Neuroscientist Fumiko Hoeft presented on how neuroscience can help transform education by cracking the code of learning. She discussed 3 key areas: 1) Motivation is enhanced by choice, growth mindset, and reducing stress, while extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation. 2) Reducing anxiety requires replacing bad memories rather than just exposure, and encouraging bravery. 3) Mind wandering can incubate creativity when performing undemanding tasks. However, fully understanding education remains challenging due to the complex interplay between genetics, development, environment, and individual differences.

1. fumiko hoeft md phd
ucsf cognitive neuroscientist
director of cintel & brainLENS.org
audrey wong
nueva high school
Nueva Innovative Learning Conference 2015 – 10/16/2015 2:10-3:10
EDHACK THROUGH
NEUROSCIENCE
How is neuroscience cracking
the code of learning & education?

2. outline
• EDHACK: Internal environment
1) motivation
2) anxiety & resilience
3) mind-wandering
• Why haven’t we figured
it all out by now?
• How neuroscience and technology
may help transform education

3. 1) MOTIVATION
Intrinsic
reward
Extrinsic
reward>

4. Socio-emotional well being is important for academic
success and learning
Reading
Dyslexia
NEUROBIOLOGY
EXTERNAL
ENVIRONMENT
INTERNAL
ENVIRONMENT
STEREOTYPE THREAT
MOTIVATION & MINDSET
RESILIENCE & GRIT
SELF CONCEPT
Self discipline, more
predictive than IQ (2x)
& above and beyond
achievement itself
(Duckworth & Seligman, Psychol Sci ‘05)
2x

5. Socio-emotional well being is not just important but
possibly more modifiable than some other traits
0
50
100
Heritability[%]
IQ(adult)(reading50-70%)
Motivation
Grit
Conscientiousness
Creativity
85
40 49
21
Bouchard ’04; Murayama et al. under prep; Bouchard, McGue. J Neurobiol ’03; Simonton Rev Gen Psychol ‘08
Possibility that socio-emotional
processing should be additional
targets for instruction

6. Extrinsic motivation can be good, short term.
Intrinsic motivation is important for
‘long-term & growth’ in achievement
Intrinsic Motivation (mastery goal)
“If you work on this task with the
intention to develop your ability, you can
develop your competence”.
Extrinsic Motivation (performance goal)
“The aim of this task is to measure your
cognitive ability in comparison with
other university students”.
0
20
40
60
80
Performance[%]
Incidentallearningparadigm
Int
Ext
Int
Ext
Tested
Immediately
Tested
1weeklater
Murayama & Elliot. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull ‘11, Child Develop ‘13
Intrinsic
reward
Extrinsic
reward<
?

7. Extrinsic reward can help long-term learning
for uninteresting material
Murayama & Kuhbandner. Cognition 2011
>

8. But… extrinsic reward not so great because it can
undermine intrinsic motivation
• Intrinsic motivation is very
vulnerable
• Extrinsic reward can undermine
intrinsic motivation
(Deci & Ryan. ‘85)
http://www.learning-knowledge.com/reward.html
http://www.superconsciousness.co
m/topics/society/spontaneous-
altruism-toddlers
No reward Reward
Voluntary
engagement
Undermining effect!

9. Extrinsic reward, great when it’s there but when removed,
it can no longer engage the motivation/learning circuit
No Reward (Intrinsic) Group
Extrinsic Reward Group
1st session 2nd session
No reward No reward
Reward ($$$) Reward removed dopaminergic reward system
Caudate
Murayama et al. PNAS 2010

10. HOW CAN WE PROMOTE
MOTIVATION?
X

11. GIVE CHOICES.
Enhances performance by turning on vmPFC.
When you make your own choice, you fail less, & even
when you fail, your vmPFC won’t turn off.
When you are not given choices, you fail more, &
when you fail, your vmPFC turns off.
Mikulincer. ’88, Moller et al. ’06 , Murayama et al. PNAS ‘10, Cerebr Cort ‘13
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
Self-determined
choice
Forced choice
Taskperformance(successrate)
＊
Prefrontal
vmPFC
Ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC):
Subjective valuation.
Regulates amygdala, and emotion.

12. Giving choices helps
intrinsic motivation & enhances performance
• In education (e.g. Cordova & Lepper ’96), organizations
(e.g. Van den Broeck et al. ‘08) & creativity (e.g. Amabile ‘96).
http://mylittlebitoflife.com/?p=3461

13. GROWTH MIND-SET, the belief that ability is effort
based, promotes motivation also
Do Not Say Do Say
You are so smart! You work hard in school and it shows
You always get good grades;
That makes me happy.
When you put forth effort, it really
shows in your grades. You should be so
proud of yourself. We are proud of you!
Carol Deck PhD

