Learning physics may activate new brain areas
New York, May 25: Brain areas that are traditionally not associated with learning science can become active when people are confronted with solving physics problems, finds a study.
This shows that the brain's activity can be modified by different forms of instruction.
"The neurobiological processes that underpin learning are complex and not always directly connected to what we think it means to learn," said lead author Eric Brewe, Associate Professor at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, US.
The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in ICT, showed that newer brain regions associated with attention, working memory and problem solving -- the lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex, sometimes called the brain's "central executive network" - showed activity when dealing with such problems.
Another area that became active was the posterior cingulate cortex, which is linked to episodic memory and self-referential thought.
"These changes in brain activity may be related to more complex behavioural changes in how students reason through physics questions post- relative to pre-instruction," Brewe noted.
"These might include shifts in strategy or an increased access to physics knowledge and problem-solving resources," he said.
Using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure blood flow in the brain, the researchers looked to map what areas become active when completing a physics reasoning task, both before a course on the concepts and after.
A small group of students were taught a physics course that utilised "Modeling Instruction," a style of teaching which encourages students to be active participants in their learning.
"This suggests that learning physics is an imaginative process, which is not typically how people think of it," Brewe said, in reference to the study which aimed to further explore how students use their own mental models to understand new concepts.
"The idea of mental models is something that people who research learning love to talk about, but have no evidence of what is happening inside brains other than what people say or do," Brewe said.
"We are actually looking for evidence from inside the brain."
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
