The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations in the text.
A.H. (young girl), 100–101
abstract concepts, learning, 28–29, 31
abstract laws, formulating, 35–36
abstract words, learning, 36, 38
acetylcholine, 87, 88, 111, 151, 152
action potential, 84
active engagement, xxvii–xxviii, 145, 177–97, 241
carousel experiment and, 177–78
discovery learning methods, ineffectiveness of, 181–86
dopamine circuit and, 188–89
epistemic curiosity, 189
evolutionary role of, 187
exploration encouraged by, 187–88
mirth and, 189
motivation for, source of, 190–93
passive organisms, lack of learning in, 178–79, 241
piquing curiosity, methods for, 186–89, 195, 196–97
processing depth effect, 179–81
robot, implementation in, 191–93, 192
schooling and, 193–97
actor-critic networks, 19, 208–9
adaptation, 206
adopted children, 112–13
adversarial learning, 21
Akbar, Jalaluddin Muhammad, 109
Alain (Émile-auguste Chartier), 154, 199
alcohol, 98
cortical maps, reorganization of, 151–52
evolutionary purpose of, 151
mobilization of, 152
video game playing and, 152, 153
alexia, xvi
AlphaGo Zero, 25
amblyopia (lazy eye), 106, 113–14
animals, infant’s knowledge of, 62–63
annealing algorithm, 17
A-not-B error, 162–63
Aplysia californica (sea slug), 88
a priori hypotheses, projecting, 24–26
arcuate fasciculus, 72
Aristotle, 44–45, 168, 186, 187
arithmetic. See mathematics
artificial intelligence. See artificial neural networks / artificial intelligence
artificial neural networks / artificial intelligence, 12–15, 51–52, 238–39
attention, integration of, 148, 149
consolidation phase and, 231–32
convolutional neural networks, 23–24
curiosity, implementation of, 191–93, 192
deep networks, 12
error backpropagation, 12–15, 202
hierarchical organization of, 12
LeNet algorithm, 12
self-organization, 78–79
See also machine learning
attachment, 64
attention, xxvii, 145, 147–75, 241
artificial neural networks, integration into, 148, 149
attention systems, 150–62
evolution of attention mechanisms, 147–48
executive control system, 150, 159–68
information saturation problems, as means of solving, 147–48
learning to attend, 162–68
long-term potentiation and, 150
misdirected attention, effect of, 149
orienting system, 150
selection of relevant information and, 148
social attention sharing, 168–71, 170
teaching as attending to someone else’s knowledge, 171–75
attentional blink, 155–56
attention disorders, xxiii, 234–35
babies. See infants
Bacon, Roger, 80
Battro, Antonio, 99
Bavelier, Daphné, 152
Bayes, Thomas, xxv–xxvi, 44, 45
Bayesian algorithms, xxv–xxvi
Bayesian theory, xxv–xxvi, 44–48, 60
Benchenane, Karim, 93
biased competition, 154–55
blank-slate assumption, dispelling, 37, 51, 53, 57–58, 69–70, 78, 101, 119
blessing of abstraction, 40–41, 42
blind mathematicians, 128–30
Bonatti, Luca, 61
Braga, Lucia, xiii
brain, 69–118
blank-slate assumption, dispelling, 37, 51, 53, 57–58, 69–70, 78, 101, 119
capacity of, xvii–xviii
cortex, self-organization of, 73–79
education, and development of, 119–42
error signals in, 206–9
false memories and, 92–96
fetal development of, 72–79
individuality, origins of, 79–82
infant’s brain, 70–72
learning mechanisms (See learning)
limits of plasticity, 98–102
memory, 89–92
MRI studies of infants’ brains, 69–72
natural selection, innate wisdom inherited through, 25–26
neuronal “highways,” fetal development of, 72–73
no surprise, no learning rule, 205
nurture’s role in development of, 83–118
nutritional requirements, 96–98
plasticity of, xii–xvi, 83–98, 85
powers of plasticity, 98–102
sensitive period and, 103–15
Bucharest Early Intervention Project, 116
Bucharest orphans, study of effects of emotional and social isolation on, 115–18, 117
C. elegans (nematode), xviii–xix
Cajal, Santiago Ramón y, 83–86
