Brain development and maturation in the context of learning

Abstract

T he goal of this chapter is to present and discuss the educational implications of basic and applied research on the mechanisms underlying brain development and learning. This chapter first provides the basic principles of neuroscience for education, with a focus on the general principles of brain function and organization, standard brain imaging methods to investigate the learning and the developing brain, the neural processes involved in cognitive development and learning, and sex differences and similarities in the brain and cognition. It then details with concrete examples how biological processes-including sleep, exercise, nutrition, trauma, poverty, deprivation, threat and academic stress-can influence the brain and learning. The chapter concludes by outlining misconceptions about neuroscience, or 'neuromyths', and the importance for education of debunking them.