What Can Cognitive Neuroscience Tell Us About Development?

Chair and introduction by
Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom

PRESENTATIONS:

 

Kang Lee, University of Toronto, Canada
Neurodevelopment of face processing in children: evidence from fNIRS
Abstract: Faces are one of the most important stimuli in children’s visual environment. Extensive behavioral research has revealed the crucial role that visual experience plays in the development of face processing. However, neuroimaging studies on the same issue are rare and have been limited to the use of event related potential ERP) methodologies. Here, I present evidence from studies using near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) that examined the development of own- and other-race face processing from the preschool period through adolescence. This evidence reveals major changes in both cortical hemodynamic response and functional connectivity in the developing brain when children are recognizing own- and other-race faces. I will also discuss the advantages of using fNIRS as an effective tool for developmental cognitive neuroscience research, as well as challenges and solutions.

Catherine Sebastian, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom
Using fMRI to study emotion regulation in adolescents with and without conduct problems
Abstract: Neuroimaging studies have shown continued structural and functional development in neural circuitry underlying emotions and their regulation during adolescence. I will present fMRI data revealing the mechanisms underlying emotion processing and regulation in adolescents with conduct problems, or behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). The data suggest that emotional processing in this group is heterogeneous, and in particular that it varies with differing levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. I will also discuss preliminary data looking at emotion regulation in typical adolescence and will consider relationships between these processes and internalising and externalising symptoms.

Duncan Astle, MRC Cambridge, United Kingdom
Using MEG to study the mechanisms of individual differences and training effects in childhood
Abstract: Attentional or cognitive control enables us to regulate and optimise our cognition and behaviour. These mechanisms are critical in childhood, because they support children’s ability to learn and are impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders. These control mechanisms are heavily dependent upon co-ordinated activity across distributed brain areas (termed functional connectivity), that integrates information about evolving task goals with relevant sensory input or motor output. It is fundamentally important that we understand how dynamic patterns of neural activity are coordinated across brain areas, because of its critical role in cognition. As yet, however, we know little about these underlying neural mechanisms or their developmental courses. We know even less about the sources of variation in control mechanisms, the extent to which they can underlie developmental disorders, or the possibilities of their modification through intervention. I will present data in which we use the dynamic electrical activity recorded using MEG to explore the underlying neurophysiological basis of functional connectivity in childhood, the extent to which it underpins differences in working memory capacity across children and whether these mechanisms can be augmented by targeted interventions.

Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Birkbeck Centre for Brain & Cognitive Development, University of London, United Kingdom
Using different neuroimaging methodologies and eye-tracking to deepen our knowledge of cognitive development across a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders
Abstract: Because they present with uneven cognitive profiles, neurodevelopmental disorders have often been characterized in terms of intact vs impaired modules. The availability of eye-tracking techniques as well as a variety of neuroimaging technologies enabling researchers to examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of brain activity, has challenged such dichotomies, suggesting that even when participants achieve “scores in the normal range”, this does not necessarily indicate intactness, because the behavioural scores can be shown to be underpinned by atypical neural processes. This holds for a wide range of cognitive domains (e.g., face processing, language, number, attention, inhibition, memory) and across a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Foetal Alcohol syndrome, Obstructive Sleep Apnea), as well as low/high SES.