Description:

Developmental experiences can have a profound influence on our brains, minds, and behavior across the lifespan. Which developmental experiences have these enduring effects, when are they impactful, and how do they get embedded in brain function? We address these questions by focusing on sensitive period mechanisms of brain plasticity shaping early sensory functions to complex emotion regulation. I will illustrate how daily life experiences, like music, can become embedded in the brain during childhood with consequences for later adult behavior and physiology. Further evidence from language and visual domains reflects sensitive periods in both healthy development and explains changes within clinical populations like Autism Spectrum Disorder. Lastly, I will highlight ongoing work combining software design and brain imaging approaches to identify at-risk trajectories of brain development and facilitate early interventions leveraging early neuroplasticity windows to promote resilient outcomes.

Dr. Laurel Gabard-Durnam is the director of PINE Lab and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University.