NEUROSCIENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND THE EARLY YEARS OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Abstract

The study investigated how neuroscience could be applied in Early Childhood Education and the early years of Elementary School, given the difficulty of integrating knowledge about brain function into pedagogical practices. The overall objective was to analyze the contributions of neuroscience to children's learning and comprehensive development at these stages. The research was characterized as a literature review with a qualitative approach, based on the analysis of books, book chapters, and scientific articles obtained from academic databases and selected according to thematic criteria and relevance to the subject studied. The results indicated that early stimulation, combined with methodologies that consider the relationship between emotions and learning, favored cognitive, socio-emotional, and motor development. It was found that, in the early years, neuroscience-based strategies contributed to the improvement of executive functions, literacy, and the strengthening of socio-emotional skills. The use of digital resources, games, and gamification had positive effects on engagement and content retention, provided they were accompanied by intentional pedagogical mediation. The analysis found that, although neuroscience offers a solid foundation for improving teaching, its implementation still faces barriers, such as a lack of specific teacher training and the absence of school policies that encourage this integration. The conclusion was that neuroeducation can foster practices more aligned with child development, but that further research is needed to assess its long-term effects and broaden understanding of its applications in the Brazilian school context.