14. GROWTH MIND-SET = intrinsic motivation circuit
MIND-SET vs. GRIT, different brain networks:
Possibility of multiple targets
caudate
VTA
DLPFC
GROWTH MIND-SET:
Belief that ability is
effort based
COGNITIVE REAPPRAISAL (Doherty et al. Science ‘04)
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION (Muyrayama et al. PNAS ‘10)
vStr
mPFC
VTA
GRIT: Perseverance
toward a long term
goal
PERSISTENCE (Gusnard et al. PNAS ‘03)
FUTURE REWARD (Doherty et al. Science ‘04)
Chelsea Myers BSc
Myers et al. SCAN. under revision

15. REDUCING STRESS improves
motivation & decision making
Hollon Burgeno Phillips. Nat Neurosci ‘15

16. SUMMARY: MOTIVATION
• Socio-emotional skills critical in success.
• Choice, growth mindset, and reduction of stress important in
enhancing intrinsic motivation & performance.
• Extrinsic motivation can be good short term & for
‘uninteresting’ material, but can undermine intrinsic
motivation.
• Punishment recruits fear circuitry rather than reward circuitry.
>

17. outline
• EDHACK
1) motivation
2) anxiety & resilience
3) mind-wandering
• Why haven’t we figured
it all out by now?
• How neuroscience and
technology may help
transform education

18. 2) STRESS, ANXIETY
&
RESILIENCE
encourage vs. support? expose vs. avoid?

19. 8% of children = anxiety disorder (show signs at age 6; only 18% treated)
4% of children = PTSD
14% of children = depression (1/3 are severe)
HPA axis
Trauma
Prenatal stress
Prefrontal cortex dysregulation of
emotion and reward circuitries
Amygdala, NAcc, Ant Ins, vmPFC
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). If precise mechanism known (e.g. attention,
anxiety, memory, decision making), then more personalized and targeted
intervention possible.
Decision making
Focus on the
negatives
Insight/Creativity

20. EXTINCTION: Inhibiting previously learned fear associations.
Ineffective in a different context & over time. - EXPOSURE THERAPY
Prefrontal inhibition of fear circuitry
(amygdala)
Prefrontal
vmPFC Amygdala
Amano Unal Pare. Nat Neurosci ‘10

21. EXTINCTION DURING RECONSOLIDATION: Memories during
retrieval is labile, hence making the extinction more effective
Alters fear & memory circuits directly
Rao-Ruiz et al. Nat Neurosci ‘11, Radulovic & Tronson Nat Neurosci ’11, Schiller et al. PNAS ‘13
Amygdala
Hippocampus

22. NOVELTY FACILITATED EXTINCTION: Substituting with a neutral
stimulus may be more effective by reducing uncertainty.
- COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING, REAPPRAISAL
Dunsmoor et al. Biological Psychiatry ‘14

23. STRESSOR CONTROLLABILITY
Hartley et al. Neurobiol Learn Mem ’14, Kerr et al. Fron Psychol ’12
Goodkin. Learn & motivation ’76, Mineka Gunnar Champoux. ChildDevelop ‘86
Degree of sense of control over stressful
experiences.
Mechanism: Inhibitory control from
prefrontal cortex to brainstem.
May work even when trained with
rewarding experiences.
Cultivating sense of control may ameliorate
excessive fear/anxiety & promote
resilience.
Sense of control of escape from stressor
Physiologicalresponse
tostressfulevents
Brainstem (dorsal raphe nucleus)
Prefrontal Cortex
vmPFC
Amygdala

24. ENCOURAGEMENT OF BRAVERY REDUCES ANXIETY
encourage vs. protect
from further trauma? expose vs. avoid?
Encouragement & autonomy-granting.
It conveys parents’ willingness to tolerate and allow
the child to make mistakes and experience distress,
as well as a respect for the child’s ability (i.e. to make
independent decisions or accomplish difficult tasks).
>> Possibly through similar mechanism as providing
choices, stressor controllability & build resilience in
children?
Silk et al. J Anxiety Disord ’13, McLeod, Wood & Weisz. Clin Psychol Rev ‘07

25. SUMMARY: STRESS, ANXIETY & RESILIENCE
Reducing anxiety.
• Mere exposure, not good enough.
• Replacing bad memories with positive/neutral experience while reliving
them. - reappraisal (Dunsmoor et al .Biological Psychiatry ‘14)
• Encouragement.(Silk et al. J Anxiety Disord ’13)
• Training sense of controllability (self efficacy, locus of control) can promote
resilience.(Hartley et al. Neurobiol Learn Mem ’14)
Other factors that promote resilience.
optimism, social support, humor, physical exercise, prosocial behavior, trait
mindfulness, moral compass
Wu, Feder et al. Front Behav Neurosci ‘13

26. outline
• EDHACK
1) motivation
2) anxiety & resilience
3) mind-wandering
• Why haven’t we figured
it all out by now?
• How neuroscience and
technology may help
transform education

