New Perspectives in Science Education

Health education involves people studying scientific topics, particularly medical students, but also everyone of us, patients, doctors, consultants, counsellors, psychologists, dieteticians, personal trainers: lots of people I would say, both during their university studies, both during their working activity formation. In my opinion, what is important is that health education involves more and more also common people, so to make them aware of their condition, of health, of health rights, of life needs, of disease and of healing strategies.
Reward system is the neural pathways ruling all these: infact reward, meaning in some way the pleasant perception that central nervous system elaborates, means also life needs and in this acception, human rights. What we can remember is that reward system, whose core is placed in the midbrain, links all the centers regulating life functions like: basal ganglia (automatisms), insula (autonomous nervous system), HPA hypothalamus-hypofisis axis (hormonal balance), amygdalae (deep emotions), nucleus accumbens (pleasure), limbic system (cortical emotions), frontal lobes (behaviour). From these first centers then reward system regulates: breathing and cardiovascular functions, hormone glands and reproduction, eating and digestion, fitness activities.
What we see is that all these features are related between them and also they are the heart of human life needs and rights: like for example diet that should be 2000 kcal for every world people, fitness a need of 30 minutes per day for everyone, affective life that is also a human right, sleep that should be at least 7-8 hours per night.
I also remember that, like World Health Organization says, health is not only the absence of symptoms and of diseases, but also the real effective perceived wellness all can live.
I can conclude by saying that people are empowered, no matter if they are health professionists or common persons, when they are fully aware of their needs and of the fact that life needs are human rights.

Keywords: Health education, reward system, empowerment, human rights, life needs.

References: 
[1] Handbook of reward system and decision making, Dreher, Academic Press
[2] Che cos’è l’empowerment, Dallago, Carrocci ed.
[3] www.who.int – site of World Health Organization
[4] Oxford Handbook of nutrition and dietetics, Oxford Medicine ed.