What is Cognitive Neuropsychology?

Cognitive neuropsychology is the study of what is taking place in the brain when a person is thinking and learning. Among educators, a slang term for cognitive neuropsychology is simply "brain science." As a science, cognitive neuropsychology aims to find the connections between the physical or physiological processes that occur in the body when the brain is engaged, and vice versa.

The science of cognitive neuropsychology has greatly improved with advances in neuroimaging technology. Computerized tomography (CT) scans are one of the methods of neuroimaging that allow scientists to see what is going on inside the human brain during thought. Test subjects may be shown particular images or asked to solve simple problems while images of the brain are displayed. Tests like this allow the test subject's brain to be mapped and allow for comparisons between individuals.

Cognitive or thinking processes include paying attention, memorizing, problem-solving, development and use of language, and intellectual reasoning. Cognitive neuropsychology attempts to discover exactly which parts of the brain are involved during each of these processes and how each occurs. There is also great interest in how these processes change with brain injury or psychological trauma. Experiments have observed the individual neurons or nerve cells in the brain to see if and how they change when a person learns something.

Cognitive neuropsychology not only works to figure out how the brain impacts learning, but also how learning impacts the brain. Some claims indicate that children who have been surrounded by audio visual stimuli since birth are primed to learn best and fastest when new information is presented in such a format. Experiments to verify these claims include comparing neuroimages of the brains of children who have been raised in technologically rich environments with those of children raised in non-high-tech homes as well as those of older adults. Educators see evidence of this trend when giving a pencil and paper test to some students versus a computer based version of the same exam.

The implications of research in cognitive neuropsychology on educators are significant. As more information about how the brain changes with learning is discovered, new methods of measuring teaching and learning may develop. There is also interest in cognitive neuropsychology by doctors who seek to understand Alzhiemer’s disease and other degenerative brain disorders. One belief that seems to hold true among cognitive neuropsychologists is that the brain gets better or healthier with more use, and declines when left dormant.