WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2009 Bridging the gap between teachers and
brain scientists For the nascent field of neuroeducation to
progress, the first thing researchers need to learn is how to
talk to one another. That’s one of the primary concerns for
organizers of the Neuroscience Research in Education Summit,
which ends today at the Center for Neurobiology of Learning and
Memory at the University of California, Irvine. Neuroeducation,
which aims to translate new brain science discoveries directly
into better classroom practices and materials, is one of several
interdisciplinary fields that have sprung up following the
development of new research tools. One such tool is functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which allows researchers to
image the brains of conscious people directly and makes possible
a novel class of experiments that could eventually have direct
practical applications. Seeing that potential, major
universities—including Harvard and Johns Hopkins—are racing to
put together top-notch new resear