̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Usha Goswami

Why reading nursery rhymes and singing to babies may help them to learn language

cg605 — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:53:12 +0000

Parents should speak to their babies using sing-song speech, like nursery rhymes, as soon as possible, say researchers. That’s because babies learn languages from rhythmic information, not phonetic information, in their first months.

Phonetic information – the smallest sound elements of speech, typically represented by the alphabet – is considered by many linguists to be the foundation of language. Infants are thought to learn these small sound elements and add them together to make words. But a new study suggests that phonetic information is learnt too late and slowly for this to be the case.

Instead, rhythmic speech helps babies learn language by emphasising the boundaries of individual words and is effective even in the first months of life.

Researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin investigated babies’ ability to process phonetic information during their first year.

Their study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, found that phonetic information wasn’t successfully encoded until seven months old, and was still sparse at 11 months old when babies began to say their first words.

“Our research shows that the individual sounds of speech are not processed reliably until around seven months, even though most infants can recognise familiar words like ‘bottle’ by this point,” said Cambridge neuroscientist, Professor Usha Goswami. “From then individual speech sounds are still added in very slowly – too slowly to form the basis of language.”

̽��ֱ��researchers recorded patterns of electrical brain activity in 50 infants at four, seven and eleven months old as they watched a video of a primary school teacher singing 18 nursery rhymes to an infant. Low frequency bands of brainwaves were fed through a special algorithm, which produced a ‘read out’ of the phonological information that was being encoded.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that phonetic encoding in babies emerged gradually over the first year of life, beginning with labial sounds (e.g. b for “baby”) and nasal sounds (e.g. m for “mummy”), with the ‘read out’ progressively looking more like that of adults

First author, Professor Giovanni Di Liberto, a cognitive and computer scientist at Trinity College Dublin and a researcher at the ADAPT Centre, said: “This is the first evidence we have of how brain activity relates to phonetic information changes over time in response to continuous speech.”

Previously, studies have relied on comparing the responses to nonsense syllables, like “bif” and “bof” instead.

̽��ֱ��current study forms part of the BabyRhythm project led by Goswami, which is investigating how language is learnt and how this is related to dyslexia and developmental language disorder.

Goswami believes that it is rhythmic information – the stress or emphasis on different syllables of words and the rise and fall of tone – that is the key to language learning. A sister study, also part of the BabyRhythm project, has shown that rhythmic speech information was processed by babies at two months old – and individual differences predicted later language outcomes. ̽��ֱ��experiment was also conducted with adults who showed an identical ‘read out’ of rhythm and syllables to babies.

“We believe that speech rhythm information is the hidden glue underpinning the development of a well-functioning language system,” said Goswami. “Infants can use rhythmic information like a scaffold or skeleton to add phonetic information on to. For example, they might learn that the rhythm pattern of English words is typically strong-weak, as in ‘daddy’ or ‘mummy’, with the stress on the first syllable. They can use this rhythm pattern to guess where one word ends and another begins when listening to natural speech.”

“Parents should talk and sing to their babies as much as possible or use infant directed speech like nursery rhymes because it will make a difference to language outcome,” she added.

Goswami explained that rhythm is a universal aspect of every language all over the world. “In all language that babies are exposed to there is a strong beat structure with a strong syllable twice a second. We’re biologically programmed to emphasise this when speaking to babies.”

Goswami says that there is a long history in trying to explain dyslexia and developmental language disorder in terms of phonetic problems but that the evidence doesn’t add up. She believes that individual differences in children’s language originate with rhythm.

̽��ֱ��research was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and by Science Foundation Ireland.

More on this research

Di Liberto et al. Emergence of the cortical encoding of phonetic features in the first year of life, Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43490-x

Researchers find that babies don’t begin to process phonetic information reliably until seven months old which they say is too late to form the foundation of language.

This is the first evidence we have of how brain activity relates to phonetic information changes over time in response to continuous speech.

