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Research -- StepUp to Learn

New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit

New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit

A study of spatial learning in mice shows that exposure to new experiences dampens established representations in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, allowing the mice to learn new navigation strategies.

Posted in Engagement, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Researchers have found evidence that spontaneous eye blink activity, which reflects activity in the dopaminergic system, explains the connection between fitness and cognitive function.

Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

We Hear What We Want to Hear

We Hear What We Want to Hear

New findings on the importance of anticipation in brain organization, specifically in auditory processing.
Posted in Attention, Language, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience

How Our Brains Know When Something's Different

How Our Brains Know When Something's Different

Scientists discovered how a set of high frequency brain waves may help us unconsciously know when something's different by comparing memories of the past with present experiences.
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience

Strong links between music and math, reading achievement

Strong links between music and math, reading achievement

A music educator thought he could disprove the notion of a link between students’ musical and mathematical achievement. He was wrong.

Posted in Attention, Education, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Music, Neuroscience

Reading Through a Visual Dictionary in the Brain

Reading Through a Visual Dictionary in the Brain

Scientists have now identified a crucial region in the temporal lobe, know as the mid-fusiform cortex, which appears to act as the brain's visual dictionary.
Posted in Education, Language, Memory, Neuroscience, Reading Skills

Preschoolers Can’t See the Mountains for the Cat

Preschoolers Can’t See the Mountains for the Cat

Even when told to pay attention to the mountain in this photo, preschool children focus so much on the cat that they won’t later recognize the same mountain. Why?
Posted in Attention, Language, Memory, Neuroscience

Regular Physical Activity Seems to Enhance Cognition in Children Who Need it Most

Regular Physical Activity Seems to Enhance Cognition in Children Who Need it Most

New research shows that regular physical activity can enhance cognitive functions, especially in those who have the most room for improvement.
Posted in Education, Memory, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

Sport and Memory Go Hand in Hand

Sport and Memory Go Hand in Hand

By exploring the benefits of sport in memory and motor learning, scientists are opening up promising perspectives for school programs.

Posted in Education, Memory, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

Why Writing By Hand Makes Kids Smarter

Why Writing By Hand Makes Kids Smarter

New brain research shows that writing by hand helps children learn more and remember better. At the same time, schools are becoming more and more digital.
Posted in Attention, Education, Handwriting, Memory

Visual-Spatial Learning Disorder Is More Common Than Thought

Visual-Spatial Learning Disorder Is More Common Than Thought

Nonverbal learning disability (NVLD), a poorly understood and often-overlooked disorder that causes problems with visual-spatial processing, may affect nearly 3 million children in the United States, making it one of the most common learning disorders.
Posted in Education, Health & Wellness, Mathematics, Memory, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience, Reading Skills, Social Development

Naming Guides How 12-Month-Old Infants Encode and Remember Objects

Naming Guides How 12-Month-Old Infants Encode and Remember Objects

Even for infants just beginning to speak their first words, the way an object is named guides infants' encoding, representation and memory for that object, according to new research. Encoding objects in memory and recalling them later is fundamental to human cognition and emerges in infancy. Evidence from a new recognition memory task reveals that as they encode objects, infants are sensitive to a principled link between naming and object representation by 12 months.

Posted in Memory, Neuroscience