Cantor, Georg, 32
CAPTCHAs, 29
carousel experiment, 177–78
Cartesian coordinates, 75–76
Ceauseşcu, Nicolae, 116
central bottleneck, 160–61
central executive. See executive control system
cerebellum, 95–96
Changeux, Jean-Pierre, 26
children
education of (See education)
efforts at learning, encouraging, 241–42
enriched environment, benefits of, 140–42, 240
language, learning, 36–41
metacognitive faculties of, 193, 194
piquing curiosity in, 186–89
sensitive period and, 103–5, 104
sleep and, 233–35
strategies for optimizing child’s potential, 240–43
See also infants
Cho, Kyunghyun, 148
Chomsky, Noam, 67
classical conditioning, 201–2
classical number conservation experiments, 163
Cohen, Laurent, 132–33
combinatorial explosion, exploiting, 10–11
compositions, 33–34
computer science
discovery learning, ineffectiveness of, 183
machine learning (See machine learning)
Connes, Alain, 139
consolidation, xxviii, 146, 221–35, 242
artificial intelligence and, 231–32
mathematics and, 223–24
practice and, 242
process of automatization, 222–24
reading and, 221–23
shift from prefrontal cortex to motor cortex in, 223–24
sleep and, 224–35
convolutional neural networks, 23–24
cortex, 12
development, 73–74
error signals and, 206–9
face recognition neurons, 77
folding, 74
“GPS system,” development of, 75–76
grid cell neurons, form and function of, 75–76, 79
number neurons, 77–78
self-organization of, 73–79
spatial segregation in, 75
Csibra, Gergely, 169
cultural ratchet effect, 169
curiosity. See active engagement
curse of dimensionality, 22
Dallenbach, Karl, 224–25
Darwin, Charles, 67
Darwinian algorithm, 17
Darwinian selection. See natural selection
data efficiency, in learning, 29–30
Decroly, Ovide, 182
deep networks, 12
deep sleep, 226
Dehaene-Lambertz, Ghislaine, 65, 70
delta rule, 202
dendritic spine, 94–95
Dennett, Dan, 189
Descent of Man, The (Darwin), 67
developmental disorders, 80–82
dyscalculia, xvi, xxiii, 81, 82, 186
dyslexia, xvi, xxiii, 80–81, 82, 134, 186
schizophrenia, 82
sleep deprivation, and potential link to learning disabilities, 234
Dewey, John, 182
digital native myth, 185
Discourse on Method (Descartes), 34
discoveries, during sleep, 230–33
discovery learning methods, 181–86
distance effect, 130–31
DNA, xvii
dopamine / dopamine circuit, 87–88, 151, 152, 188–89, 208
dreams, 6
Duolingo, 216
Dupoux, Emmanuel, 30
Dweck, Carol, 213
Dylan, Bob, 244
dyscalculia, xvi, xxiii, 81, 82, 186
dyslexia, xvi, xxiii, 80–81, 82, 134, 186
Ebbinghaus, Hermann, 224
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, 224
active engagement of students, impact of, 180–81
alliance of teachers, parents and scientists to further learning, 243–45
as attending to someone else’s knowledge, 171–75
child’s potential, optimizing, 240–43
curiosity and, 193–97
deeper thinking, aiming for, 242
discovery learning methods, ineffectiveness of, 181–86
enriched environment, benefits of, 140–42, 240
equations, learning, 138–40
error feedback and, 209–10, 242
fixed versus growth mindset and, 213–14
grades/grading and, 211–14
in mathematics, 120–21, 126–32
in musical reading, 138
neuronal recycling hypothesis and, 121–26
objectives for learning, setting, 242
parents, role of, 244
role of, in human societies, 173–74
school system, invention of, xx–xxi
scientists, role of, 244–45
sleep cycle in adolescents, and school start times, 235
social conformism and, 174–75
testing and, 214–17
traditional lecturing versus active engagement, 181
Emile, or On Education (Rousseau), 53, 182, 187
encoding, of memories, 89–90
end-of-year exams, 220
Enigma, 46–47
entorhinal cortex, 75, 79, 125
episodic memory, 91
epistemic curiosity, 189
equations, learning, 138–40
error backpropagation, 12–15, 202, 205
error feedback, xxiii, xxviii, 145, 199–229