Professor Giovanni Di Liberto

Centre for Neuroscience in Education, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Babies wearing 'head cap' to measure electrical brain activity

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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̽��ֱ��Royal Society announces election of new Fellows 2021

cg605 — Thu, 06 May 2021 10:48:11 +0000

Over 60 outstanding scientists from all over the globe have joined the Royal Society as Fellows and Foreign Members. ̽��ֱ��distinguished group of scientists consists of 52 Fellows, 10 Foreign Members and one Honorary Fellow and were all selected for their exceptional contributions to science.

̽��ֱ��Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Its Foreign Members are drawn from the rest of the world.

̽��ֱ��Society’s fundamental purpose is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

“ ̽��ֱ��global pandemic has demonstrated the continuing importance of scientific thinking and collaboration across borders,” said President of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith.

“Each Fellow and Foreign Member bring their area of scientific expertise to the Royal Society and when combined, this expertise supports the use of science for the benefit of humanity.

“Our new Fellows and Foreign Members are all at the forefronts of their fields from molecular genetics and cancer research to tropical open ecosystems and radar technology. It is an absolute pleasure and honour to have them join us.”

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge:

Professor Julie Ahringer FMedSci FRS

Director and a Senior Group Leader of the Gurdon Institute

Professor Ahringer has made wide-ranging contributions to molecular genetics through her work on the nematode C. elegans. She carried out the first systematic inactivation of all the genes in any animal, which pioneered genome-wide reverse genetic screening.

Her research has illuminated our understanding of the processes underlying cell polarity and gene expression. This includes showing that spindle positioning is controlled by heterotrimeric G protein signalling, discovering a connection between chromatin marking and mRNA splicing, and most recently revealing mechanisms and principles of genome organisation and gene expression regulation.

“I am honoured to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society,” said Ahringer. “Much of science today is done in teams, and this reflects the tremendous contributions of my past and present lab members.”

Professor Sadaf Farooqi FRCP FMedSci FRS

Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Metabolism and Medicine, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science

Professor Farooqi is distinguished for her discoveries of fundamental mechanisms that control human energy homeostasis and their disruption in obesity. Farooqi discovered that the leptin-melanocortin system regulates appetite and weight in people and that genetic mutations affecting this pathway cause severe obesity. Findings by her team have directly led to diagnostic testing for genetic obesity syndromes world-wide and enabled life-saving treatment for some people with severe obesity.

Farooqi said: “As a clinician scientist, I am absolutely delighted to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. This prestigious honour recognises the work of many team members past and present, our network of collaborators across the world and the patients and their families who have contributed to our research.”

Professor Usha Goswami CBE FBA FRS

Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, and Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education

Professor Goswami has pioneered the application of neuroscience to education. Her research investigates the sensory and neural basis of childhood disorders of language and literacy, which are heritable and found across languages. Goswami's research shows a shared sensory and neural basis in auditory rhythmic processing. ̽��ֱ��acoustic ‘landmarks’ for speech rhythm provide automatic triggers for aligning speech rhythms and brain rhythms, and Goswami has shown that this automatic process can be disrupted, thereby disrupting speech encoding for these children.

“It is a huge honour to be elected to the Royal Society and a wonderful acknowledgement of our research in the Centre for Neuroscience in Education,” said Goswami. “I have been interested in children's reading and language development since training as a primary school teacher, and we have used neuroscientific insights to understand the mechanisms underpinning developmental language disorders. It is fantastically rewarding for our work to be recognised in this way.”

Professor Rebecca Kilner FRS

Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Director of the ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology

Professor Kilner researches the evolution of animal behaviour, and how this behaviour then affects the pace and scope of subsequent evolutionary change. Using experimental evolution, her current work investigates how quickly populations can adapt when environmental conditions change.

Kilner discovered novel ways in which social behaviour drives evolutionary change. She used elegant cross-fostering experiments in birds and insects to expose how family members exert selection on each other, and discovered hidden evolutionary conflicts between parents and their offspring, and among adults caring together for offspring.

Kilner said: “I’m astonished, honoured and delighted to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. This honour is shared with everyone I have ever worked with. Science is a team effort and I’ve been incredibly lucky to collaborate with brilliant colleagues throughout my career.”

