28 PINNING DOWN POTENTIALneuro- imaging technology points to a future where knowing how indi-
vidual children’s brains function may help teachers tailor their ap-
proaches to educating each child.”^31 His website tells us that “Richard has
found that the density of gray and white matter in regions of the brain is
related to diff erences in how people score on intelligence tests and other
cognitive mea sures.” It also includes a fascinating discussion room for
topics like “Brain Scans May Improve Careers Advice” and “Why Do So
Few Women Reach Top Ranks in Science?”
Another illustration is research by Jin- Ju Yang and colleagues, who
attempted to associate a composite mea sure of brain network volume—
thickness, degree of folding, and so on— with IQ.^32 And splashed across
the world’s media was the report that comparisons of scans of male and
female brains “supported old ste reo types, with men’s brains apparently
wired more for perception and co- ordinated actions, and women’s for
social skills and memory” (reported in the Guardian, December 3, 2013).
Th ere has been an upsurge of studies looking for such associations.
Th ese, too, have set antennae twitching in vari ous policy- related groups,
again looking for esoteric solutions in brain structures to what may well
be much deeper prob lems in social structures.
Among these groups is the well- meaning Education Endowment
Foundation, which is “dedicated to breaking the link between family
income and educational achievement, ensuring that children from all
backgrounds can fulfi ll their potential and make the most of their tal-
ents.” In January 2014, it announced, in conjunction with the Wellcome
Trust, “the launch of a fund supporting the use of neuroscience in class-
rooms... to develop and evaluate the eff ectiveness of neuroscience- based
educational interventions.”
Specialist journals, like Mind, Brain & Education have also prolifer-
ated, devoted to “transforming through neuroscience.” As early as 2003, an
editorial in Nature wrote about “Bringing Neuroscience to the Class-
room.” Th e journal produced a news feature called “Big Plans for Little
Brains” on the emerging relations between education and cognitive neuro-
science. Writing in the journal Nature Neuroscience in 2014, Marian
Sigman and colleagues argue that “it’s prime time to build the bridge.”
Paul Howard- Jones warns against “ brain scan to lesson plan” approaches,
but nevertheless advocates the “development of learning technology
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