Teachers need to be prepared to get to know their students, since each individual develops intellectually in a different way. And this “getting to know” would be achieved through neuroscience. Learning is a biological change in the communication between neurons, forming a network of connections that can be recalled and reactivated with relative ease and speed.

Understanding neuroscience and its interfaces means exploring new epistemological constructs—ones unique to humans—since the cognitive, emotional, affective, and motor structures of the brain are systemic and integrated through neural circuits that, when stimulated, awaken intelligence and learning, fostering development in biological, psychological, social, emotional, affective, and motor aspects.

All areas of the brain are involved in the learning process, including the emotional system. Learning results in the growth or alteration of cells when a cell’s axon receives a sustained action potential triggered by strong stimuli.

As a cell receives these strong stimuli, they are passed from one cell to another. And there is a biochemical process involved, mediated by natural substances called neurotransmitters, which facilitate the storage of information within neurons.

Student Profiles from a Neuroscientific Perspective

It can be said that there are students who are more stimulated sensorially, with more evident characteristics of the following types:

• Kinesthetic: uses the body as a learning tool;
• Logical and mathematical: demonstrates greater skill with numbers;
• Music: It's best to learn by humming or making up rhymes;
• Reader: demonstrates a greater ability to learn through reading;
• Interpersonal: enjoys studying in groups and is good at dealing with the uncertainties of everyday situations;
• Intrapersonal: a more introspective student who generally prefers to study alone;
• Naturalist: a student who sees themselves as an integral part of nature and the environment. 

These characteristics complement each other. A student may exhibit more than one combined profile.

How to Distinguish a Learning Difficulty from a Learning Disorder

A learning disability occurs when a child exhibits a specific, temporary limitation in a particular task. Thus, through the initial observation and recognition of this sign or characteristic, followed by a guided and mediated neuropsychoeducational intervention in this process, effective positive progress is fostered for the next stages.

Furthermore, these signs appear sporadically rather than constantly, and the learning process may therefore be overcome shortly thereafter. Learning difficulties generally occur without any biological or mental pathologies or disorders.

However, the child has difficulty performing a given task, but once provided with appropriate and effective stimulation, he or she is able to overcome it. Learning difficulties can arise in physical, motor, emotional, educational, and social areas. 

Example: At one point, a child may experience grief over the loss of a loved one in the family or the separation of their parents; however, they soon overcome this problem, despite facing some difficulties in adapting, which, when addressed, allow them to “bounce back”—a process we can call neurolearning or resilience, the ability to overcome adversity.  

See also:

• Emotional intelligence influences relationships among administrators, teachers, and students
• Reggio Emilia: A School That Embodies the Principles of Education and Social Work
• Nonviolent Communication promotes a more inclusive and respectful environment in schools

When it comes to disruption, the term is self-explanatory when we see signs on the street that read: “Sorry for the inconvenience—we’re under construction.” The typical scene is one of general chaos: traffic jams, pedestrians without direction, dust, a lack of coordination—in short, everything out of place. Cleaning up this “mess” requires determination and willpower, just like the challenges involved in processing information.

Learning disorders are, in fact, neurobiological and/or neuropsychological in nature, resulting from neural, physiological, and/or structural changes in the central nervous system. They are directly related to problems with reading, writing, and mathematics. They consist of a set of signs and symptoms—which may be physical or biological, cognitive, or emotional—linked to reading and writing. They are recognized and considered a specific pathology or disorder only in the area of cognitive linguistics, with other areas of the brain remaining intact, in principle.

Currently, there is much discussion within the context of the DSM-V regarding dyslexia and dyscalculia—all of which are related to symbolic language and the graphic, phonological, and associative interpretations of language.

Parents and teachers often realize that their son or daughter has a learning disability only when the child begins attending school. It is important to note that these characteristics become apparent as early as the elementary grades, since it is in school that these cognitive language skills are most evident and are expected to be demonstrated in an academic setting.

Neuropsychopedagogy has been making a significant contribution to clarifying these different perspectives, so that assessments can be conducted promptly to immediately aid in medical and therapeutic diagnosis. 

It is worth remembering that a diagnosis is always made by a doctor, even if these signs are evaluated by specialists with expertise in this field.

Schools are increasingly seeing children who exhibit these signs. The key is to recognize and distinguish whether a child is experiencing a temporary learning difficulty triggered by pedagogical, psychological, or even biological and/or environmental factors, or whether they actually have a disorder that requires special educational support due to dyslexia, dyscalculia, and—often accompanying these—attention deficit, which is a very common characteristic profile.

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