Like a symphony of electrical impulses

Learning involves more than the simple acquisition of facts

Learning involves more than the simple acquisition of facts. Learning is a multi-layered process of interpretation and modification. Recent advances in neuroscience have suggested that the laying down of memories and the recalling of stored information are not simple mechanical acts.

Remembering is at once an act of reconstruction, recreation and interpretation.

The human brain seems to have evolved to facilitate a process of learning and integration, and to reward the continuous search for broad-based knowledge with a greater understanding of our lives and our surroundings. It is logical, therefore, that the promotion of lifelong learning should be a priority for education theorists and policy-makers alike.

In 1997, the Lifelong Learning Foundation was set up in Manchester, England. It is an independent, non-political organisation that aims to promote the values and goals of lifelong learning.

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The theme of its inaugural New Dimensions in Lifelong Learning competition was "Lifelong Learning and Recent Developments in the Brain Sciences".

The theories that underlie lifelong learning have their roots in many disciplines, such as psychology, education and sociology.

The most exciting contributions, however, come from neuroscience, and many of these ideas stem from recent advances in neuro-imaging.

Techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography are providing vast quantities of information about brain structure and brain function.

If there is one recurring theme, however, it is that the human brain is a more fascinating and complex organ than previously imagined. There are endless connections and interconnections, countless pathways and circuits. Learning is just one of the processes that emerges from this impressive network of connections and interactions.

While certain areas of the brain are more active than others during any particular type of learning, other areas are inevitably involved too (to greater or lesser extents). These work together like a symphony of electrical impulses, each forming part of a greater cerebral process that results in learning, recollection, or understanding. These learning processes undergo both conscious development and unconscious evolution in the course of our lives.

Given a proper understanding of the neurophysiological basis of learning, we can mould these cognitive processes so as to identify and exploit the educational opportunities presented to us throughout our lives.

Another example of the contribution neuroscience makes to the promotion of a culture of lifelong learning relates to our growing knowledge of the ageing brain and the ailing brain. Neuroscientific advances have greatly enhanced our understanding of the physiology and pathology of the brain, and have helped in the development of treatment strategies for various neurological and psychiatric conditions.

THE MORE effectively we can treat these conditions, the more opportunities we will have for learning, particularly in the later years of life.

The study of consciousness is yet another related field in which neuroscience is playing a leading role. Consciousness has, in the past decade, become a popular focus of scientific attention, as well as philosophical speculation.

Our deepening knowledge of brain structure and function is critical in the development and refinement of theoretical models of consciousness.

This growing understanding of the nature of consciousness will have immense repercussions in the fields of learning theory and human psychology in general. In these and many other ways, it is plain that neuroscience has carved out a significant role for itself in the creation of a culture of lifelong learning.

Clearly, however, it forms just one part of a much broader picture.

Educationalists, sociologists, psychologists and many other interested parties will each have their own particular views on how best to promote the values and goals of lifelong learning.

Neuroscience, however, will certainly lie close to the heart of all these efforts to build and sustain a "learning society" both now and in the next millennium.

Dr Brendan Kelly is a registrar in psychiatry working in Co Kildare. He recently won first prize in the Lifelong Learning Foundation's inaugural New Directions in Lifelong Learning Competition.