How the Brain Learns to Read - Prof. Stanislas Dehaene
WISE Channel・28 minutes read
Cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Danan discusses brain research on reading and its impact on education, highlighting the use of brain imaging methods and the importance of empowering teachers with knowledge of brain plasticity. Understanding brain changes during reading can explain phenomena like mirror reading, phonics training, and the importance of preparing children from a young age for learning to read.
Insights
- Empowering teachers with knowledge of brain plasticity and education principles can enhance classroom practices by utilizing cognitive neuroscience insights into competencies, learning processes, attention, reward, sleep, and knowledge transfer.
- Understanding brain changes in reading, including the impact of learning to read on brain areas like the letter box, visual cortex, and speech sound representation, can explain phenomena like mirror reading, phonics versus whole word training, and the self-teaching aspect of letter-sound correspondences, highlighting the significance of efficient tools that attract children's attention and reward their abilities for quick changes in young brains.
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Recent questions
How does education impact the brain?
Education impacts the brain by changing brain areas involved in reading, such as the letter box, visual cortex, and speech sound representation. Brain imaging methods like functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrography are used to study this impact. Children can be scanned in a mock scanner to observe brain activity during learning, with repeated scannings possible. Understanding these brain changes can explain phenomena like mirror reading, phonics versus whole word training, and the self-teaching aspect of letter-sound correspondences.
What insights does cognitive neuroscience offer?
Cognitive neuroscience offers insights into competencies, learning processes, attention, reward, sleep, and knowledge transfer. It aids in developing teaching devices like school curricular manuals and software. Experimentation is crucial to test education protocols and measure their impact on behavior and the brain. The concept of neuronal recycling suggests that some brains are plastic enough to shift functions, as seen in reading.
How can teachers enhance classroom practices?
Teachers can enhance classroom practices by empowering them with knowledge of brain plasticity and education principles. This knowledge can help in understanding brain changes in reading and how learning impacts the brain. By considering a child's early knowledge, teachers can enhance teaching by understanding what needs to be displaced in the child's brain. This approach can lead to more effective teaching methods tailored to individual students.
What tools are available to help children develop number sense?
Software tools based on cognitive principles, like Number Catcher, are available to help children develop a better sense of number. The foundation of number sense develops into a full arithmetic system, with old brain systems needing recycling for arithmetic development. The brain, like other primates, is organized to understand external concepts like number, with similar brain areas involved. These tools can aid in the development of mathematical skills in children.
How does dyslexia relate to brain development?
Dyslexia may involve anomalies in brain circuits, with cursive writing beneficial for brain development and reading skills. Cultural and environmental factors, like vocabulary and phonics, can influence a child's ability to learn to read. The brain remains plastic in adults, allowing for learning to read, although possibly at a slower pace. Understanding these factors can help in addressing learning difficulties like dyslexia and tailoring interventions to support individuals with different learning needs.
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Summary
00:00
Brain research in reading and education insights.
- Stanislas Danan, a French cognitive neuroscientist, discusses brain research on reading and its relevance to education.
- Brain imaging methods like functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrography are used to study how education impacts the brain.
- Children can be scanned in a mock scanner to study brain activity during learning, with repeated scannings possible.
- Empowering teachers with knowledge of brain plasticity and education principles can enhance classroom practices.
- Cognitive neuroscience offers insights into competencies, learning processes, attention, reward, sleep, and knowledge transfer.
- Experimentation is crucial to test education protocols and measure their impact on behavior and the brain.
- Cognitive neuroscience can aid in developing teaching devices like school curricular manuals and software.
- Reading involves recognizing letters, connecting them to speech sounds and meaning, utilizing existing brain areas for spoken language.
- Learning to read changes brain areas like the letter box, visual cortex, and speech sound representation.
- Understanding brain changes in reading can explain phenomena like mirror reading, phonics versus whole word training, and the self-teaching aspect of letter-sound correspondences.
16:11
Brain plasticity and learning in children.
- Efficient tools can attract a child's attention and reward them for their abilities, leading to quick changes in young brains.
- The concept of neuronal recycling suggests that some brains are plastic enough to shift functions, as seen in reading.
- Humans, as primates, have inherited brain constraints affecting learning, including language, number, space, and time.
- Teachers should consider a child's early knowledge to enhance teaching by understanding what needs to be displaced in the child's brain.
- The human brain, like other primates, is organized to understand external concepts like number, with similar brain areas involved.
- The foundation of number sense develops into a full arithmetic system, with old brain systems needing recycling for arithmetic development.
- Software tools based on cognitive principles, like Number Catcher, are available to help children develop a better sense of number.
- The brain remains plastic in adults, allowing for learning to read, although possibly at a slower pace.
- Dyslexia may involve anomalies in brain circuits, with cursive writing beneficial for brain development and reading skills.
- Cultural and environmental factors, like vocabulary and phonics, can influence a child's ability to learn to read, emphasizing the importance of preparation from a young age.