artificial neural networks and, 13–15
Darwinian selection and, 25
error minimization, 13–15
error signals in brain and, 206–9
grades versus, 211–14
hunter adjusting rifle scope example, 7–8, 13, 201
local minimum and, 16
prediction error and, 202, 204
predictive signals and, 208–9
punishment, distinguished, 209–10
Rescorla-Wagner theory and, 201–4
spacing out of training sessions and, 217–20
testing and, 214–17
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (film), 92
exaptation, 123
executive control system, 150, 159–68
early training in working memory, benefits of, 168
educational approaches to development of, 165–66
errors, avoidance of as executive control develops, 162–65
global neural workspace, control of inputs and outputs of, 160–61
infants’ prefrontal cortex and, 162–63
IQ changes, and training in, 167
multitasking and, 160–62
musical instrument, impact on attention circuits of learning, 165–66, 166
prefrontal cortex development and, 165
role of, 159–60
working memory, relation to, 160
exploration, 187–88
innate aspects in infants, 63–64
literacy, shift of face recognition to right hemisphere with increasing, 134–37, 135
mathematical equations, impact on face-recognition circuitry of learning, 139–40
neuronal formation, 77
false memories, 92–96
Feigenson, Lisa, 205
Felipe (blind and tetraplegic storyteller), xiii–xiv, 237–38
fetal alcohol syndrome, 98
finals, 220
fixed mindset, 213
fluid intelligence, 167
fluoxetine (Prozac), 111
Fodor, Jerry, 32
foreign-language learners, 107–9, 108
forward blocking experiments, 203–4
Franklin, Benjamin, 69
Frederick II, 109
Freinet, Célestin, 182
Friedmann, Naama, 97
Galileo Galilei, 233
ganglia, 88
Gauss, Carl, 183
generalization, 23
Genie (girl raised in closet), 110
genome, xvii–xviii
global neural workspace, 160–61
Goldilocks effect, 192–93
Gondry, Michel, 92
Goodman, Noah, 42
DeepMind, 18–21
LeNet system, 14
server management optimization by, 20
Gould, Stephen Jay, 123
grades, 211–14
gradient descent algorithm, 13, 15, 16
grammar of domain, inferring, 35–43
abstract laws, formulating, 35–36
general rules that summarize observations, inferring, 36
hierarchical learning algorithm and, 41–42
language learning and, 36–41
simplest assumption compatible with data, favoring, 37, 39
Grothendieck, Alexander, 199–200
growth mindset, 213–14
habituation, xviii
Hattie, John, 209–10
Hein, Alan, 177
hierarchical decomposition, 11
hierarchical learning algorithm, 41–42
Held, Richard, 177
hemianoptic, 100
hemispherectomy, 99
Hertz-Pannier, Lucie, 70
Heurtin, Marie, xiv
hexagons, neuronal maps use of, 75–76
hippocampus, 75, 88–89, 91, 180, 226–27
Hofstadter, Douglas, 29
Humboldt, Wilhelm von, 32
hunter adjusting rifle scope, 7–8, 13, 201
hyperactive children, 234
illiterate persons, 120, 133–34
image recognition, 14–15
convolutional neural networks and, 23–24
invariance and, 24
individuality, 79–82
animals, knowledge of, 62–63
A-not-B error, 162–63
blank-slate assumption, dispelling, 37, 51, 53, 57–58, 69–70, 78, 101, 119
blessing of abstraction, 40–41
brains of, organization of, 70–72
executive control and, 162–63
face perception and, 63–64
internal model of language, adjusting, 9–10
knowledge inherited from evolutionary history by, 25–26, 53–68
language instinct of, 64–67
numbers, intuition of, 55, 56–58
object concept and, 54–56
people, knowledge of, 62–63
probabilities, intuition of, 55, 59–61
sensitive period for maximal plasticity and, 103–5, 104
sleep and, 233–35
social attention sharing, and learning by, 168–71
spatial navigation by, 77
See also children
inferotemporal cortex, 137–38
infinity, conceptualization of, 31, 32
internal models of external world. See mental models of external world
invisible gorilla experiment, 155, 156
IQ changes, and training in executive control, 167