Professor David Rowitch FMedSci FRS

Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator

Professor Rowitch’s basic and translational research on glial cells, comprising 90% of cells in the human brain, has been transformative. Rowitch’s established how embryonic central nervous patterning specifies myelinating oligodendrocytes through essential functions of Olig2, a study that helped initiate genetic methodologies in glial biology, and how astrocyte functional diversification is critical for support of neural circuits in the spinal cord. He has applied a developmental neuroscience perspective to better understand human neonatal brain development and white matter injury in premature infants, multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophy.

Rowitch said: “It is a great honour to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, joining many of my esteemed Cambridge, and other scientific, colleagues.”

Professor Richard Samworth FRS

Professor of Statistical Science and Director of the Statistical Laboratory

Professor Samworth has made fundamental contributions to the development of modern statistical methodology and theory. His research concerns the development of statistical methods and theory to address contemporary data challenges, often posed by the large volumes of data that are routinely collected in today's Big Data era.

“I was incredibly honoured when I found out I'd been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,” said Samworth. “It's a real thrill to become a small part of such a respected institution.”

Professor Benjamin Simons FRS

Royal Society EP Abraham Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Senior Group Leader of the Gurdon Institute

As a theorist, Professor Simons has contributed to a diverse range of fields, from quantum condensed matter physics to developmental and cancer biology. His research translates concepts and approaches from statistical physics to gain predictive insights in the collective dynamics of complex systems. In biology, his studies have revealed common mechanisms of stem cell regulation, and how these programmes become subverted during the early phase of tumour growth.

Simons said: “I am delighted to be elected to the Fellowship. I hope that my election may serve to emphasise the value of multidisciplinary research that stands at the interface between physics and the life sciences.”

Wellcome Sanger Institute:

Dr Peter Campbell FMedSci FRS, Head, Cancer, Ageing, and Somatic Mutations Programme, Wellcome Sanger Institute (and Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge).

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology:

Dr Christopher Tate FRS, MRC Investigator, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Dr Sjors Scheres FRS, Group Leader, Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

British Antarctic Survey:

Professor Dame Jane Francis DCMG FRS, Director, British Antarctic Survey

Professor Richard Horne FRS, Head, Space Weather and Atmosphere, British Antarctic Survey

Cambridge scientists are among the new Fellows announced today by the Royal Society.

Our new Fellows and Foreign Members are all at the forefronts of their fields from molecular genetics and cancer research to tropical open ecosystems and radar technology.

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Cambridge academics recognised in 2021 New Year Honours

sc604 — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 09:52:29 +0000

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College, has been knighted for services to autism research and autistic people. He is one of the top autism researchers in the world, and is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the British Psychological Society. He served as Chair of the NICE Guidelines for autism and is Director of the charity the Autism Centre of Excellence and Vice President of the National Autistic Society. He was President of the International Society for Autism Research. He created the first clinic worldwide to diagnose autism in adults and championed the human rights of autistic people at the UN. He is author of ̽��ֱ��Essential Difference, Zero Degrees of Empathy, and ̽��ֱ��Pattern Seekers, which have captured the public imagination.

Professor Baron-Cohen said: “This honour came as a complete surprise, and I accept it on behalf of the talented team of scientists at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, and on behalf of the Autism Research Trust, the charity that has supported us. ̽��ֱ��basic needs and human rights of autistic people and their families are still not being met by statutory services, due to insufficient funding, so we are creating a new charity, the Autism Centre of Excellence, to address this gap.”

Professor Usha Goswami, Director for the Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience and Fellow of St. John’s College, becomes CBE for services to educational research.

Her research focuses on children’s cognitive development, particularly the development of language and literacy. Her world-leading work on dyslexia led to the discovery that children with the disorder hear language differently, showing it to be a language disorder and not a visual disorder as previously thought. This significant finding is enabling the development of transformative new educational interventions, which will benefit millions of children with dyslexia worldwide.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this award,” said Professor Goswami. “I have been interested in children’s development since training as a primary school teacher and it is wonderful to have my research recognised in this way.

