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It is not often that an official report creates a rush in your head, makes you see into the future and treates you with elegant and accessible language and with great quotes. The OECD report “Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science” does that – and more. The project leader Bruno della Chiesa, a senior analyst at OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, and some of the brainiest people in brain research gathered in Helsinki yesterday for a seminar to mark the publication of the report and to discuss how it may change the way we approach teaching and learning.

It is no coincidence that this happened in Helsinki, Finland being the honor student of OECD’s PISA studies, and a major supporter of the project. Finns are also the first to discuss how the report’s findings will change life in the classrooms. To stay ahead you must think ahead.

The report, which, with a slight edit, could be a popular science bestseller, paves the way for an emerging field of study that combines educational studies, cognitive science and neuroscience. There is lot there that makes intuitive sense and is welcome like scientific support for lifelong learning and for the interdependence of body and mind and the emotional and the cognitive. There is also an interesting chapter on neuromyths. For example there is no scientific support for the claim that a person uses only 10% of his or her brain, or that there would be “left-brain” or “right-brain” persons.

There is also stuff that is quite wild and potentially frightening like brain meets machine research and performance enhancing drugs. One of the most thought-provoking exchanges at the seminar concerned the ethics of neuroscience. Mr della Chiesa told the audience that in their original version of the report they had taken a much stronger stand on ethical issues but had been kindly asked to dampen their views. One of the interesting question he raised was: “What happens when someone invents a pill that will make you smarter? Is it going to be available to millions for a few euros or to only a few for a million euros?” Who exactly asked the team not to discuss ethics, especially of drugs, too much, he would not say.

Later in the day, a new ethical and philosophical twist was introduced by Dr Hideaki Koizumi – who drives around Japan in a pink research truck that has the text “Exciting Brain Science” printed on it in screaming letters – when he turned the thinking around and talked about the neuroscience of ethics. In his closing remarks Mr della Chiesa admitted that occasionally he wakes up in the middle of the night asking himself: “What happens when we find out whether we are born equal when it comes to ethics. If we are, then there is a huge responsibility on the school system. If not, our philosophical fundamentals are going to change.”