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Study launched into effects of mobile phone use in teenagers

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CEN researchers Iroise Dumontheil and Michael Thomas are part of a team which this week launched a study to investigate the effects of mobile phone use in teenagers. The study, led by Imperial College, was commissioned by the Department of Health and funded by Government and industry. It will will investigate whether mobile phones and wireless technologies affect children’s cognitive development. The study will track 2,500 11- and 12-year-olds from September, examining their cognitive ability – thinking skills, memory and attention – and then repeat the tests in 2017. See here for BBC coverage of the study launch.

 

Summer term CEN Research Group schedule now available

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The schedule for the CEN Research Group meetings through to July is now available. Highlights include seminar presentations from Professor Susan Gathercole from University of Cambridge on interventions for working memory impairments in developmental disorders, and from Dr. Roi Cohen Kadosh from University of Oxford on whether neuroscience can enhance academic achievements. Other sessions consider mobile technology and deaf students, twin studies of reading development, spatial cognition and STEM education, and an e-learning tool for biochemical pathways. Sessions take place on Tuesday afternoons. See tab above for further details.

New: 1-day workshop on 14 March

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The CEN is running a 1-day workshop on current research in educational neuroscience, aimed primarily at PhD students working in education, psychology, neuroscience, and related areas. Themes will cover literacy, mathematics, science, and intervention studies. For further information, see main menu above.

Bishop blogs on educational neuroscience

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Professor Dorothy Bishop at the University of Oxford writes a much-followed blog on psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Recently she wrote about her scepticism with respect to claims made for educational neuroscience. See her blog here. Read the comments underneath her blog for responses from researchers working within educational neuroscience, including among others Daniel Ansari, Chloe Marshall, and Michael Thomas, as well as psychologists such as Frank Ramus, and authors who have written on education such as Daniel Willingham.

Here is the cartoon Dorothy used to accompany her piece!

cartoon rats

 

NEW – One day course, “Introduction to Educational Neuroscience”

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A new one day course for teachers entitled “An Introduction to Educational Neuroscience” will take place on Saturday 17th May at the Institute of Education. The aims of the course are to:

  • introduce the disciplines that underlie educational neuroscience: developmental psychology, neuroscience, and evidence-based education.
  • introduce some of the current research in educational neuroscience.
  • dispel some prevalent ‘neuromyths’.
  • consider the future of educational neuroscience.

The course will be delivered by Prof Michael Thomas, Prof Denis Mareschal, Dr Iroise Dumontheil, Prof Andy Tolmie and Dr Chloë Marshall of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience. Further details can be found here:

http://store.ioe.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=5&catid=2&prodid=425

The CEN research group is restarting

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Note the new day, Tuesdays at 4-5.30pm.

The autumn term CEN research group meetings will start on Oct 8th, with a paper discussion by Professor Denis Mareschal. The paper is entitled “Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status pre-schoolers” (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1304437110).

This fascinating paper shows how the educational performance of children from disadvantage backgrounds can be enhanced by a focus intervention which also involves parents.

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Educational neuroscience around the world

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The Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) have collaborated to organize a timely symposium on the topic of “Brain Plasticity, Learning and Education.” The symposium will take place from June 14 to June 16 at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. See here for further information.

Currently, Canada and Israel have a number of groups investigating issues related to brain plasticity, learning, and education, from animal models, to research on the development of cognitive abilities in the human brain. Such research is becoming increasingly important as nations begin to appreciate the role of education in the knowledge economy.

See here and here for recent CEN publications on brain plasticity and education.