A Cure for Neurophobia

Abstract

Neurophobia is a term used to describe a combination of negative reactions observed among students when faced with theoretical concept of neurosciences. It is driven by the belief that this subject matter is excessively abstract and complex, and something of an “eccentric branch” of medicine. The small number of professionals who display an interest in this specialty may be related to a rejection of the subject since their university days. The author attributes the perpetuation of neurophobia to two main factors: the fragmented way in which neuroscience is presented in the basic syllabus and the lack of a proactive attitude among some teachers to bring down the barriers that separate their knowledge from that of their students. In conclusion, proposals for overcoming neurophobia are suggested, which include presenting neurosciences in a more contextualized manner since the start of medical education and teachers adopting a more integrative posture in building bridges to connect new concepts to preexisting knowledge.