Neuroscience in education: Not a recipe book

The neuro prefix is very fashionable, and neuroeducation is just one of the myriad offsprings. Neuroscience offers an invaluable contribution to assess, diagnose, and perhaps manage pathologies, including disorders of learning in children and adolescents. However, neuroscience as such has so far proved to have little to offer to education in school. If misunderstood, neuroscience can open the gate to a number of questionable practices in the classroom. Even considering the discipline which has most to offer, cognitive psychology, the transition from lab results to school activities is challenging and should accord with didactic aims and educational contexts. Teachers and educators should resist the allure of applying neuroscientific findings and theories as if they were recipes to be carried out. In this viewpoint we will argue against the direct use of neuroscientific research findings to inform classroom education.