Neuroscience of Cognitive Development

A new understanding of cognitive development from the perspectiveof neuroscience This book provides a state-of-the-art understanding of the neuralbases of cognitive development. Although the field of developmentalcognitive neuroscience is still in its infancy, the authorseffectively demonstrate that our understanding of cognitivedevelopment is and will be vastly improved as the mechanismsunderlying development are elucidated. The authors begin by establishing the value of consideringneuroscience in order to understand child development and thenprovide an overview of brain development. They include a criticaldiscussion of experience-dependent changes in the brain. Theauthors explore whether the mechanisms underlying developmentalplasticity differ from those underlying adult plasticity, and morefundamentally, what distinguishes plasticity fromdevelopment. Having armed the reader with key neuroscience basics, the bookbegins its examination of the neural bases of cognitive developmentby examining the methods employed by professionals in developmentalcognitive neuroscience. Following a brief historical overview, theauthors discuss behavioral, anatomic, metabolic, andelectrophysiological methods. Finally, the book explores specificcontent areas, focusing on those areas where there is a significantbody of knowledge on the neural underpinnings of cognitivedevelopment, including: * Declarative and non-declarative memory and learning * Spatial cognition * Object recognition * Social cognition * Speech and language development * Attention development For cognitive and developmental psychologists, as well as studentsin developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitivedevelopment, the authors' view of behavioral development from theperspective of neuroscience sheds new light on the mechanisms thatunderlie how the brain functions and how a child learns andbehaves.