The Neuroscience of Adult Learning

Book excerpt: This timely volume examines links between the emerging neurobiological research on adult learning and the adult educators' practice. Now that it is possible to trace the pathways of the brain involved in various learning tasks, we can also explore which learning environments are likely to be most effective. Topics explored in The Neuroscience of Adult Learning include: basic brain architecture and "executive" functions of the brain how learning can "repair" the effects of psychological trauma on the brain effects of stress and emotions on learning the centrality of experience to learning and construction of knowledge the mentor-learner relationship intersections between best practices in adult learning and current neurobiological discoveries Volume contributors include neurobiologists, educators, and clinical psychologists who have illuminated connections between how the brain functions and how to enhance learning. Although the immediate goal of this volume is to expand the discourse on adult teaching and learning practices, the overarching goal is to encourage adult learners toward more complex ways of knowing. This is the 110th volume of New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, a quarterly publication published by Jossey-Bass.