Iriki, Atsushi, 94
Jacob, François, 123
James IV, king of Scotland, 109
Jenkins, John, 224–25
Jetée, La (film), 180
Kandel, Eric, 88
Kaplan, Frédérick, 191
Kekule von Stradonitz, August, 230
Keller, Helen, xiv
Knudsen, Eric, 113
abstract words, learning, 36, 38
blessing of abstraction and, 40–41
combinatorial explosion, exploiting, 10–11
deaf children and, 109–10
error signals and, 208–9
grammatical context, use of, 38–40
hierarchical decomposition and, 11
infant’s language instinct, 64–67
internal model of, adjusting, 9–10
lexical explosion, 41
mutual exclusivity assumption and, 40, 41
neuronal “highways,” fetal development of, 72–73
second-language learners, 107–9, 108
sensitive periods for mastering phonology, grammar and syntax, 106–10, 108
shared attention and, 38
vocabulary acquisition by children, 36–41
Language Instinct, The (Pinker), 64
language of thought, 30, 32, 37, 42–43, 52
Laplace, Pierre-Simon Marquis de, 44, 45
learning
abstract concepts and, 28–29, 31
active engagement and (See active engagement)
adaptability to environment, advantages of, xviii–xix
in animal world, xviii–xix
attention and (See attention)
brain plasticity and, xii–xvi, 83–98, 85
combinatorial explosion, exploiting, 10–11
composition and, 33–34
data efficiency and, 29–30
definitions of, 3–26
education and (See education)
error feedback and (See error feedback)
existence of, reasons for, xvii–xx
grammar of domain, inferring (See grammar of domain, inferring)
language of thought and, 32, 37, 42–43, 52
machine learning (See machine learning)
mental models of external world and (See mental models of external world)
nutrition and, 96–98
one-trial learning, 30–31
possibilities, exploration of, 16–18
a priori hypotheses, projecting, 24–26
purpose of, xvii–xx
reward function optimization and, 18–22
schools, invention of, xviii–xix
scientific reasoning theory, 43–48
search space, restricting, 22–24
social learning, 30
synaptic plasticity and, 86–89, 94–95, 98–102
systematicity and, 31–33
learning to learn, xxi–xxiii
learning styles myth, 185–86, 240–41
lexical explosion, 41
Little Prince, The (Saint-Exupéry), xv, 128
local minimum, 16
long-term potentiation, 88, 150
Lynx1 gene, 111
machine learning, xxiv–xxvi
abstract concepts and, 28–29, 31
actor-critic networks and, 19, 208–9
adversarial learning and, 21
bootstrapping and, 21
compose previously learned skills, inability to, 33–34
convolutional neural networks and, 23–24
data efficiency, lack of, 29–30
delta rule and, 202
error backpropagation and, 12–15, 202
error feedback and, 202–3
hierarchical learning, 41–42
human learning, distinguished, 27–35, 51–52
one-trial learning, lack of, 30–31
possibilities, exploration of, 16–18
reinforcement learning and, 18–21
social learning, lack of, 30
supervised learning and, 14, 18, 202, 209
systematicity, inability for, 31–33
See also artificial neural networks / artificial intelligence
McCandliss, Bruce, 156
McNaughton, Bruce, 226
Marker, Chris, 180
anxiety and stress induced in students by, 212
approximate numbers, evolutionary representation of, 126, 130–31
consolidation and, 223–24
discovery learning, ineffectiveness of, 183
distance effect and, 130–31
equations, learning, 138–40
hereditary constraints on organization of neural circuits responsible for, 127–29
innate foundations of, 57–78
neuronal recycling hypothesis and, 126–32
preexisting neural circuits that approximately represent numbers and, 126, 130–31
visual cortex of blind mathematicians, reorganization of, 128–30
Mayer, Richard, 184
meerkats, teaching in, 172–73
memory, 89–92
encoding of, 89–90
episodic, 91
remembering, 90
sleep and, 225–26
mental models of external world
adjusting parameters of, 7–10
dreams and, 6
forming, ability to, 5–7
