For much of the twentieth century, the human brain was often compared to a computer. Information entered through the senses, the brain processed it, and responses came out. Learning was viewed largely as an abstract mental activity — something that happened primarily in the brain. Reading, math, memory, and language were treated as systems for manipulating symbols and information, almost independently of the body itself.
Modern cognitive science, however, is increasingly moving away from this idea.
The brain is not a computer
A growing body of research suggests that learning is not simply the result of abstract mental processing. Instead, thinking is deeply connected to perception, movement, physical interaction, emotion, and experience. Researchers refer to this perspective as grounded cognition or embodied cognition. The central idea is both simple and profound: the mind develops through the body’s interaction with the world.
This does not mean the brain is unimportant. Quite the opposite. The brain remains central to learning. But the brain does not function in isolation. Cognitive development depends on sensory experiences, motor activity, attention, memory, and interaction with the environment. In many ways, the body and the brain form a single integrated learning system.
This shift in thinking has important implications not only for how we understand learning, but also for how we teach children and support those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Learning begins with experience
One key insight of embodied cognition is that understanding is rooted in experience. We do not merely store abstract definitions of concepts in memory. Rather, concepts are connected to the sensory and motor experiences associated with them. For example, when a person thinks about a “hammer,” the brain may automatically activate information related to how the hammer looks, how it feels in the hand, the motion used to swing it, and the goals associated with using it. Research even suggests that words alone can activate motor systems in the brain.
This idea challenges the belief that learning occurs purely through passive exposure to information. Children do not simply absorb knowledge by listening or memorizing. They build understanding through interaction with the world around them.
Long before children can explain concepts verbally, they are already learning through movement, observation, imitation, touch, and exploration. A toddler stacking blocks, clapping rhythms, tracing shapes, or learning to balance is not merely “playing.” The child is building neural systems that later support language, attention, sequencing, spatial awareness, and problem-solving.
Learning, in other words, begins with experience.
Reading is more than decoding
This connection between language, perception, and action becomes especially interesting when we consider reading.
Traditional views often describe reading as the decoding of symbols on a page. Certainly, decoding is essential. However, skilled reading involves far more than recognizing words accurately. When readers engage with text, they mentally simulate the situations being described. A sentence such as “The eagle soared through the sky” does not simply activate a dictionary definition of eagle. The brain begins constructing a mental experience involving movement, shape, space, and imagery.
Studies have shown that readers mentally represent the orientation, shape, and movement of objects while they read. In other words, comprehension is not detached from sensory experience. It is deeply tied to it.
This may help explain why some children can read words aloud relatively accurately while still struggling with comprehension. If visualization, sequencing, attention, or spatial processing are weak, the child may fail to construct rich mental representations while reading. The words are being decoded, but the meaning is not being fully experienced.
Good reading is therefore not merely about pronouncing words correctly. It involves building vivid mental simulations that allow the reader to connect emotionally and cognitively with the text.
Why movement helps learning
The same principle applies to mathematics. Math is often taught as if it exists purely in the realm of abstract symbols. Yet many children understand mathematical ideas far better when learning involves movement, manipulation, rhythm, visualization, and physical interaction. Counting on fingers, moving objects, tracing patterns, using number lines, and skip counting aloud may seem simple, but these activities connect mathematical concepts to embodied experiences.
This connection may be one reason why hands-on learning is so effective, particularly for younger children and struggling learners. Children do not learn best by passively receiving information. They learn by interacting with their environment. They learn through seeing, hearing, touching, moving, practicing, and doing.
Movement also helps sustain attention and strengthen memory. When multiple brain systems are engaged simultaneously — visual, auditory, motor, and spatial — learning often becomes more stable and meaningful. This may explain why activities involving rhythm, movement, sequencing, and repetition can have such a powerful effect on learning readiness.
Far from being a distraction from learning, purposeful movement may actually support it.
Concepts are connected to action
Embodied cognition also sheds light on how concepts are organized in the brain. Researchers increasingly argue that concepts are not stored as detached pieces of information. Instead, they are closely tied to action and experience.
When people think about objects, the brain often activates information about how those objects are used. A cup is not merely recognized visually; it is associated with grasping, lifting, and drinking. A bicycle is linked to balancing, steering, and pedaling. Even language itself may trigger action-related brain systems.
This perspective helps explain why practical experience is so important for deep learning. Children often struggle when instruction becomes too abstract too quickly. They may memorize facts temporarily without truly understanding them because the concepts have not yet become grounded in meaningful experience.
Concrete interaction creates stronger cognitive anchors for later abstract thinking.
What this means for dyslexia and dyscalculia
Embodied cognition also challenges simplistic explanations of disorders such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. For many years, discussions about dyslexia focused primarily on phonics and language processing. While phonological awareness remains critically important, research increasingly suggests that many struggling learners also experience difficulties involving timing, sequencing, working memory, visual processing, motor coordination, or attention.
Similarly, dyscalculia is often viewed simply as “difficulty with math,” but the underlying issues may involve weak number sense, poor sequencing, slow processing, spatial confusion, or difficulties automating foundational skills. In these cases, simply providing “more math” may not fully address the problem.
This does not mean that academic instruction should be replaced. Structured literacy, explicit teaching, and systematic math instruction remain essential. However, embodied cognition suggests that academic learning may improve more effectively when the underlying cognitive systems that support it are also strengthened.
The importance of cognitive foundations
The implications for education are significant. Modern classrooms often place enormous emphasis on abstract academic performance while reducing opportunities for movement, sensory engagement, play, and active exploration. Yet the developing brain appears to thrive on precisely these experiences.
Young children, especially, learn naturally through action. They build understanding by manipulating objects, exploring patterns, moving through space, imitating actions, engaging socially, and interacting physically with their environment. In many ways, learning begins not with abstraction, but with experience.
Attention, memory, sequencing, processing speed, visual processing, and auditory processing are not separate from academic learning. They support it. If these underlying systems are weak, learning itself may become difficult, even when a child receives good academic instruction.
Learning is built on cognitive foundations.
A more hopeful view of learning
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of embodied cognition is that it presents learning as dynamic and adaptable. If cognition is grounded in experience, then carefully designed experiences can help strengthen cognitive functioning. Through repetition, guided practice, movement, visualization, sensory engagement, and progressively challenging tasks, the brain can develop new neural pathways. This aligns closely with modern research on neuroplasticity, the brain’s remarkable ability to change through experience and training.
The struggling child, therefore, is not necessarily limited by fixed ability. Often, the child needs stronger foundations, better sequencing, more meaningful practice, and learning experiences that engage the whole cognitive system rather than isolated academic skills alone.
Learning is not merely something that happens “inside the brain.” It emerges from the continuous interaction between the brain, the body, and the world around us. The more we understand this relationship, the better equipped we become to help children learn, grow, and succeed.
Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning difficulties. We work with families in the United States, Canada, Australia, and around the world. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
- Why Learning Is Not Just “In the Brain” was authored by Sue du Plessis (B.A. Hons Psychology; B.D.), an educational specialist with 30+ years of experience in the learning disabilities field.
- Edublox is proud to be a member of the Institute for the Advancement of Cognitive Education (IACE), an organization dedicated to improving learning through cognitive education and mediated learning approaches.
