Brain-Based Research

The term brain-based research reveals a general enthusiasm on the part of education to understand principles of human brain function in order to enrich pedagogy, calibrate intervention, and inform policy more strategically. Historically and in the recent past, several scholars have viewed the relationship between brain research and educational practice with a healthy skepticism due to past examples of overgeneralization and misinterpretation of scientific findings, relegated now to the general category of neuromyth, leaving many scientists wary of practical interpretations by enthusiastic and well-meaning practitioners. John Bruer, president of the McDonnell Foundation, bore down on the policy and education worlds for overgeneralized application of research findings on early development. His now famous analogy of “a bridge too far” between the disciplines is now widely employed ...