Neuroscience and Learning: Implications for Teaching Practice

Although neuroscience studies have provided us with an increasingly detailed picture of the basis for learning and memory, very little of this information has been applied within the area of teaching practice. We suggest that a better understanding of neuroscience may offer significant advantages for educators. In this context, we have considered recent studies in the neuroscience of learning and memory, with particular emphasis on working and semantic memory, and also suggest that neuroscience research into self-referential networks may improve our understanding of the learning process. Finally, we propose that advances in understanding the neural basis for metacognition may encourage the development of new perspectives that may help us to motivate students to learn about their own learning processes.