on judgments of scientific reasoning. Cognition, 107(1), 343–352. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michael, R. B., Newman, E. J., Vuorre, M., Cumming, G., & Garry, M. (2013). On the (non)persuasive power of a brain image. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. doi:10.3758/s13423-013-0391-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molfese, D. L. (2000). Predicting dyslexia at 8 years of age using neonatal brain responses. Brain and Language, 72, 238–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munakata, Y., Casey, B. J., & Diamond, A. (2004). Developmental cognitive neuroscience: Progress and potential. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(3), 122–128. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15301752.

  • OECD. (2002). Understanding the brain: Towards a new learning science. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, A. M., Hampshire, A., Grahn, J. A., Stenton, R., Dajani, S., Burns, A. S., … Ballard, C. G. (2010). Putting brain training to the test. Nature, 465, 775–778.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pihko, E., Leppänen, P. H., Eklund, K. M., Cheour, M., Guttorm, T. K., & Lyytinen, H. (1999). Cortical responses of infants with and without a genetic risk for dyslexia: I. Age effects. Neuroreport, 10, 969–973.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlaggar, B. L., & McCandliss, B. D. (2007). Development of neural systems for reading. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 30, 475–503. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=17600524.

  • Stanovich, K. (2005). The future of a mistake: Will discrepancy measurement continue to make the learning disabilities field a pseudoscience? Learning Disability Quarterly, 28 103–106. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1593604

  • Steinberg, L. (2013). The influence of neuroscience on US Supreme Court decisions about adolescents’ criminal culpability. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(7), 513–518. doi:10.1038/nrn3509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Supekar, K., Swigart, A. G., Tenison, C., Jolles, D. D., Rosenberg-Lee, M., Fuchs, L., & Menon, V. (2013). Neural predictors of individual differences in response to math tutoring in primary-grade school children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(20), 8230–8235. doi:10.1073/pnas.1222154110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, S., Inui, T., Iwaki, S., Konishi, J., & Nakai, T. (2001). Neural substrates involved in imitating finger configurations: An fMRI study. Neuroreport, 12(6), 1171–1174. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=11338186.

  • Tanaka, H., Black, J. M., Hulme, C., Stanley, L. M., Kesler, S. R., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., … Hoeft, F. (2011). The brain basis of the phonological deficit in dyslexia is independent of IQ. Psychological Science, 22, 1442–1451. doi:10.1177/0956797611419521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temple, E., Deutsch, G. K., Poldrack, R. A., Miller, S. L., Tallal, P., Merzenich, M. M., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2003). Neural deficits in children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation: Evidence from functional MRI. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(5), 2860–2865. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12604786.

  • Thomas, M. S. C. (2013). Educational neuroscience in the near and far future: Predictions from the analogy with the history of medicine. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 2(1), 23–26. doi:10.1016/j.tine.2012.12.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varma, S., McCandliss, B., & Scwartz, D. (2008). Scientific and pragmatic challenges for bridging education and neuroscience. Educational Researcher, 37(3), 140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisberg, D. S., Keil, F. C., Goodstein, J., Rawson, E., & Gray, J. R. (2008). The seductive allure of neuroscience explanations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(3), 470–477. doi:10.1162/jocn.2008.20040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, F. J., Christakis, D. A., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2007). Associations between media viewing and language development in children under age 2 years. The Journal of Pediatrics, 151(4), 364–368. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.04.071.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Numerical Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, Westminster Hall, Room 325, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Daniel Ansari

Authors
  1. Daniel Ansari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Ansari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Jens Clausen

  2. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Neil Levy

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this entry

Cite this entry

Ansari, D. (2015). Mind, Brain, and Education: A Discussion of Practical, Conceptual, and Ethical Issues. In: Clausen, J., Levy, N. (eds) Handbook of Neuroethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4707-4_146

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4707-4_146

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4706-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4707-4

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation