What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil
The field of Neuroscience has experienced a growing interest in recent decades, which has led to an exponential growth in the amount of related information made available online as well as the market for Neuroscience-related courses. While this type of knowledge can be greatly beneficial to people w...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.798967/full |
| _version_ | 1818910016580616192 |
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| author | Analía Arévalo Estefania Simoes Fernanda Petinati Guilherme Lepski Guilherme Lepski |
| author_facet | Analía Arévalo Estefania Simoes Fernanda Petinati Guilherme Lepski Guilherme Lepski |
| author_sort | Analía Arévalo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The field of Neuroscience has experienced a growing interest in recent decades, which has led to an exponential growth in the amount of related information made available online as well as the market for Neuroscience-related courses. While this type of knowledge can be greatly beneficial to people working in science, health and education, it can also benefit individuals in other areas. For example, neuroscience knowledge can help people from all fields better understand and critique information about new discoveries or products, and even make better education- and health-related decisions. Online platforms are fertile ground for the creation and spread of fake information, including misrepresentations of scientific knowledge or new discoveries (e.g., neuromyths). These types of false information, once spread, can be difficult to tear down and may have widespread negative effects. For example, even scientists are less likely to access retractions of peer-reviewed articles than the original discredited articles. In this study we surveyed general knowledge about neuroscience and the brain among volunteers in Brazil, Latin America’s largest country. We were interested in evaluating the prevalence of neuromyths in this region, and test whether knowledge/neuromyth endorsement differs by age, region, and/or profession. To that end, we created a 30-item survey that was anonymously answered online by 1128 individuals. While younger people (20–29-year-olds) generally responded more accurately than people 60 and older, people in the North responded significantly worse than those in the South and Southeast. Most interestingly, people in the biological sciences consistently responded best, but people in the health sciences responded no better than people in the exact sciences or humanities. Furthermore, years of schooling did not correlate with performance, suggesting that quantity may surpass quality when it comes to extension or graduate-level course offerings. We discuss how our findings can help guide efforts toward improving access to quality information and training in the region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:36:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8528b31230f40dba6f49db76d5fa210 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:36:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8528b31230f40dba6f49db76d5fa2102022-12-21T20:03:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612022-03-011610.3389/fnhum.2022.798967798967What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in BrazilAnalía Arévalo0Estefania Simoes1Fernanda Petinati2Guilherme Lepski3Guilherme Lepski4Division of Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilCancer Metabolism Research Group, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilPsychotherapy Department, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilDivision of Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilDepartment of Neurosurgery, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, GermanyThe field of Neuroscience has experienced a growing interest in recent decades, which has led to an exponential growth in the amount of related information made available online as well as the market for Neuroscience-related courses. While this type of knowledge can be greatly beneficial to people working in science, health and education, it can also benefit individuals in other areas. For example, neuroscience knowledge can help people from all fields better understand and critique information about new discoveries or products, and even make better education- and health-related decisions. Online platforms are fertile ground for the creation and spread of fake information, including misrepresentations of scientific knowledge or new discoveries (e.g., neuromyths). These types of false information, once spread, can be difficult to tear down and may have widespread negative effects. For example, even scientists are less likely to access retractions of peer-reviewed articles than the original discredited articles. In this study we surveyed general knowledge about neuroscience and the brain among volunteers in Brazil, Latin America’s largest country. We were interested in evaluating the prevalence of neuromyths in this region, and test whether knowledge/neuromyth endorsement differs by age, region, and/or profession. To that end, we created a 30-item survey that was anonymously answered online by 1128 individuals. While younger people (20–29-year-olds) generally responded more accurately than people 60 and older, people in the North responded significantly worse than those in the South and Southeast. Most interestingly, people in the biological sciences consistently responded best, but people in the health sciences responded no better than people in the exact sciences or humanities. Furthermore, years of schooling did not correlate with performance, suggesting that quantity may surpass quality when it comes to extension or graduate-level course offerings. We discuss how our findings can help guide efforts toward improving access to quality information and training in the region.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.798967/fullneuromythsneurosciencepublic knowledgeeducationhigher learning |
| spellingShingle | Analía Arévalo Estefania Simoes Fernanda Petinati Guilherme Lepski Guilherme Lepski What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil Frontiers in Human Neuroscience neuromyths neuroscience public knowledge education higher learning |
| title | What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil |
| title_full | What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil |
| title_fullStr | What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil |
| title_short | What Does the General Public Know (or Not) About Neuroscience? Effects of Age, Region and Profession in Brazil |
| title_sort | what does the general public know or not about neuroscience effects of age region and profession in brazil |
| topic | neuromyths neuroscience public knowledge education higher learning |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.798967/full |
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