as hierarchical, multilevel model, 11
language, adjusting internal model of, 9–10
scope of, 5–6
sensory inputs and, 6
trial and error recalibration process and, 7–8
vision, adjusting internal model of, 7–8, 8
Merzenich, Michael, 151
metacognition, xxi–xxii, 22, 193, 194
meta-rules, 35
language learning and, 37–41
Michelet, Jules, 173
mindset, and learning, 213–14
Mindstorms (Papert), 183
mirth, 189
misdirected attention, effect of, 149
modus tollens rule, 44–45
mongoose, teaching in, 172–73
Montaigne, Michel de, 237
Montessori schools, 165, 184–85
Moser, Edvard, 75
Moser, May-Britt, 75
motor cortex, 223
multitasking, 160–62
Munduruku, 120
musical instrument, learning, 165–66, 166
musical reading, 138
mutual exclusivity assumption, 40, 41
Nabokov, Vladimir, 120
natural selection, xix
innate knowledge and accelerated learning potential inherited through, 25–26, 53–68
as learning algorithm, 25
repurposing of older materials in, 122–23
nature versus nurture debate, 47–48, 51, 140
Nelson, Charles, 116
nematode worm (C. elegans), xviii–xix
nerve cells. See neurons
Neuronal Man (Changeux), 26
neuronal recycling hypothesis, 121–26
constraints on dynamics of brain circuits and, 124–26
definition, 122
education as recycling of existing neural circuits, 121–22
mathematics education and, 126–32
in monkeys, 123–24
natural selection, distinguished, 122–23
reading and, 132–38
neurons
amygdala, 88–89
Cajal’s discovery of, 84–86
combinatorial possibilities, and learning, 10–11
cortex, self-organization of, 73–79
direction of flow of nerve impulses, 84
false memories and, 92–96
fetal brain development and, 72–79
“highways,” fetal development of, 72–73
mechanism by which messages are transmitted, 86
memories and, 89–92
myelin, 95
neurotransmitters and, 86, 87–88
place cells, 226–27
Purkinje cells, 95–96
synapses, 84–89, 85, 94–95, 98–103
synaptic plasticity, and learning, 86–89, 94–95, 98–102
acetylcholine, 87, 88, 111, 151, 152
dopamine/dopamine circuit, 87–88, 151, 152, 188–89, 208
Newton, Isaac, 233
nicotine, 152
Nieder, Andreas, 77
no surprise, no learning rule, 205
now print signal, 150
number sense
neuronal formation, in parietal cortex, 58, 77–78
Number Sense, The (Dehaene), 126
nutrition, 96–98
object concept, 54–56
ocular dominance columns, 75
one-trial learning, 30–31
amplification of neural circuits by, 154
blindness to unwanted stimuli and, 155–56
defined, 153
invisible gorilla experiment and, 155, 156
phonics versus whole-word reading experiment, 157–58, 158
role of, 153
sound and, 153–54
suppression of unwanted information and, 154–55
vision and, 154
Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves, 191
overfitting (overlearning), 22–23
owls, sensitive period effect experiment on, 113–14, 114
Pallier, Christophe, 112
parahippocampal cortex, 180
parietal cortex, 77–78, 79, 125, 223
parvalbumin, 111
passive organisms, lack of learning in, 178–79, 241
Pavlovian conditioning, 202, 203
people, infant’s knowledge of, 62–63
perineuronal net, 111
phonology, 106–7
Piaget, Jean, 58, 162, 182, 190, 237
Pinker, Steven, 64
Pink Panther (film), 107
Pirahā, 120
place cells, 226–27
planum temporale, 113
Popper, Karl, 44
possibilities, exploration of, 16–18
posterior probability, 47, 102
postsynaptic neuron, 86
predictive signals, 208–9
prefrontal cortex, 105, 165, 180, 223
presynaptic neuron, 86
Principles of Psychology, The (James), 153
probabilities / probability theory, xxv
babies’ intuition of, 55, 59–61
Bayesian theory and, xxv–xxvi, 44–48, 60
logic and, 61
Probability Theory: The Logic of Science (Jaynes), 45
processing depth effect, 179–81
prosody, 66
Prozac, 111
Psamtik I, Pharaoh, 109
punishment, 209–10
Purkinje cells, 95–96
randomness, 16–18
blocking model and, 136–37, 137
consolidation and, 221–23
