Grantee: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
Project Lead: Adele Diamond, Ph.D.Co-PIs: B.J. Casey and Yuko Munakata
Grant Title: Multi-institutional study panel and textbook on developmental cognitive neuroscience
Program Area: Bridging Brain, Mind & Behavior
Grant Type: Collaborative Activity Award
Year Awarded: 2001
Project Summary:
Brain development is an area of emerging interest in cognitive neuroscience. Recent refinements of brain imaging and recording techniques make it possible to monitor brain function in young children and infants. These techniques open many new possibilities for experiments that could yield insights both into normal brain development and developmental disabilities, such as autism, mental retardation, dyslexia, and attention deficit disorder. Unfortunately, research in developmental neurobiology and research in developmental cognitive psychology have developed in relative isolation from one another. Yet design and interpretation of reliable brain imaging studies require integrating expertise from biology, genetics, psychology, systems neuroscience, and anatomy. Fulfilling the promise of developmental cognitive neuroscience, therefore, depends upon training a new generation of scientists with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to carry out such highly interdisciplinary research.
The collaborative will conduct a comprehensive review of developmental cognitive neuroscience and to synthesize their findings in a textbook. In addition to regular meetings with one another, the three investigators plan to host eight study panel workshops attended by subject-matter experts. The workshops will serve the dual purpose of assuring that the authors are presenting accurate, up to date information and fostering the interdisciplinary discussions needed to advance the field. The authors will also work closely with a senior advisory board. Based on these meetings, the three scientists themselves will write the textbook collaboratively, rather than rely on individual scientists to write specific chapters. This approach to preparing the book will allow the three authors to effectively integrate information across chapters and to develop a text that not only summarizes accepted findings, but also defines the evolving nature of the field and identifies areas where new knowledge is needed to address existing controversies. This would be the first textbook for the field and would be an invaluable tool for recruiting and training researchers.