Professor Val Gibson, Professor of High Energy Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, ̽��ֱ�� Gender Equality Champion and Fellow of Trinity College, has been made OBE for service to Science, Women in Science and Public Engagement.

Her research interest is the search for new phenomena using particles containing heavy quarks, which are produced in copious amounts at the Large Hadron Collider, and hold the key to our understanding of the matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe. From 2004-2008, she was the UK Spokesperson and PI for the LHCb experiment and had ultimate responsibility to deliver the UK contributions to the experiment. She is currently the Chair of the LHCb Collaboration Board, the decision-making body for the experiment, with representatives from 78 institutes across the world.

Professor Gibson said: “It is an honour to be recognised for all three of my passions: research into the most fundamental particles and forces of nature, including the mystery of why we live in a Universe made of matter and not antimatter; support for gender equality and diversity in science; and the public engagement activities I have undertaken over many years.”

Dr Michael Weekes from the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID) has been awarded the British Empire Medal for or services to the NHS during COVID-19. He developed a comprehensive COVID-19 screening programme for Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Hospitals healthcare workers, Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� staff and students.

Dr Weekes said: "I’m deeply honoured to have had the chance to be part of the team that set up COVID testing for Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Hospitals. I’d particularly like to acknowledge the contribution of Steve Baker, Rob Howes and Giles Wright, who played vital roles in testing and organisation. I hope that vaccination will soon mean that hospitals become even safer places to work and be cared for."

Researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have been recognised in the 2021 New Year Honours, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to society.

L-R: Simon Baron-Cohen, Usha Goswami, Val Gibson

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Inside the mind of a young person

cjb250 — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:18:17 +0000

Stimulate your brain with the Cambridge BRAINFest 2017

cjb250 — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 09:14:32 +0000

̽��ֱ��three day event, running from 23-25 June, will allow audiences to quiz more than 130 leading Cambridge neuroscientists on everything from dementia and dyslexia through to memory and mental health.

“We’re all fascinated by the brain – its complexity is what makes us so unique as a species,” says Dr Dervila Glynn, coordinator of Cambridge Neuroscience, who is organising the event. “Cambridge is one of the major centres in the UK, if not the world, for studying how the brain works, and why in many cases it goes wrong, leading to disease. Cambridge BRAINFest is our chance to showcase the brilliant work that is taking place across the city.”

Throughout the weekend, the Cambridge Corn Exchange will be transformed into an interactive tour of the brain, with themes including ‘Development’, ‘Brain & Body’, ‘Pain & Pleasure’, Perception & Imagination’ and ‘Learning & Forgetting’ spanning research from molecules to man. Visitors, adults and children alike, will get the opportunity to take part in experiments across 30 different interactive exhibits and even build their own brain. A ‘Secret Cinema’ will show a series of films that illustrate how Cambridge researchers are tackling conditions such as dementia and OCD. Meanwhile, Café Scientifique will explore the breadth of brain science from body clocks and brain networks to the weird and wonderful world of the naked mole-rat.

On 23 June, the opening night, audiences at the Babbage Lecture Theatre will hear from BBC Horizon presenter Dr Giles Yeo about why we are all getting fatter, from Professor Usha Goswami about how dyslexic brains may be in tune but out of time, and from Professor Roger Barker on how we can repair the degenerating brain. Poet Lavinia Greenlaw will perform a moving poem about dementia, while Cambridgeshire-based Dance Ensemblé will explore the story of Parkinson’s disease through the medium of dance.

̽��ֱ��following night, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, will chair a panel discussion with mental health experts from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and from Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, looking at the ongoing research that will help us better understand and treat mental health disorders and how we can bridge the existing gap between neuroscience research and current practice in the health service. ̽��ֱ��panel will look at issues including how the brain and body interact, the stigma surrounding mental health problems and the transition between child and adult psychiatry.

