Higher Education: What does the Neurocognitive Evidence Say for Decision-Making and Complex Problem Solving?

Abstract

Higher education aims to train suitable professionals for a globalized context and develop transversal skills that allow them to function successfully in society with the current demands. Higher education includes the entry of young people from 18, with professional careers lasting at least 4 to 5 years, graduating at approximately 23 years of age. Cognitive neurosciences show that brain maturation of the prefrontal lobe (associated with executive functions, such as decision-making, planning, and cognitive flexibility) is completed around 25 years of age, continuing with the myelination of the various processing networks. Thereby, raises the question of how to approach the resolution of complex problems that demand a battery of technical, procedural, attitudinal, and ethical implications, among others, in a brain that is still developing, still dealing with the regulation of its characteristic emotional states. At this stage of the life cycle. The chapter will allow us to reflect on the scaling of these competencies based on neuroscience to suggest methodologies that will enable, depending on the entry profile of the students, to address specific methods.