Scientific and Pragmatic Challenges for Bridging Education and Neuroscience

Educational neuroscience is an emerging effort to integrate neuro-science methods, particularly functional neuroimaging, with behavioral methods to address issues of learning and instruction. This article con-solidates common concerns about connecting education and neuro-science. One set of concerns is scientific: in-principle differences in methods, data, theory, and philosophy. The other set of concerns is pragmatic: considerations of costs, timing, locus of control, and likely payoffs. The authors first articulate the concerns and then revisit them, reinterpreting them as potential opportunities. They also provide instances of neuroscience findings and methods that are relevant to education. The goal is to offer education researchers a window into contemporary neuroscience to prepare them to think more specifi-cally about the prospects of educational neuroscience