NEUROSCIENCES & EDUCATION
Modern neuroscience is providing a new understanding of
cognition and disclosing the properties of the neural circuits supporting
language production and understanding, arithmetic calculations, etc. This
new knowledge is changing the traditional view culture about many cognitive
functions and how children inherit and improve them by learning. Arithmetic
is now assumed to be a survival tool shaped by evolution allowing animals
to quantify objects and events in order to search for places where more food
is available and less enemies threaten life. Neural circuits for quantification
and calculation are known to be inherited by the newborn human. Human language
capability may know be understood as supported by some special types of neurons
found also in other animals and dependent on complex association of cells
distributed almost all over the brain
Modern techniques of brain imaging are allowing neuroscientist
a better comprehension of the human cognitive functions. The most popular
among these techniques is fMRI, which requires special facilities and provides
an unfriendly environment for children and it is not routinely used to study
the neurodinamics of children cognitive development. The electroencephalogram
(EEG) on the contrary is an easy to use and transportable technique. Microcomputers
turned EEG even more portable and allow EEG recording to be networked with
other machines presenting cognitive tests to the child as funny games in his/her
school.
RANI developed a new EEG technology of this type to study
different cognitive functions in normal and disabled individuals, with the
purpose to better understand language processing, arithmetic calculations
and visual reasoning. The results of these investigations are being used to
guide the production of informatized educational activities (IEA) to help
children to have a better cognitive developmeng at the school. These are the
main goals of the project ENSCER®.
Rocha
et al. (2009) A Neuroeconomic modeling of Attention-Deficit/Hiperactive Disorder
(ADHD). J. Biological Systems, 17:597-621
