brain plasticity and education - birkbeck, university of.doc

Brain plasticity and education Michael S. C. Thomas Developmental Neurocognition Lab, Birkbeck, University of London and Centre for Educational Neuroscience, London. Submission to British Journal of Educational Psychology, special issue on Educational Neuroscience. Running head: Brain plasticity and education Contact author: Prof. Michael Thomas Developmental Neurocognition Lab Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Department of Psychological Sciences Birkbeck, University of London Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK Tel.: +44 (0)20 7631 7386 Fax.: +44 (0)20 7631 6312 Web: www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/research/DNL/ Email: m.thomas@bbk.ac.uk Abstract Functional plasticity is the ability to change behaviour based on experience. In education, that experience is typically derived from structured learning environments. It is widely held that functional plasticity changes with age, reducing after mid-childhood, and that structural changes in the brain are responsible for this reduction. The implication is that after mid-childhood, it is harder for individuals to learn. In this article, we review research from neuroscience and from psychology to address three questions relevant for education: (1) Why does functional plasticity reduce? (2) When does functional plasticity reduce? And, (3) How can learning be best achieved when functional plasticity has reduced? The main conclusion is that while, on the whole, plasticity does reduce with age, the rate is different across different abilities (and components of abilities) and there are no sudden cut-offs, with some degree of plasticity usually remaining. Higher cognitive abilities appear to have more extended plasticity than sensory or motor skills. Finally, we review recent evidence on individual differences in plasticity, and research investigating techniques for enhancing brain plasticity. Introduction In this article, we consider how findings on brain plasticity inform education. In particular, we consider the implications for