What Underlies the "Brain Training Boom" in Japan?(<Special Issue>Diversification of Research Field in Educational Studies)

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  • 「脳を鍛える」ブームの根底にあるもの(<特集>教育現場の多様化と教育学の課題)
  • 「脳を鍛える」ブームの根底にあるもの
  • ノウ オ キタエル ブーム ノ コンテイ ニ アル モノ

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Abstract

Recently, the "Brain Training" boom is sweeping over Japan. It is believed that calculation and reading aloud activates the frontal lobes, and these train the brain. The initial hint of this idea was derived from extensive activation of the frontal lobes during a serial calculation task. However, frontal "activation" induced by a calculation task simply means that there is increased cerebral blood flow. It does not imply that calculation is "good for the brain." We should be mindful of past fads in Japan, in which people believed that glutamate "excites" the brain and they added sodium glutamate to rice, to excite the brain. Frontal activation caused by serial calculation is affected by many factors such as focused attention, emotions, or stress. Any cognitive training can cause the improvement of performance, but it does not mean that such training enhances all aspects of cognitive functions. Discussion between the two communities of brain science and educational science would do much to address these issues.

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