Carnegie Mellon University researchers have discovered major evidence that focused cognitive instruction can change a specific part of brain functioning, a finding that will open up a new era of neuro-education.
The study demonstrates how the plasticity of the human brain can work for the benefit of remedial learning, says neuroscientist Marcel Just, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging and senior author of the new study published on the website of journal Neuropsychologia. (To download the article, click here.)
“That focused instruction helps poor readers is old news,” says Just. “Studies show that people who work more with their brain are more resistant to Alzheimer’s and other diseases. We took a group of kids and changed the way their brain works. It’s transformative to think of education in this way, that we can change a specific part of brain functioning.”
The findings provide new evidence against a common misconception about dyslexia, basically that it is primarily caused by difficulties in the visual perception of letters, leading to confusion between letters like “p” and “d.” Such visual difficulties are the cause of dyslexia in 10 percent of all cases. The most common cause of dyslexia is a difficulty in relating the visual form of a letter to its sound, which is not a straightforward process in the English language, says Just.
“This finding shows that poor readers can be helped to develop buff brains,” says Just. “A similar approach should apply to other skills. With the right kind of intensive instruction, the brain can begin to permanently rewire itself and overcome reading deficits, even if it can’t entirely eliminate them.”
Carnegie Mellon's and Just's groundbreaking research on simple thoughts using fMRI (brain coding) will be the focus of an upcoming 60 Minutes segment this fall. For the Pop City story, click here.
Source: Marcel Just, Byron Spice, Carnegie Mellon University