Schooling Trajectories and the Development of Brain Dynamics: A Comparative Study of Montessori and Traditional Education
Source abstract
Abstract
ABSTRACT Learning environments may shape both children's cognitive outcomes and the maturation of large‐scale neural dynamics. We investigate whether pedagogical context modulates brain activity and cognition in 96 students (4–15 years) enrolled in Montessori (MSC) or traditional (TSC) schools. Montessori emphasizes self‐directed exploration with increasing independence, whereas traditional classrooms shift from play‐based early learning to teacher‐directed instruction. To examine how neural development diverges across educational trajectories, we quantify the temporal asymmetry (“non‐reversibility”) of fMRI signals during resting state and movie‐watching. Behaviorally, MSC students outperform TSC peers in language, mathematics, and both divergent and convergent thinking. Neural patterns diverge with age: during rest, non‐reversibility increases in MSC but decreases in TSC, primarily in sensorimotor, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal networks; during movie‐watching, differences are strongest in younger children, especially in subcortical, visual, and default mode networks. Exploratory analyses reveal higher non‐reversibility in females, with larger sex differences in TSC. These findings suggest that pedagogical context may shape developmental trajectories and variability of neural dynamics. Montessori education may foster more adaptive brain dynamics, support flexible and creative thinking, and reduce gender disparities. Longitudinal research is needed to clarify what non‐reversibility reflects and how educational approaches sculpt brain development.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Education Methods and Practices · Early Childhood Education and Development · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Center for Brain and Cognition Computational Neuroscience Group Department of Information and Communication Technologies Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona Spain
Department of Psychology & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience Paris‐Lodron‐University Salzburg Austria
Departamento de Matemática y Ciencias Universidad de San Andrés Buenos Aires Argentina
National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) CABA Buenos Aires Argentina
Center for Music in the Brain Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Denmark
Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing Linacre College University of Oxford Oxford UK
Department of Psychiatry University of Oxford Oxford UK
Program in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychiatry University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging Lausanne Switzerland
MRI Imaging and Technology, Polytechnical School of Lausanne Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) Lausanne Switzerland
Department of Radiology Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne (CHUV‐UNIL) Lausanne Switzerland
Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) Barcelona Spain
Funding
Canada Research Chairs · Danmarks Grundforskningsfond · HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council · HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme · Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca
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