Month: December 2020

A comparative approach to the study of early experience and development is ubiquitous throughout the research initiatives of this network. Of particular relevance to the goals of this initiative are selective rearing studies with animals (rats and monkeys) that parallel the conditions under which young children are raised.

An example of such an undertaking can be found in recent pilot work conducted with Rhesus monkeys by Dr. Judy Cameron (a core group member). Dr. Cameron has separated monkeys from their mothers at four different ages: one week, one month, three months, and six months (this last age is when separation would occur normally). The behavioral repertoire of animals separated at three and six months is normal.

However, animals separated from their mothers at one month show profound behavioral (particularly emotional) deficits. For example, these animals quickly seek out an adult to adopt them, and latch onto this adult. Once adopted, …

Research focusing on the developmental outcome of children who experienced pre- or perinatal brain insult has demonstrated that children who are asymptomatic during the newborn period nevertheless often show cognitive deficits later in life. Behavioral measures of memory and cognitive ability during the infancy period have failed to consistently identify this subpopulation of at-risk infants. We designed two experiments that each reflect operations of the medial temporal robe and reflect pre-explicit memory. In the current protocol, electrophysiological techniques were used to examine the neural processing underlying recognition memory during the first year of life. Infants of diabetic mothers and infants suffering from growth retardation were tested on visual recognition memory paradigms at 6 and 8 months of age. Results suggest that fetal neurologic insults do result in abnormal patterns of electrophysiologic response to familiar and novel stimuli during the first year. (Also see Poster #G09; Neurophysiologic Assessment of Auditory Recognition …

Over the past decade, much information has been disseminated about “critical periods” – windows of plasticity, usually early in life, during which certain experiences must happen in order for certain abilities to develop. This concept has often been misapplied to suggest that only experiences early in life count, and that development and plasticity shut down after a certain point. This Network study has shown, however, that enriched experiences later in life can “re-open” windows of plasticity previously thought to be closed.

Earlier experiments have shown that young owls can effectively re-map their visual and auditory maps (including literally re-mapping the brain representations of these “maps”) when their visual input is manipulated by putting prisms over their eyes. These owls quickly learn the new relationships between auditory and visual input, and most adapt fully to the new relationship.

Adult owls, however, were largely unable to adapt to the shifted input. This …