Neuroscience of Cognitive Development (ePub)

A new understanding of cognitive development from the perspective
of neuroscience

This book provides a state-of-the-art understanding of the neural
bases of cognitive development. Although the field of developmental
cognitive neuroscience is still in its infancy, the authors
effectively demonstrate that our understanding of cognitive
development is and will be vastly improved as the mechanisms
underlying development are elucidated.

The authors begin by establishing the value of considering
neuroscience in order to understand child development and then
provide an overview of brain development. They include a critical
discussion of experience-dependent changes in the brain. The
authors explore whether the mechanisms underlying developmental
plasticity differ from those underlying adult plasticity, and more
fundamentally, what distinguishes plasticity from
development.

Having armed the reader with key neuroscience basics, the book
begins its examination of the neural bases of cognitive development
by examining the methods employed by professionals in developmental
cognitive neuroscience. Following a brief historical overview, the
authors discuss behavioral, anatomic, metabolic, and
electrophysiological methods. Finally, the book explores specific
content areas, focusing on those areas where there is a significant
body of knowledge on the neural underpinnings of cognitive
development, 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 students
in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive
development, the authors' view of behavioral development from the
perspective of neuroscience sheds new light on the mechanisms that
underlie how the brain functions and how a child learns and
behaves.