Public Lecture:
How to Improve the Brain's Functioning?

Professor Agnes S.Y. Chan
Department of Psychology, CUHK

Many people want to improve their intelligence, and are willing to pay a high price to achieve their wishes. In response to such a potential profitable market, many methods have been claimed to improve the brain function. However, most popular methods do not have sound theoretical base and empirical evidence. Given there is a need in the society for such a program, our laboratory has developed a program based upon neuroscience models of the brain to improve the cognitive function and behavior in underachievers (i.e., poor academic performance and/or with behavior problems) in a primary school. These students were randomly assigned to join the experimental program or a tutorial class after school for an academic year. The results showed that students who joined the experimental program demonstrated better attention, memory and mental flexibility than the control (tutorial) group. Some students in the experimental group, who are highly compliant to the program, demonstrated significant academic improvements. However, no such observation was found in the control group. In addition, according to the reports from teachers, the students in the experimental group demonstrated improvement in their behavior, but the behavioral problems of the control group remained similar. This project is supported by Quality Education Fund.