The human prefrontal cortex (PFC) is associative and is characterized by the degree of differentiation and regional specialization, differentiating specialized areas in the neocortex. It has three fundamental characteristics: folding, stratification, and the columnar arrangement of its cells. Folding allows for an increase in the cortical surface area to 2,200 cm², horizontal stratification allows the early configuration of up to six cellular layers, and the columnar arrangement allows for framing zones that regulate punctual processes of excitation and inhibition (Etchepareborda Simonini and López Lázaro, 2005). Embryologically, the generation of neural tissue during the 3rd week of gestation begins with neurulation (induction of the ectoderm for its transformation into neuroectoderm), where specific genes and regulatory elements are involved in the development of the cranial portion of the neural tube to generate the subdivisions of the neocortex (Cholfin and Rubenstein, 2008). In fact, the PFC can expand differentially and independently of the growth of other areas, and its size can be regulated in early stages by changing the expression of specific growth factors (Borrell and Reillo, 2012). After birth, the brain continues to grow through the development of dendritic processes and myelination of nerve pathways, while the cortical structure correlates with the development of more elaborate behaviors, and in particular, cerebral myelination of different regions occurs in different stages be-ginning with sensory and motor areas to continue with frontal and parietal association areas.

The frontal lobes are the brain structures whose evolution and development is more recent phylogenetically in the human brain, and it has been related to the need for more complex control and coordination of cognitive and behavioral processes, where behaviors based on motivations and interests and even the achievement of goals that are achieved through procedures and rules can be encompassed (Funahashi and Andreau, 2013). The PFC represents the center of control of mental activity, developing higher executive functions (EF) organized through multiple connections with other cortical areas (sensory areas of the temporal and occipital lobes and reciprocal connections with the amygdala and thalamus) and subcortical areas. These functions are defined as those processes whose objective is to facilitate adaptation to new situations and which require the operation of various interrelated cognitive procedures that participate in the synthesis of external stimuli, formulation of goals and strategies, and the preparation of action and verification of plans and actions whose result is directed toward a purposive and goal-directed behavior (Lozano Gutiérrez and Ostrosky Solís, 2011), whose development takes place during childhood and adolescence (Anderson, 2002), and although with a maximum development between 12 and 18 years of age, it has been observed that its development begins practically from 6 months of age (Zelazo, 2015).

In humans, the prefrontal cortex or frontal associative area, which represents 29%–30% of the brain volume, can be divided according to its different structure and functionality into several subdomains, such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), and orbitofrontal cortex (oFC). Of these, the lPFC is involved in language and executive processing, while the medial and orbitofrontal areas contribute to cognition and emotional control (Kolk and Rakic, 2022). In fact, it is considered one of the largest and latest-maturing portions in neurological development (Donahue et al., 2018), as the cerebral cortex increases in the number of neurons and surface area and also acquires new cell types and cytoarchitectural areas, covering 29%–30% of the brain surface (Carlén, 2017).

An anthropological study was conducted on skeletal remains from 12 tombs found in excavations carried out in the center of the city of Zaragoza (Spain) belonging to the Roman period (Caesaraugusta, 3rd century AD). Of all these subjects, the cranial and post-cranial skeleton found in good condition in tomb IV of a male subject about 28 years old and about 170 cm tall with morpho-anthropological characteristics and funerary equipment compatible with a Roman legionary was individualized. This subject presented bone stress markers at the anterior face of the patella due to the imprint of the patellar tendon and at the posterior face of the calcaneus due to the Achilles tendon, as well as stress fractures in metatarsals. All this indicated how his life had been with long walks carrying a lot of weight and great physical effort. The significant degree of dental wear in all preserved pieces, with the onset of periodontal disease, was the result of the extreme stress they were subjected to, as well as the presence of tartar.

The exhaustive study of these skeletal remains provided relevant information about the person they belonged to: dating of the period in which they lived (carbon 14), cause of death, and morphological and morphometric information, allowing us to know how the legionaries who lived in Caesaraugusta in the 2nd century AD (Zaragoza, Spain) were and how they lived, and even reproduce their physiognomy with digital tools.

The scientific dissemination methodology used to make this research known followed a different development from the usual in this area of knowledge. Through an interdisciplinary team of six people, the idea, plot, and writing and illustration of a story that, with language appropriate for preschool students, valued science and scientific vocations through Roman history, were developed. Subsequent to the writing of the story, proposals were assigned for motor actions in which the schoolchildren, representing the characters in the story, could develop their perceptual-motor skills, motor coordination qualities and basic and generic skills.

The working methodology for the creation of the motor story was developed in three phases (Figure 1), with all the members of the team interacting, coordinated by one of the teachers from the Faculty of Education of the University of Zaragoza.

An interdisciplinary team of doctors/teachers from the Faculty of Medicine and teachers from the Faculty of Education and a historian, all belonging to the University of Zaragoza (Spain), using as the main material the results of the anthropological research previously carried out, created a story that narrates the life of a Roman legionary told by a forensic anthropologist on television and how a girl, after hearing the news, traveled to the past to become the first Roman gladiator in history, who, with the help of the first scientist in history, saved Caesaraugusta from being attacked by the bossy pupils of Maripi’s school.

For the creation of a motor story, an interdisciplinary approach was used, combining elements of literature, pedagogy, and medicine, while integrating research data. The narrative and activity parts were structured to incorporate specific movements, such as jumping, running, or swinging, which children must perform while listening to the story, in order to promote motor and cognitive development in the classroom. The story is structured in such a way that the movements are interspersed with the narrative, creating an interactive experience for the pupil, who, by playing and collectively experiencing the story represented and staged through movement, the pupils and the teacher themselves acquire a high level of protagonism.

