The contribution of imaging to understanding learning mechanisms in children

We learn with our brains, and what we learn transforms our brains. The period of childhood and adolescence is one of rapid change, due to the heterogeneous and prolonged maturation schedule of different brain regions. Since time immemorial, schools have relied on this period of significant plasticity, which fosters learning, to teach young people the knowledge they need to be effective adults in their society and culture. Thanks to advances in brain imaging, we can now visualize the brain regions active in a given task and the modifications linked to age and learning, and understand how the brains of children, adolescents and adults learn. How can schools take advantage of this knowledge, for example, in learning to read? How can knowledge of these mechanisms help teachers to be more effective in the classroom?

Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz is a pediatrician and head of the developmental neuroimaging team at NeuroSpin (Inserm, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay). She studies the brain bases of cognitive functions in infants and school-age children, to understand the relationships between brain maturation and environment in the development of these functions.