Using the force: STEM knowledge and experience construct shared neural representations of engineering concepts

This fMRI study investigated how STEM knowledge learned in school changes students' brains. Engineering students with classroom and lab experience were compared to novice peers on a task evaluating Newtonian forces acting on real-world structures. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and machine learning revealed convergent neural response patterns among engineering students, distinct from novices, reflecting knowledge of mechanical structures (cantilevers, trusses, vertical loads). These patterns were primarily represented in bilateral anterior ventral occipitotemporal regions, demonstrating how learning abstract STEM concepts influences neural representations of objects.

Joshua S. Cetron, Andrew C. Connolly, Solomon G. Diamond, Vicki V. May, James V. Haxby, David J. M. Kraemer