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As you know, adults, children and even infants all have the ability to grow and adapt to daily challenges in life, and this capacity is actualized by the brain. Even the fetus and newborn who have not undergone education of any kind are able to move their arms and legs, which indicates that the basic programs of such behavior are located in the brain. It seems that genes carrying this information so necessary to life have made this possible in the course of human evolution. Child-rearing (early childhood care and education) and formal education put these innate basic programs into action, after which they are combined in new ways or supplanted to create the complex programs required for living. The operation of these basic programs of the mind and body generates "ikiru chikara" which in Japanese means "the ability to grow and adapt."
These programs are switched on in response to information in the daily life, and the neural networks begin to operate. Broca's area, named after the French neurosurgeon who discovered this part of the brain located in the frontal lobe of the left cerebral hemisphere, controls speech production. Wernicke's area, located in the posterior temporal lobe of the left hemisphere, is crucial to language comprehension and the recognition of spoken words. Research in aphasia substantiated the existence of these neuronal networks, and post-mortem examinations of people who had suffered the loss of speech or the ability of understand language confirmed the location of the programs in specific areas of the brain.
This means that until recently, we were not able to prove the location of programs unless they had been lost or damaged. Researchers devised various methods to resolve this dilemma. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a method was developed to measure and record cortical electric potential as brainwaves. In the twentieth century, xray photography, which had been mainly used in the imaging of the body, was improved and resulted in the invention of methods that would also show changes in the brain.
Today, other methods are used to indicate changes in metabolism and blood circulation by using nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic fields to image the activity and

location. It has consequently become possible to verify the existence of programs of the brain.
These various methods now allow examination of living patients and the localization of the damaged portion of the brain. Moreover, even people who do not suffer from any neurological impairment can, with their consent, be examined without any physical risk to themselves, and this has allowed science to confirm the existence of these programs by imaging the brains of non-impaired subjects. These methods of brain imaging or brain function imaging make it possible to locate the active part of the brain and the program in question. They are called non-invasive brain imaging methods because they do not harm the body. Related information and new information from the neurosciences were the topics of a recent conference in Japan.
The first international symposium on "Brain Science and Education," hosted by the
Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX) of the Japan Science and Technology Association (JSTA) was held on September 30, 2004 at the U Thant
International Conference Hall of the United Nations University in Tokyo. Professor
Richard Frackowiak, Vice-Provost, University College London spoke on "Research on
Plasticity in Brain Function Imaging and Learning." Professor Denis LeBihan, French
Academy of Sciences gave a presentation on advances in "Leading-edge Neuroscience
Based on Non-invasive Functional Neuro-imaging Methods."
From Japan, Hideaki Koizumi, JST Chief Researcher and Hitachi Research Laboratory
Fellow presented a report on the results of the "Brain Science and Education" research project conducted by the five-member team. The research addressed such topics as
"Neural Plasticity in Visual and Hearing Impairment: the Significance of Education,"
"Brain Function Imaging in Second Language Acquisition," "Development of Brain
Function in the Early Stage of Infant Development," and "Developing Systems to the
Promote and Improve Prefrontal Cortex Function." The OECD project director in charge of international cooperation by industrialized countries on "Brain Science and
Education" also gave a progress report on the status of the research now under way.
The reports indicated that brain function imaging methods have made remarkable progress. Among the methods that are now widely used are Positron Emission
Tomography (PET), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, (fMRI), Magnetroencephalography (MEG), and Photo-Topography. Photo-Topography is a particularly ground-breaking method that can also be used in the imaging of the infant brain.
Through rapid and steady advances in technology, it now allows imaging of the smallest parts of the brain and their structures.
The twenty-first century promises to be "the century of brain." The above technologies and other advances will enable us to shed light on the problems of the human mind. The time has come for us to apply the results of brain science research to improving education as a social technology.

About the author
Dr. Noboru Kobayashi M.D., is Director of Child Research Net, Professor Emeritus of the University of
Tokyo, President Emeritus of National Children's Hospital, and Director of Children's Rainbow Center (
Japan Information and Training Center for Problems related to Child Abuse and Adolescent's Turmoil).
His recent interest is "Kodomogaku" (Child Science) that brings together a wide of range of specialists and researchers to explore how to improve children's lives. He is also President of the Japanese Society of
Child Science.
Visit http://www.childresearch.net/ to learn more.
©December 2004 New Horizons for Learning http://www.newhorizons.org
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