An emerging focus of research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targets the identification of early-developing ASD endophenotypes using infant siblings of affected children. One potential neural endophenotype is resting frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha asymmetry, a metric of hemispheric organization. Here, we examined the development of…

The neurodevelopmental sequelae of early deprivation were examined by testing (N = 132) 8- and 9-year-old children who had endured prolonged versus brief institutionalized rearing or rearing in the natal family. Behavioral tasks included measures that permit inferences about underlying neural circuitry. Children raised in institutionalized…

Data are reported from 3 groups of children residing in Bucharest, Romania. Face recognition in currently institutionalized, previously institutionalized, and never-institutionalized children was assessed at 3 time points: preintervention (n = 121), 30 months of age (n = 99), and 42 months of age (n = 77). Children watched photographs of caregiver…

Two major advances in developmental brain sciences have implications for understanding development: (1) neuroimaging; and (2) molecular and cellular events that give rise to the developing brain and ways in which the brain is modified by experiences. Critical, new knowledge of behavioral development can be achieved by considering the…

This study used event-related potentials (ERP) and visual preference technique to assess 6-month olds' ability to recognize their mothers' face. Results of five experiments suggested that infants can recognize their mothers' face, but the neural processes accompanying recognition depend on the difficulty with which mothers can be discriminated…

In first of 2 experiments, an early negative component of 400 4 to 6 year olds distinguished between happy and angry expressions. A later positive component distinguished between target and nontarget events. Both components were observed in a second experiment. Results are discussed in the context of children's allocation of attentional and memory…

Two studies used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine neural manifestations of emotion recognition in 7-month-old infants. In the first study, 20 infants were presented with 2 alternating achromatic slides of the same female model posing a happy and a fearful expression. Infants' ERPs revealed a prominent positive component to the happy face…