Join the Developmental Psychology area for a talk by Zeynep Saygin (The Ohio State University)!
Title: Innate neural scaffolds for mental function
Abstract: What determines the landscape of functional specialization in the human brain? I’ll present experiments that investigate how neural processors for uniquely human skills emerge in development, focusing specifically on written language for this talk. First, I'll demonstrate how a pre-reader’s brain connectivity scan can pinpoint exactly where that same child’s visual word form area (VWFA) will develop 2 years later, after they learn how to read. I’ll also show how the VWFA does not emerge from other category-selective cortex but that continued functional specialization and lateralization for visual words may predict future reading skills in children. Then, I'll discuss experiments in neonates that further demonstrate how connectivity (specifically with language cortex) earmarks the eventual location of the VWFA and other visual cortex, and the differential gene expression that provides a potential explanation for the emergence of this basic proto-organization/proto-connectivity of the brain. I’ll then focus on the specific connectivity of language cortex with the VWFA and ask whether the VWFA is simply another language region in adults, and whether the absence of canonical language cortex from birth prevents the formation of a typical VWFA. Finally, I’ll present past and ongoing experiments that try to use connectivity as a potential biomarker to predict individual differences in future behavior. These experiments underscore the importance of connectivity in biasing the emergence of uniquely human cognition. More broadly, they demonstrate how predicting later brain function and behavior from early neuroimaging data can offer powerful strategies for understanding the emergence and plasticity of high-level representations.
About Zeynep Saygin: Dr. Saygin is an Associate Professor at OSU and director of the Z-lab. She received her Sc.B. in Neuroscience from Brown University, her Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience from MIT, working with Drs. Gabrieli and Saxe, and then completed her postdoctoral work at MIT and MGH with Drs. Kanwisher and Fischl. Dr. Saygin has received numerous awards and grants including from the NICHD, NSF, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She explores the developmental origins of the human mind, and uses longitudinal neuroimaging of brain structure, function, and connectivity in fetuses, infants, and young children, and computational modeling to predict brain and behavioral outcomes.
The Developmental Seminar Series area features both internal and external speakers who are experts in a wide range of topics including the development of cognition, perception, learning, emotional processing, and social relationships.
For more information, contact Developmental Psychology area coordinator Zeynep Saygin.