27. 3) MIND-WANDERING

28. MIND WANDERING – traditional view
• Spontaneous thought, incl. “day-
dreaming”, “zoning out”
• 30-50% of waking hours.
• Linked to failure of cognitive
control, inattention, & reduced
performance. Opposite extreme of
metacognition*.
• Low stake quizzing, frequent shift in
topic reduces MW.
Fox & Christoff. Cog Neuro of MetaCognition ’14; Szpunar Moulton Schacter. Front Psychol ‘13

29. The up-side of mind-wandering:
Incubation of creative thoughts
Mooneyham & Schooler. Can J Exp Psychol ’13; Sio & Ormerod ‘09; Baird et al. Psychol Sci ‘12; Immordino-Yang, Christoudoulou, Singh. ‘12; Baird
et al. Psychol Sci ‘12; Christoff et al. PNAS ‘09
Archemedis’ Eureka moment
Both MW and incubation of creative thoughts – new
solutions to old problems – are best evoked when
performing undemanding tasks (vs. no task or demanding)
Mechanism: Coactivation of default mode network (self
referential processing) & executive control
MW = “constructive” internal reflection

30. outline
• EDHACK
1) motivation
2) anxiety & resilience
3) mind-wandering
• Why haven’t we figured
it all out by now?
• How neuroscience and
technology may help
transform education

31. WHY HAVEN’T WE FIGURED IT ALL OUT BY NOW?
Looking at a needle in the haystack
msec
(MEG/tDCS)
years
(development)
Learning (implicit, explicit)
Cognition (reasoning, attention)
Reading, Math
Perception (visual, spatial, auditory, face)
Socio-emotional (motivation,
resilience, empathy)
Preconception
Prenatal
Postnatal
Child
Adult (parents)
Adolescent DEVELOPMENT
Genetic
Neurochemical (dopamine)
Macroscopic (cortex size & shape)
Physiology (neurooscillation/blood flow)
Behavior, Perception, Cognition, Affect

32. WHY HAVEN’T WE FIGURED IT ALL OUT BY NOW?
Nature vs. Nurture: A complex story
Both boys, share 50% of the genes, essentially identical environment…

33. WHY HAVEN’T WE FIGURED IT ALL OUT BY NOW?
There is more to it than risk genes
With dyslexia in the family, chances are 1 in 2 (heritability is
40-74%) (Grigorenko ‘04)
Many risk genes (Dyslexia ~10, Autism ~90, Schizophrenia ~100)
Each risk gene explains only 1 to 5 in 1000 cases (0.1-0.5%
of the variance) (Plomin Intelligence ’06)
>> Why the gap? Known as “Missing heritability” (Eichler et al.
Nat Rev Gen ‘10)
Epigenetics (gene expression)?
Epistatis (gene-gene interaction)?
Protective factors?
p15-
16
DYX3
DYX6
p11.
2
DYX5
p13-
q13
q13-
16.2
DYX4
DYX8
p34-
36
DYX7
p15.5
DYX1
DYX2
p21.3-22
q21
DYX9
q27.
3
DRD4
(ADH
D)
KIAA0319,
DCDC2 (ADHD)
Adapted from: Williams & O’Donovan, Eur J Hum Genet ’06; Poelmans et al. Mol
Psychiatr ‘11
DYXC1
ROBO1
KIAA0319L
FMR1 (FXS)
GT
F2I
(W
BS)
q11.23
DIP2A, S100B
q22.
3
q31DOCK2
(FOXP2-
language)
q35
CNTNP2
(Autism,
ADHD, etc)
q24
ATP2C2
C2ORF3
MRPL19

34. WHY HAVEN’T WE FIGURED IT ALL OUT BY NOW?
Healthy or Atypical?
vs
Feeling talked behind my back Being psychotic
Not reading at age 1 Struggling at age 15
vs
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL
VARIATION
COGNITIVE VARIATION

35. summary
1) Extrinsic motivation can be
good.
2) Choice, mind-set, sense of
control promote motivation &
resilience.
3) Encouraging bravery
reduces fear.
4) Mind wandering can
incubate creativity.
5) How neuroscience &
technology may help
transform education

36. PARTNERS
R01HD067254 (Cutting, Vanderbilt)
R01HD044073 (Cutting, Vanderbilt)
R01HD065794 (Pugh, Haskins/Yale)
P01HD001994 (Rueckl, Haskins/U Conn)
R01MH104438 (Nordahl, UCDavis/MIND)
R01MH103371 (Amaral, UCDavis/MIND)
R01HD078351 (‘15-’20)
K23HD054720 (‘08-‘13)
Digital Health Award (Hancock)
CTSI Catalyst Award (Hancock)
Radiology & Biomed Eng
(Nagarajan, Hancock)
Academic Senate Award
Dyslexia Center (S Carnevale,
Flora Family Fndtn)
CNI (Hong,
Hancock))
FUNDING
Liebe Patterson
Dennis & Shannon Wong – DSEA ‘88 Foundation
NSF1540854 SL-CN (Gazzaley, Uncapher)