An attractive and age-appropriate plot was defined, integrating characters and settings. Simple yet enriching language was used, facilitating comprehension and the learning of new concepts. Additionally, values and emotions were incorporated to allow children to identify with the characters and reflect on their own experiences. Visual elements, such as colorful and detailed illustrations, were created to help follow the storyline and are crucial for capturing and maintaining the interest of young readers. The illustrations used were colored in two different tones, allowing differentiation between when the characters were living in the present and when the story unfolded in the protagonist’s dreams. The story was designed not only to entertain but also to educate, addressing relevant topics such as science, history, interpersonal relationships, and scientific vocations.

Currently, it is in the process of being published by the University of Zaragoza Press (PUZ) and has been presented to teachers and students of this University belonging to the Early Childhood Education Degree studies, future teachers of preschool centers.

It is not the first time that medical science has resorted to literature as an element of scientific dissemination for children (Åkerblom and Thorshag, 2021; Napal Fraile and Vázquez Bienzobas, 2023). Authors from different areas have published works that demonstrate this statement (García-Carmona, 2021, 2023; Martín-Pena et al., 2020; Scazzocchio et al., 2021).

The literary technique of the story that narrates the life history of its characters is usually associated with the scientific field of psychology, mainly dealing with personality development in its relationship with the social or cultural environment rather than the social facts themselves. However, the contributions made from sociology or social anthropology leave in the background the work carried out by their scholars and focus on the value of their results to transfer them to society, which often does not provide academic value to scientists, tending to publish their research in scientific journals. Hence the proliferation of these publications (López-Montero et al., 2022).

The choice of the story as an educational resource and transfer of this anthropological research is motivated by several aspects: it is a flexible educational resource that addresses any area of study, allows working in different areas of knowledge, introduces the cognitive aspect of the student and socio-affective aspects that favor the teaching-learning process. The story is a motivating agent that arouses great interest in children, allowing them to turn the fantastic into real, identify characters, unleash their fantasy, imagination, and creativity, and soften tensions and resolve conflicts (Hopkins and Weisberg, 2021). It generates a positive attitude in students and has great value that can be used by science to awaken interest in its area of study, acting as a facilitator of thinking from a pedagogical perspective, as it enables learning, dynamizes thinking skills, and weaves a solid structure with social skills in building autonomous human beings capable of making decisions and solving inferences that may arise at some point in life (Dasu et al., 2023; Meves and Rodríguez Herranz, 1978). This makes them more accessible and can be more easily understood by students because they immediately connect with the affective zone (Meves and Rodríguez Herranz, 1978).

This dissemination tool created in this research can be used in Early Childhood Education classrooms from any of the three areas established by the preschool curriculum: harmonious growth, discovery and exploration of the environment, and communication and representation of reality. The most significant use of stories in early childhood education is through the motor story from the PE area. This resource can be related to innovative and active methodologies such as gamification, achieving to awaken the motivation of students by combining play with the narrative itself (Bermeo-Giraldo et al., 2021; Sevilla-Sánchez et al., 2023).

This didactic tool not only allows developing the motor skill of the student through the representation of an existing or fictitious story or tale freely by the student, fosters their creativity, and also enhances their ability to express themselves in response to the stimuli received from the teacher. This variant of the story, which is generally used as a reading form orally, becomes a represented story where play situations occur during its course through the teacher’s narrative, creating a motivating situation for the student that immerses them in the story and encourages them to participate in their learning and be aware of the process carried out for it, generating enjoyment of the activity and significant learning. Therefore, the motor story is considered an “ideal” work tool in the PE subject (Sanz Torres, 2023).

The didactic proposal presented in this research, regardless of the value of the data, shows how stories and tales have been used to show the contributions of women to the advancement of science and technology, combating the androcentric culture that still prevails in school textbooks and providing female role models in the scientific-technological field, fostering scientific vocations, aspects of great importance in the choice of studies and future way of life (Calvo-Iglesias, 2019). All programmes and actions carried out by governments, institutions, associations, organizations, etc., aimed at giving visibility to the role of women and girls in science and supporting and fostering STEAM vocations are not enough. They must be supported by previous scientific training of citizens that can only be achieved by starting it in the early educational stages. For this, as Cossío would say, we must have good teachers well trained in science, which the teachers themselves consider necessary and demand. A well-trained teacher serves as a guide to children so that through carefully designed experimentation, they can, as their teachers did before, take on the role of the discoverer. Thus, they come to feel the same excitement as the corresponding scientists and get hooked on science, which they identify as what it truly is: a true game of discovery (Gómez et al., 2021).

Interdisciplinarity opens the door to science, and in this case to physical anthropology, to reach schoolchildren and intervene in their emotions from a very early age in parallel to their physical and emotional development, through the creation of a motor story as an element of knowledge transfer and dissemination.

All this using tools that leave aside the new technologies and achieve, through the narrative in the form of MOTOR stories and their characters, scenarios and novel and motivating stories, to make science accessible and attractive to the school population.

In conclusion, it has been possible to write a children’s story with a balance between simplicity and depth where imagination, values and language have come together to create a work that not only entertains but also educates and leaves a mark on the emotional and intellectual development of children, making young readers dream, learn and grow emotionally through the pages. This motor story will allow once published its implementation in kindergarten classrooms and it will be possible to study and measure its impact among schoolchildren. This is the challenge that we hope to have met with the creation of this driving story entitled “Maripi: the scientific gladiator.”