- Brain Research - Assignment Example

In determining if any links exist between brain function and learning ability, researchers have long hoped to be able to recommend certain curricular changes to help better reach students based upon their unique brain functions (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011). The intent of this brief paper, therefore, is to identify the recent discoveries in the field of neuroscience, apply those to the learning process and differentiation, and to develop teaching strategies to accommodate this new information. Recent Discoveries in Neuroscience Recent years have bought some interesting new innovations in the field of neuroscience.

In 2012, for example, researchers were able to begin isolating certain thoughts as they occurred in the brain. It is now possible to identify specific words and thoughts in the brain, isolate them, and be able to observe up to two different conscious thoughts at the same time. This is a sense of multitasking, and neuroscience now makes it possible to learn how this process occurs in the human brain, as well as that of certain animals closely related to us, such as the chimpanzee. This thought process is similar to the computer, which creates even more possibilities of using neuroscience for technological, as well as educational, advancements in the future.

The new discoveries, as mentioned, are having great impact on technology. In 2012, by way of example, neuroscience helped a human in a vegetative state for more than 12 years be able to communicate once again. The individual was trapped inside his own body, in pain, but unable to communicate or even move. By mapping the brain, the individual was able to begin communicating to doctors through brain mapping techniques discussed in the previous paragraph. Because of this, he was able to communicate for the first time in 12 years, providing great hope that neuroscience would be able to help bring brain mapping to the forefront of communication in the future.

The Learning Process and Differentiation Let us consider individuals with dyslexia. In years past, it was often difficult to diagnose such individuals. They were simply considered low performing readers. As such, these individuals were often frustrated because they could not determine for themselves why they could perform well in most others areas of life, yet reading became so difficult. By implementing neuroscience in the equation, however, the learning process was enhanced as educators were able to determine what exactly was taking place in people whose brain simply reversed the letters in certain words.

Once this was determined, it became possible to work within the disorder, developing strategies of differentiation, all the while enabling the individual to begin to read effectively and limit their frustration (Goswami, 2006, p. 408). Neuroscience has truly revolutionized the learning process and the way that differentiation is utilized within the classroom. Differentiation has long been used in many classroom as a way of providing all students in the class with the same material, but delivered in multiple ways.

Educational theorists over the years have discovered that some students process information, construct ideas, and make sense of new concepts in different ways. Some of these methods have long been a mystery to many teachers, yet differentiation was utilized in an attempt to reach as many