Applied Neuroscience of Education and Child Studies

Specialisation of: Education and Child Studies
Degree: Master of Science in Education and Child Studies
Mode of Study: Full-time, part-time
Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: Dutch; English if international students attend classes
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This specialisation is intended for students who want to become expert in the neuro-cognitive and biological roots of learning, behaviour and emotions, in normal as well as in problematic developmental life courses.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

Knowledge of children’s normal development is a prerequisite for being able to design and understand research on problematic developmental processes and outcomes. The primary focus in the curriculum is on how knowledge about brain functioning and stress regulation can contribute to educational practice, clinical work, and family interventions, and, conversely, how these applications can contribute to optimal neuro-cognitive and biological functioning.

Prof. Paul van den Broek

“I study how successful reading takes place, as well as where things go wrong. We are using fMRI and EEG, but also a relatively new technique, magnetoencephalography.”

“What goes wrong in the brain of a struggling reader? Despite considerable efforts by researchers, educators and policy-makers, many children struggle to learn to read. Even in the Netherlands, where reading achievement approaches the top amongst European countries, 10-15% of group 6 children (9-10 year-olds) do not have adequate reading skills.

I study how successful reading takes place, as well as where things go wrong. Using behavioural and imaging techniques, I investigate the cognitive processes and the areas of the brain that are involved and connected when we are reading texts. We are using fMRI and EEG, but also a relatively new technique, magnetoencephalography (MEG).This measures the magnetic activity of the brain. One advantage of MEG is that it has very good temporal as well as good spatial resolution. Using this technique we can measure by the millisecond changes in the patterns of brain activity during reading.

Ideally, in the near future the results may inform diagnosis and intervention. Neurological investigation of learning-related activities is most developed in research into the specific disorder of dyslexia, but we will investigate what goes wrong in the brains of a much larger population, namely that of readers who struggle with comprehension.”