What do emotions have to do with the development of brain? Is competition or collaboration more effective in learning spaces? What role does compassion play in human evolution?
The discussion about the importance of neuroscience and learning, as well as the role of emotions in brain processes, will be a central theme at the congress NeuroEDU 2026: Neuroscience, social-emotional learning and compassionwhich will be held this weekend in San Juan.
“This congress, in reality, is a milestone in the history of the island because never before have professionals with so much international recognition in the areas of neuroscience, social-emotional learning and compassion come together,” said the director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience of Puerto Ricothe doctor Mauricio Alejandro Rabbit.
At a time when there is a boom in the exploration and discussion of technological topics, such as artificial intelligence, Conejo argued that this event will open a space to disseminate knowledge about how emotions, particularly compassion, affect how the brain is formed and functions..
“We have not given the real importance of compassion, kindness, love, prosociality, altruism, and that is that the people who develop through specific practices – which have been proven with scientific evidence – are more altruistic people, more selfless, willing to help. They are people who also collaborate, selfless people and that is what, in essence, makes us able to evolve as a species and is what, literally, has made it possible for us to evolve as a species,” He maintained.
Studies have pointed out that there is a relationship between the establishment of significant emotional ties – with family, partners or friends – and the positive impact on physical health and longevity, Conejo pointed out.
“From neuroscience, the approach is going to be the brain. What happens in the brain in people who practice exercises, who develop compassion? What happens in the brain, what happens at the level of the organism, in people who practice kindness? In people who get closer to others, people who generate emotional bonds, which are significant, strong bonds and relationships that are meaningful and healthy?” said Conejo, who will give a conference entitled “Compassion: a superpower”.
The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience has been promoting the importance of neuroscience in Puerto Rico for a decade, through conferences, congresses and programs to certify educators. Conejo estimated that they have certified about 2,500 professionals in cognitive neuroscience applied to education, while they have impacted “thousands of people” on and off the island..
The discussion about reason versus emotion and the important role that emotions play in the development of memory will also have their space in the inaugural conference, which will be led by the Spanish neuroscientist and psychobiologist Ignacio Morgado.
“Human life, in reality, is emotion and feeling, and that happens because we are conscious beings. Consciousness allows us to imagine and, by imagining, we get excited. We get excited when we imagine ourselves in new situations, in kind situations, in difficult situations, in hard situations. Empathy is a very important key in our lives, but by analyzing the role that emotions play in our lives, we realize that they are in everything. They are key to guaranteeing survival,” said Morgado, doctor and professor of Psychobiology in Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Morgado, in a telephone interview, explained that, in his talk, he will integrate the public through theoretical discussions and thinking exercises, while at the same time he will try to “convince” the audience that the human being is born with “a brain that works immediately.”
“We don’t need to apply any programs to it like with a computer when it is new. No, the human brain already has implanted the programs that we need to survive, to reproduce, to seek the best for our lives and, therefore, nature gives us that enormous advantage that the human brain can function, even in people who do not know what a neuron is.he pointed out.
He highlighted the case of Phineas Gagean American railroad worker who, in the 19th century, suffered an accident that affected the part of the brain that – it was later discovered – processes emotions. Morgado maintained that, based on subsequent studies, it has been determined that people with damage in the areas that manage emotions do not make better decisions.
“We would like all our decisions to be based on reason, but, without realizing it, many times in our lives it is emotion that determines our desires, our decisions, our behavior. And emotion has tremendous strength and has a special value,” he argued..
Trying to explain how the brain works through discussions like these is central to advancing research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s or the Parkinson’ssaid Morgado.
“We have to focus on this cure because, in addition, those of us who are of a certain age are suffering not only because we have family, friends or people who have the disease, but because we know that we are all potential heirs of these diseases if we are lucky enough to live for many years. We have to dedicate ourselves to neuroscience a lot,” said the Spanish neuroscientist.
The NeuroEDU2026 conference will be held this Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28, from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, at the Conservatory of Music, in San Juan. Specialists from Spain, Argentina, Chile, the United States and Puerto Rico, among others, will be in charge of the talks. Those interested in attending can get their tickets at this link.