Taking a developmental approach to cognitive neuroscience allows one to study how the maturation of particular neural pathways and structures gives rise to developments in cognitive, perceptual and motor abilities. This can sometimes lead to surprising predictions about the cognitive consequences of brain damage in the adult. On the other hand, taking a cognitive neuroscience approach to development is important since many changes in cognitive abilities during childhood may be attributable to brain maturation, and since cognitive theories derived from neural development may be more likely to adequately capture processes of developmental change than are those derived from consideration of digital computer architectures. Although this course will span from gene expression to language acquisition, the emphasis will be firmly on the computational consequences of underlying developmental events.
Admission is by permission of the instructor.