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PhD Ed. Neuroscience: PHDC710- Educational Neuroscience Typical and Atypical Function

Course Description

This course explores current issues in Educational Neuroscience and Behavior by looking at typical and atypical function, including learning difficulties. Foundational areas of neuroscience, such as brain anatomy and brain mapping techniques, and their application to education are explored. Students will develop a critical understanding of brain anatomy, mechanisms, and cognitive function, in the context of educational neuroscience, incorporating individual differences, group differences, and ethical issues. Links between neuroscience and education are approached from different viewpoints, with the purpose independently developing educationally-relevant questions that can be addressed with brain-based techniques.

Articles

Meltzoff, A. N., Kuhl, P. K., Movellan, J., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2009). Foundations for a new science of learning. Science, 325(5938), 284-288. 

Gabrieli, J. D. (2009). Dyslexia: a new synergy between education and cognitive neuroscience. Science, 325(5938), 280-283. https://doi.org/10.1126/science

Dehaene, S., Izard, V., Pica, P., & Spelke, E. (2006). Core knowledge of geometry in an Amazonian indigene group. Science, 311(5759), 381-384. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1121739

Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical Cognition without Words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science 306, 496-499. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094492

Gurung, R., & Prata, D. P. (2015). What is the impact of genome-wide supported risk variants for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder on brain structure and function? A systematic review. Psychological medicine, 45(12), 2461. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715000537

Saxe, R., Brett, M., & Kanwisher, N. (2006). Divide and conquer: a defense of functional localizers. Neuroimage, 30(4), 1088-1096.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.12.062

Zhao, M., Bülthoff, H. H., & Bülthoff, I. (2016). Beyond faces and expertise: Facelike holistic processing of nonface objects in the absence of expertise. Psychological science, 27(2), 213-222.

Tomita, H., Ohbayashi, M., Nakahara, K., Hasegawa, I., & Miyashita, Y. (1999). Top-down signal from prefrontal cortex in executive control of memory retrieval. Nature, 401(6754), 699-703. https://doi.org/10.1038/44372

Ball, G., Malpas, C. B., Genc, S., Efron, D., Sciberras, E., Anderson, V., ... & Silk, T. J. (2019). Multimodal structural neuroimaging markers of brain development and ADHD symptoms. American Journal of Psychiatry, 176(1), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.18010034

D'Esposito M, Postle BR. The cognitive neuroscience of working memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 115-42. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015031

Astle, D. E., Bathelt, J., CALM team, & Holmes, J. (2019). Remapping the cognitive and neural profiles of children who struggle at school. Developmental science, 22(1), e12747. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12747

Liberzon, I., & Sripada, C. S. (2007). The functional neuroanatomy of PTSD: a critical review. Progress in brain research, 167, 151-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(07)67011-3

Dixon ML, Thiruchselvam R, Todd R, Christoff K. (2017). Emotion and the prefrontal cortex: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 143(10):1033-1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000096

Damasio A, Carvalho GB. (2013). The nature of feelings: evolutionary and neurobiological origins. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(2),143-52. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3403

Immordino-Yang MH, Yang XF, Damasio H. (2016). Cultural modes of expressing emotions influence how emotions are experienced. Emotion, 16(7):1033-9. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000201

Pylkkänen L. The neural basis of combinatory syntax and semantics (2019). Science. 366(6461),62-66 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0050

Kuhl PK. Is speech learning 'gated' by the social brain? Developmental Science, 10, 110-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00572.x.

Pinker, S. (1991). Rules of Language. Science, 253, 530-535. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1857983

Kuhl, P. (2004). Early Language Acquisition: Cracking the Speech Code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5, 831-843. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1533

Del Tufo SN, Frost SJ, Hoeft F, Cutting LE, Molfese PJ, Mason GF, Rothman DL, Fulbright RK, Pugh KR. (2018). Neurochemistry Predicts Convergence of Written and Spoken Language: a Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of Cross-Modal Language Integration. Frontiers in Psychology. 9,1507. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01507

Gopnik A, O'Grady S, Lucas CG, Griffiths TL, Wente A, Bridgers S, Aboody R, Fung H, Dahl RE. (2017). Changes in cognitive flexibility and hypothesis search across human life history from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science U S A. 114(30):7892-7899. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700811114

Patael SZ, Farris EA, Black JM, Hancock R, Gabrieli JDE, Cutting LE, Hoeft F.(2018). Brain basis of cognitive resilience: Prefrontal cortex predicts better reading comprehension in relation to decoding. PLoS One. 13(6):e0198791. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198791

Aarts E, van Holstein M, Hoogman M, Onnink M, Kan C, Franke B, Buitelaar J, Cools R. (2015). Reward modulation of cognitive function in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a pilot study on the role of striatal dopamine. Behavioral Pharmacology. 26(1-2):227-40. https://doi.org/10.1097/FBP.0000000000000116

Kilford, E. J., Garrett, E., & Blakemore, S. J. (2016). The development of social cognition in adolescence: An integrated perspective. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 70, 106-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.016

Gopnik A. (2020). Childhood as a solution to explore-exploit tensions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences. ,375(1803),20190502. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0502

Fitzgerald JM, Klumpp H, Langenecker S, Phan KL. (2019). Transdiagnostic neural correlates of volitional emotion regulation in anxiety and depression. Depression and Anxiety. 36(5):453-464. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22859

Mahar I, Bambico FR, Mechawar N, Nobrega JN. (2014). Stress, serotonin, and hippocampal neurogenesis in relation to depression and antidepressant effects. Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews. 38,173-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.11.009

Software and online resources

MatLab
SPSS

Books

e-Journals

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