NICHD research encompasses a range of groundbreaking studies of brain function and learning. Basic research may one day enable clinicians to treat Alzheimer’s or other memory and learning disorders. Investigations of factors in educational success will enable teachers to use the most effective, science-based methods to teach children, enhancing their chances for success in the workplace and, ultimately, as parents preparing their own children to learn and to succeed. For example, one recent discovery demonstrates the essential role of a protein in long-term memory. Another provides evidence that a specific method of teaching reading produces the type of brain activity observed in children who have mastered this skill. Research findings on how children learn scientific reasoning skills may prompt revisions in current educational programs.

Researchers prove that a protein makes long-term memory possible. From language to literature, from music to mathematics, a single protein appears central to the formation of the long-term memories needed to learn these and all other disciplines, according to recently reported research. The researchers proved that a previously-identified chemical reaction helps the protein to form naturally in the brain, and makes long-term memory possible. [i]   The protein (mBDNF) appears to alter nerve cells chemically, boosting their ability to send messages to one another. Scientists had suspected that a precursor form of the protein (BDNF) played a role in memory and previous studies had deciphered chemical reactions leading to the formation of the protein. Scientists did not know, however, whether the same reaction occurs in the brain or whether the protein underlies the formation of long-term memory. The proof emerged from a series of experiments, using mouse brain tissue, that showed conclusively that each compound in the chemical reaction was essential to the formation of the protein, and that the protein is essential to the long-term memory process. These findings set the stage for researchers to investigate whether defects in the BDNF protein system may lead to disorders of learning and memory. It is also possible that the protein may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, as some studies have shown reduced levels of it in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Imaging study reveals that brain function of poor readers can improve. NICHD-supported researchers demonstrated that after children with developmental dyslexia received structured intervention and overcame this reading disability, their brains began to function like those of good readers. [ii]    Previous research had shown that a phonetics-based instruction method based on awareness of sounds produced by particular letters can help reading-disabled children become fluent readers. In the latest study, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a brain imaging technology, to compare brain activity in reading-disabled children instructed in this method with brain activity in a control group receiving standard instruction. Those children receiving the specialized instruction outpaced the other children in reading skills and researchers found changes in their brain organization, both at the time of the initial intervention and a year later. These findings show that effective reading instruction not only improves reading ability, but also changes the brain’s functioning to better perform reading tasks.

More students learn science by instruction than by discovery . Researchers have shown that a significantly higher proportion of school children learn critical scientific reasoning skills when they are instructed explicitly about experimental procedures rather than when they try, on their own, to develop such procedures to accomplish specific tasks. [iii]   The new research raises doubts about a widely-accepted conventional belief that children who acquire knowledge by “constructing” it themselves are better able to apply and extend what they have learned when they “discover” phenomena, without instruction. The researchers posed a simple scientific question to the children: figure out what properties of a ramp (steepness, length, smoothness, etc.) affect how far a ball will roll. The researchers assigned third and fourth graders to two instructional conditions. Children in one group were taught explicitly how to use a procedure to design and interpret simple scientific experiments. Children in the other, “discovery” group received only a suggested learning objective, and no other teaching. Children in both groups were then asked to compare several variables, such as steepness, surface, and type of ball, to determine how they affected the distance that a ball traveled after rolling down a ramp. Children in the explicit instruction group were told to change one variable at a time and record the results. The children in the discovery learning group were not given any explanations about the experiment. Seventy-five percent of the explicitly taught children were able to identify the variables that affect the distance a ball will travel compared with only twenty-five percent in the “discovery” group. This study adds to the evidence-base that educators can use to strengthen science curriculum for children.