Neurodevelopment

This course explores the process by which the human brain and all of its cells and connections emerge and develop. Through discussion-based seminars, we traverse major developmental events of the brain, tracing development at prenatal and postnatal stages through the protracted stages of young adulthood and aging. Insights into basic mechanisms of brain development come from animal models, but recent technological advancements, from molecular tools to neuroimaging, enable studies of human brain maturation directly. We examine how brain development is related to evolution, and how typical and atypical development influences behavior.