Brains That Fire Together Wire Together 

When researchers used neural imaging technology on students and teachers as they learned together, they caught a fascinating glimpse of how brains can converge around a shared understanding.

What’s the practical takeaway? Stronger “brain synchrony” between peers—and between students and teachers—predicted better academic performance on follow-up tests, underscoring the importance of expertise and the role of direct instruction, while also suggesting potential for more value from peer-to-peer and social learning.

To read the research cited in the video, check out the links below:

• Meir Meshulam, Liat Hasenfratz, Hanna Hillman, Yun-Fei Liu, Mai Nguyen, Kenneth A. Norman, and Uri Hasson’s study on how neural alignment predicts learning outcomes in students taking an introduction to computer science course (2021)
• Ido Davidesco, Emma Laurent, Henry Valk, Tessa West, Catherine Milne, David Poeppel, and Suzanne Dikker’s research into how the temporal dynamics of brain-to-brain synchrony between students and teachers can predict learning outcomes (2023)

To learn more about 2023’s most compelling research findings for educators, visit The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2023.