Curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics are typically studied separately. The extent to which they share psychological and neural mechanisms is not well understood, despite all being linked to broader personality characteristics like Openness to Experience and are driven by a desire for information and knowledge. Here, we review evidence and advance…

Well-structured knowledge allows us to quickly understand the world around us and make informed decisions to adequately control behavior. Knowledge structures, or schemas, are presumed to aid memory encoding and consolidation of new experiences so we cannot only remember the past, but also guide behavior in the present and predict the future.…

Recognition memory judgments can be influenced by a variety of signals including fluency. Here, we investigated whether the neural correlates of memory illusions (i.e., misattribution of fluency to prior study) can be modulated by fluency context. Using a masked priming/recognition memory paradigm, we found memory illusions for low confidence…

Humans are inherently emotional creatures due to our social nature, and emotions are able to influence how well we learn and even affect academic outcomes. Emotions are rarely a chief concern in educational settings, and we will discuss the mechanisms underlying how emotions are processed in the brain and how they influence the key aspects of…

Parents want to work with their children's teachers to help them succeed in school. "What Brain Research Says about Student Learning" provides parents and teachers the most recent findings in brain research and learning theory in a very approachable way. The reader will see how the child's brain develops, learns, remembers, and creates…

The relations between the developing mind and developing brain are explored. We outline a theory of intellectual development postulating that the mind comprises four systems of processes (domain-specific, attention and working memory, reasoning, and cognizance) developing in four cycles (episodic, realistic, rule-based, and principle-based…

This paper proposes a synthesis of the science of learning into a "model" teachers can follow and apply right away in their classrooms. Recent studies in neuroscience show that that our brains appear to actively and purposefully forget most of what we learn--continually clearing out old and unneeded memories to allow us to focus on more…

This study, based on the observation of children (3-5 year olds) following a program of specific physical exercises guided by music, wants to evaluate the effect of movement on body, mind and cognition. It will promote activities and experience in order to 1) build up a healthy body and a healthy mind; 2) prevent obesity as well as type 2…

Studies in cognitive science have verified that working memory (where the brain solves problems) can manipulate nearly all elements of knowledge that can be recalled automatically from long-term memory, but only a few elements that have not previously been well memorized. Research in reading comprehension has found that "lecture notes with…

Research about the brain has affected the education community and transformed the way that educators think about learning. The field of brain-based education looks at making connections between the latest research findings of neuroscientists and the most effective teaching practices for the enhancement of instruction and learning. Educators who…

Lasting memories are likely to result from a lasting change in neurotransmission. In the nematode "Caenorhabditis elegans," spaced training with a tap stimulus induces habituation to the tap that lasts for greater than 24 h and is dependent on glutamate transmission, postsynaptic AMPA receptors, and CREB. Here we describe a distinct, presynaptic…

Late post-training activation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA)-hippocampus dopaminergic loop controls the entry of information into long-term memory (LTM). Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) modulate VTA function, but their involvement in LTM storage is unknown. Using pharmacological and behavioral tools, we found that…

Parts 1 and 2 in this four-part series of articles (Crossland, 2016, 2017a) discussed the recent research from neuroscience linked to concepts from cognitive development that brought Piaget's theories into the 21st century and showed the most effective provision towards more optimal learning strategies. Part 2 reviewed Demetriou's latest thinking…

Activation of "N"-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) in the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex (PL mPFC) is necessary for the acquisition of both trace and contextual fear memories, but it is not known how specific NR2 subunits support each association. The NR2B subunit confers unique properties to the NMDAR and may differentially…

Subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAHs) are a serious medical emergency, as 30% to 50% of all SAHs can result in death. Personal accounts and case studies are an important aspect of evidence-based practice. This first article of two presents a review of AB's (patient) condition immediately following an SAH in the intensive care and immediately post…