Arts & Cognition

   This week in my master's program, we discussed the interesting topic of arts training and cognition posed by the neuroscientific data compiled by dana.org. There are some key causal examples of the arts being helpful in cognition. Music, for instance, can be extremely beneficial to long-term memory, geometric and numerical representations, reading acquisition, sequencing and more. I've always been a strong believer that the arts are crucial to developing a well-rounded adult, but there is some key evidence in neuroeducation that link arts training to neural benevolence. For example, a study that surveyed adults showed that those who self-reported aesthetic and art-appreciation were temporally more open individuals. So, let's put more of this in our classroom environment:

               Picasso, Pablo, 1921. "Still Life with Guitar," retrieved from http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-122.php.

and this,

and much more! The possibilities are endless :)

   I also ready an awesome article on promoting brain science literacy in the classroom. Studies show that children who are taught about brain science can develop better study skills and improved cognitive acquisition! This can be as easy as giving a lesson on optical illusions. For example, we can teach the cognitive processes associate with what the brain perceives, why it perceives what it does, and how it may be tricked by an optical illusion. So, ask your students, is it a rabbit or a duck? And why?

                                                                  Image retrieved from http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/illusions/illusion_07.htm

  

    Educators like me, you may also enjoy this TED talk on optical illusions and brain science, I think it's fascinating stuff and would love to share it with my students one day to help promote brain science literacy! 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html

Thanks for reading! :)