Professor Denis Mareschal of the CEN is giving a talk at a mediated workshop run by the Learnus focus group on Tuesday October 15th  6.00 – 8.30 pm 2013 at the Institute of Education.

His presentation is entitled “The Science and Art of Reasoning”.

There will be a PhD symposium entitled ‘Educational Neuroscience: A celebration of recent developments, theory and research’ at the forthcoming PsyPAG 2013 conference to be held at Lancaster University, 17-19 July 2013. Click here for further details. The symposium is sponsored by the BPS Psychology of Education Section. Here’s the abstract:

The symposium aims to present current research in educational neuroscience. The primary goal of this emerging field is to combine research in education, or educational psychology, with research from cognitive neuroscience. This is essential for understanding the cognitive mechanisms that underpin educational success, and provides an understanding of the relevant neural networks associated with learning. Furthermore, research has examined how oscillatory brain mechanisms can affect sensory perception, and how perception builds more complex cognitive systems. Educational neuroscience has wide-ranging implications, not only for how we understand the systems that underpin human learning, but by bringing us one step further to being able to predict different profiles of dysfunction. This knowledge is vital for facilitating diagnosis, and developing interventions that promote learning. The symposia will begin by introducing the conceptual framework of educational neuroscience, as described by Fischer, Goswami and Geake (2010), alongside research which has aimed to examine the electrophysiological basis of working memory in dyslexic individuals, and the consequences of an impaired working memory for learning. Therefore, this symposium aims to exhibit relevant research on brain functioning and learning, in typical and atypical populations. This might include, neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, PET, EEG and MEG), or genetic studies of neurological function. Research that details how social learning processes have a top down influence upon the development of these cognitive mechanisms will also be welcomed. The symposium offers an excellent opportunity to discuss methodologies, theories and research within the field.

On April 17th, Prof. Michael Thomas gave a public lecture as part of Birkbeck’s Science week, on the topic of ‘The latest findings in autism research’.

Read a blog on the lecture here.

CEN’s Chloe Marshall and Michael Thomas gave keynote presentations to the Reading Recovery – Teacher Leader Professional Development Meeting at Institute of Education, on 7 March 2013.

Their talks gave an overview of recent cognitive neuroscience research on reading acquisition and developmental dyslexia. How does our knowledge of the brain basis of reading inform intervention for reading difficulties?