New Neuroscience Study Explores Montessori Education and Children’s Attention Networks
Learning Environments Are Associated with Age-Related Differences in Thalamocortical Attention Circuits in Childhood
npj Science of Learning, September 2026
A new study co-authored by Dr. Solange Denervaud, an AMI-trained Montessori educator and neuroscientist at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), explores how Montessori education may be associated with differences in children's developing brain networks.
Published in npj Science of Learning, the research brings together contemporary neuroscience and questions that have long interested Montessori educators: How do children's everyday learning experiences relate to the development of attention? And might different educational environments be associated with different patterns of neurological development?
Denervaud, who worked as a Montessori elementary educator before pursuing neuroscience, is already familiar to the MINT community. Her involvement makes this research particularly relevant to Montessori educators interested in the relationship between classroom practice and scientific investigation.
The research team examined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 72 children between the ages of 4 and 15 attending Montessori and conventional schools. Researchers investigated connectivity between the thalamus, a brain structure involved in coordinating information, and larger networks associated with attention.
They found that children attending Montessori schools demonstrated stronger functional connectivity in a particular thalamic region associated with the ventral attention network. The relationship between age and connectivity also differed between the two groups, suggesting that educational environments may be associated with different patterns of neural development.
These findings are intriguing, particularly given Montessori education's longstanding emphasis on concentration, purposeful activity, independence, and the prepared environment.
Because researchers compared children already attending different schools, other factors, including family experiences and educational choices, may contribute to the findings. The researchers also emphasize the need for larger studies that follow children over time.
For Montessori educators, the significance lies in the questions this research makes possible. Denervaud and her colleagues are investigating how the experiences children encounter in educational settings may relate to the development of neural systems involved in directing and sustaining attention.
As neuroscience continues to investigate the relationship between learning environments and brain development, this study offers another opportunity to examine Montessori education through contemporary scientific methods.
Mino-Matot, T., Kebiri, H., Jorge, J. et al. Learning environments are associated with age-related differences in thalamocortical attention circuits in childhood. npj Sci. Learn. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00452-4
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