discovery learning, ineffectiveness of, 183
knockout model and, 136
neuronal recycling hypothesis and, 132–38
phonics versus whole-word reading, 157–58, 158
preexisting visual system, impact of literacy on, 132–36, 135
shift of face recognition to right hemisphere with increasing literacy, 134–37, 135
Reading in the Brain (Dehaene), 132
reasoning, 34
reinforcement learning, 18–21
remembering, 90
REM sleep, 226
Republic, The (Plato), 51
Rescorla-Wagner theory, 201–4
retrieval practice, 214–16
reward function optimization, 18–22
Rico (dog), 41
Roediger, Henry, 180, 215, 242
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 53, 182, 187
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, xv
Saunderson, Nicholas, 128, 237–38
schizophrenia, 82
School Blues (Pennac), 212
schools / schooling. See education
Schulz, Laura, 196
scientific reasoning theory, 43–48
search space, restricting, 22–24
sea slug (Aplysia californica), 88
second-language learners, 107–9, 108
Sedol, Lee, 20
selection, 148
selective attention, 154–55
adopted children, retention of trace of sound pattern of original language by, 112–13
for binocular vision, 106
Bucharest orphans, study of effects of emotional and social isolation on, 115–18, 117
closing and opening of, 111–15
complexification of neuronal trees in babies and early childhood, 103–5, 104
decrease in plasticity with age, 103
early learning, retention of, 113–15
higher-level areas, slower maturation of, 105–6
owls glasses-wearing experiment and, 113–14, 114
for phonology, 106–7
second language learners and, 107–9, 108
for visual cortex and other sensory regions, 105, 106
sensory inputs, and mental models, 6
sensory systems, and hierarchical decomposition, 11
Shadocks, The (cartoon), 200–201
shared attention. See social attention sharing
Sherrington, Charles, 86
“Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule against Pure Discovery Learning” (Mayer), 182
“Silver Blaze” (Doyle), 45
simplest model that fits data, 37, 39
acceleration of neuronal discharges during, 233
as cause of extra learning, 225
deprivation, and potential link to learning disabilities, 234
discoveries during, 230–33
duration and depth of sleep, and improvement in learning, 225–26, 228–30
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and, 224–25
memory transfer and, 227
role of, 224–26
spacing out of training lessons and, 218
strengthening learning during, strategies for, 229–30
top-down processing during, 232–33
social attention sharing, 38, 168–71, 170
cultural ratchet effect and, 169
as determinant in infant’s learning, 168–71
finger pointing, communicative intent behind, 171
social conformism, 174–75
social learning, 30
spacing out of training sessions, and learning, 217–20
speech recognition, 24
spike, 84
Starck, Philippe, 230
statistician theory, xxv, xxvii, 48, 60, 65–66. See also probabilities / probability theory
stroke, 111
Südhof, Thomas, 86
Super Mario (video game), 19, 20
supervised learning, 14, 18, 202, 209
Sur, Mriganka, 101
syllogisms, 44
synapses, 84–89, 85, 94–95, 98–103
syntactic movement, 109–10
systematicity, 31–33
teaching. See education
terminal button of axon, 86
testing, 214–17
Tetris (video game), 19–20
thiamine, 97
time, 95–96
Tomasello, Michael, 169
Tonegawa, Susumu, 92–93
trial and error recalibration process, 7–8
triangles, neuronal maps use of, 75–76
Turing, Alan, 46–47, 53, 74, 128
ventral temporal cortex, 223
ventral visual cortex, 125–26
vesicles, 86
Victor of Aveyron, 110
Villani, Cédric, 129
visual cortex, 75, 77, 105, 106, 125–26, 207
vocabulary acquisition, 36–41
von Neumann, John, 22
Vrba, Elisabeth, 123
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, 97
Wilson, Matthews, 226
word acquisition, 36–41
Xu, Fei, 60
zero-to-three movement, 115