For those wishing to take advantage of the sights around Cambridge, a historical self-guided ‘Neurotrail’ will lead explorers around the places, people, and discoveries that have put our city at the heart of our understanding of the brain. Maps will be available at the Corn Exchange on the weekend.

̽��ֱ��foyer of the Corn Exchange will be transformed by BRAINArt, an exhibition of brain-inspired art by local school children. In the lead up to Cambridge BRAINFest, Dr Glynn visited 1,400 pupils, talked about the brain and enthused her audiences about the body’s most complex organ.

“As a researcher, it can be thrilling to discuss our work with the public,” says Professor Angela Roberts, chair of the organising committee. “It’s an opportunity for us to share some of the excitement that comes from working at the cutting-edge of research. But equally, it’s a chance for us to hear the public’s views about our work. We expect some fascinating – and potentially challenging – discussions will arise.”

Cambridge BRAINFest 2017 builds on the success of major public engagement events organised by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, including the Cambridge Science Festival in spring and the Festival of Ideas in autumn.

All events are free, but booking is recommended for the evening events at the Babbage Lecture Theatre. Further details, including how to book, can be found on the Cambridge BRAINFest 2017 website.

Join the #CambridgeBRAINfest conversation on Twitter @CamNeuro and on Facebook.

Why are we getting so fat? Why do teenagers really need to lie-in? And can we fix a broken brain? These are just some of the questions that will be answered at Cambridge BRAINFest 2017, a free public festival celebrating the most complex organ in the body.

Cambridge is one of the major centres in the UK, if not the world, for studying how the brain works, and why in many cases it goes wrong, leading to disease. Cambridge BRAINFest is our chance to showcase the brilliant work that is taking place across the city

Dervila Glynn

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brain 22

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̽��ֱ��educational neuroscience of dyslexia and dyscalculia

bjb42 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Developmental dyslexia, which manifests as a difficulty in reading and spelling, affects about 7% of schoolchildren, mostly boys, and presents a major obstacle to educational success, future mental health and lifetime earning. Its mathematical counterpart, developmental dyscalculia, affects about 6% of schoolchildren and is found equally in boys and girls. According to figures released from the UK Government Office for Science, dyscalculia has an even higher impact on educational success than dyslexia.

Early diagnosis and appropriate educational support are known to have lasting benefits for children and adults affected by these disorders. To get this right, a better understanding is needed of how the brain acquires reading and maths skills, and the new field of educational neuroscience is helping to find the answers. In the forefront of these studies is Cambridge’s Centre for Neuroscience in Education. With £2 million recent funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC), the researchers at the Centre aim to discover neural markers for dyslexia and dyscalculia through brain imaging techniques. This will enable affected children to be identified as early as possible and for targeted remediation to be delivered.

A world first

̽��ֱ��Centre for Neuroscience in Education was the first neuroscience laboratory in the world to be established within a Faculty of Education. Launched formally in 2005, with an inaugural conference that attracted 220 teachers and educators from over 15 countries, the Centre now has a team of 24 students and researchers. Staff are trained in a variety of disciplines, spanning psychology, education, medicine, linguistics and physics. ̽��ֱ��Centre is directed by Professor Usha Goswami, with Dr Dénes Szucs as ̽��ֱ�� Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience and Education. In November 2010, the Centre moved to the Department of Experimental Psychology in order to take advantage of on-site new high performance data networks and infrastructure for neuroscience.

From electrochemical signals to education

̽��ֱ��main brain imaging technology used in the Centre is the electroencephalogram (EEG), a technique that can measure the voltage changes that are caused by the electrochemical activity of brain cells. Whenever a child (or adult) is thinking or feeling, tiny electrical changes occur in the brain. These changes can be measured by sensitive electrodes that are placed on the skin of the scalp, mounted in a special hairnet that enables direct recordings of brain activity to be taken. ̽��ֱ��technique is painless, the electrodes are easy to put on and the children enjoy the measurement sessions.

