Neuroscience and the Classroom: Making Connections

Dr. Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang

"I'm hoping that we can really make rich conceptual advances for the role of emotion in learning and in education, because educational settings are social ones. The emotions that people experience in those settings shape the way that they engage with what they are learning."– Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

Dr. Immordino-Yang, assistant professor of education at the Rossier School of Education and assistant professor of psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, is a cognitive neuroscientist and educational psychologist who studies the brain bases of emotion, social interaction, and culture and their implications for development and schools.

Dr. Abigail Baird

"Neuroscience is a complimentary field. You know, you shouldn't hear something in neuroscience that doesn't make any sense to you. It shouldn't be something that's completely nonsensical... When you read a neuroscience finding, you should be able to think of three or four practical examples that you yourself have witnessed." – Dr. Abigail Baird

Dr. Baird is an assistant professor of psychology at Vassar College. Her research interests include the integration of emotion and cognition across development, with a particular focus on neural development during adolescence.

Dr. Paul Yellin

"What we are hoping for is creating language, vocabulary, shared conversations, where we can help each other move forward in helping children... there's information out there that can help [teachers] understand the children in the classroom and help them really be more successful." – Dr. Paul Yellin

Paul B. Yellin, MD, FAAP, is director of The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, a student evaluation and professional development organization which provides customized support for students and educators based on emerging knowledge in neuroscience. Dr. Yellin is an associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Todd Rose

"We've got to do a better job of recognizing just the natural variability that kids bring to the table and designing school environments that deal with that." – Dr. Todd Rose

Dr. Todd Rose was diagnosed with ADHD as a young child and dropped out of high school with a 0.9 GPA. Now a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education he teaches a course on educational neuroscience. He is a research scientist designing next-generation learning environments at CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology). Dr. Rose was a post-doctoral fellow with the Laboratory for Visual Learning (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), where his work included NSF-funded research on the link between dyslexia and visual abilities in astrophysics.

Dr. Paul Yellin

"I think the notion of mind, brain, and education is to be equal partners. The important issues that affect how children learn don't live in any one discipline... there needs to be a conversation across disciplines, and... as that conversation happens, first of all, we all have a lot to learn from each other, and more importantly, we can all be more effective in how we do our jobs." – Dr. Paul Yellin

Paul B. Yellin, MD, FAAP, is director of The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, a student evaluation and professional development organization which provides customized support for students and educators based on emerging knowledge in neuroscience. Dr. Yellin is an associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.