Focus on neuroscience: from synapses to education

Abstract

In the last three decades, we have witnessed an acceleration of technological development in neuroscience, in parallel with remarkable methodological and conceptual achievements in the understanding of brain function. Complex analytical techniques and more precise instruments have enabled researchers to establish new causal relationships between neural dynamics and neurologic and neuropsychiatric disease states, learning and memory, sensory processing, cognitive development, affective states, decision-making and action. These advances have not only boosted the generation of innovative scientific knowledge in neuroscience, but have also contributed to the dissemination of neuroscientific knowledge across fields, including computational science, economics, and education.