But how can these electrical measurements tell us anything about the process of learning? A developmental dyslexia project is making this link by following over 100 children on a yearly basis for five years, making brain measurements at the same time as analysing speech processing, auditory processing, reading and spelling. One area of particular focus is a specific difficulty in processing the sound patterns of words, a skill called phonological awareness, which has been known for over 20 years to be the hallmark of developmental dyslexia.

̽��ֱ��sound of syllables

Children with dyslexia find it difficult to decide whether words rhyme and to count the number of syllables in a word like oasis. One reason is that aspects of the auditory signal in speech are processed less efficiently by the dyslexic brain.

In a simple auditory tone task that has now been used with dyslexic children learning languages as diverse as English, Spanish, Chinese and Finnish, scientists at the Centre have shown that one particular sound parameter is more difficult to discriminate. A bit like the difference in the onset of loudness between a trumpet note and a violin note, there is a difference in the rate of onset of loudness that occurs as we produce syllables; the Cambridge researchers have found that this is impaired in developmental dyslexia. In fact, this processing difficulty means that children with dyslexia are impaired in any auditory rhythmic task – including perceiving metrical structure in music and tapping along to a beat.

Reading in rhythm

To further complicate matters, the way in which the pre-literate brain represents language is fundamentally different to the way in which the literate brain represents language. Learning to read changes the brain because learning an alphabet makes us conceptualise spoken words in terms of their spelling patterns. We automatically hear spoken language as a series of the kinds of sounds represented by letters (e.g. we hear cat as c + a + t); this connection between sounds and letters is called phonics. ̽��ֱ��dyslexic brain does not have the auditory distinctions efficiently in place to which phonics instruction can be easily linked.

Currently, the main remediation offered to children with developmental dyslexia is yet more intensive instruction in phonics. Instead, the research in Cambridge suggests that interventions based on rhythm and even music may be beneficial, at much earlier ages. Rhythm is more overt in music than in language, and other projects at the Centre have shown that being able to sing in time with music is predictive of syllable and rhyming skills, and that training in rhythm improves phonological awareness. Several educational interventions based on musical and speech rhythms are currently being developed at the Centre.

Magnitude of the problem

̽��ֱ��MRC project on dyscalculia is just beginning but, here too, the neurological basis of the disorder is under scrutiny because a distinct area in the brain’s parietal cortex seems to be specialised for understanding magnitude. Children with dyscalculia have enormous difficulties in making decisions about quantities, such as ‘how much is four?’ Intriguingly, however, scientists at the Centre have shown that the main sensory marker of magnitude difficulties – being slower to make judgements about numbers that are closer together than further apart – is not deficient in children with dyscalculia. But these children do have very poor working memories, finding it both difficult to keep relevant information in mind and to recognise mistakes.

When children start learning maths at school, changes largely occur in the language areas of the brain. ̽��ֱ��ensuing neural connections that form between memory, magnitude and decision-making processes may underlie what goes wrong in dyscalculia. This hypothesis will be explored using a variety of non-invasive imaging techniques at the Centre and in collaboration with the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, in an effort to use spatial imaging technologies to deliver exact information about where the affected networks are in the brain.

With foresight

̽��ֱ��Centre is also beginning to have an input into Government policy. Professor Goswami was the scientific co-ordinator for Learning Difficulties within the Government Office of Science ‘Foresight’ project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing in 2008, one of three Cambridge scientists in the lead team (along with Professors Barbara Sahakian and Felicia Huppert). If the recommendations of the Foresight project are implemented nationally, then the insights from brain science for education will eventually be reflected in the basic training of all the teachers in the country. When that happens, all university Departments of Education will need some expertise in brain science - and as the Centre retains strong links with the Faculty of Education, Cambridge will be well-placed to contribute to such new training.

For more information, please contact the author, Professor Usha Goswami (ucg10@cam.ac.uk), at the Centre for Neuroscience in Education. Research at the Centre is funded by grants from the MRC, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), European Union, Leverhulme Trust and Nuffield Foundation.

For some children, acquiring the important skills of learning to read or do arithmetic is fraught with difficulty. Educational neuroscience is helping to understand why.

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dyslexia

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