Here’s a really fascinating set of 16 interactive slides designed to explain what happens in the brain of a person with Alzheimer??s disease. Titled Inside the Brain: An Interactive Tour they explain how the brain works and how Alzheimer’s affects it.

The interesting thing for me is the fact that, although designed as a teaching tool to help people understand more about Alzheimer’s disease, it provides a stimulating introduction to our understandings of how the brain functions, and how different parts of it appear to be responsible for different aspects of our behaviour and abilities.

I have observed a number of teachers introducing these ideas to their students in the context of understanding the nature of knowledge and learning – often with a limited understanding of the very complex medical and physiological matters involved. This resource may help provide a more informed perspective.

Others who refer to our understandings of how the brain functions in relation to how we learn include Ian Jukes in a recent post on his blog titled Parents get a look at teens brains and others such as those with articles on the Brain Research and Education website.

Another article titled How can research on the brain inform education? from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in the US provides a useful overview, and includes a table listing a number of points suggested by recent research and some suggestions for teaching to address these.