Early cognitive and brain development in infants and children with ASD

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction, restrictive, and repetitive behaviors. The exact etiology of the condition is unknown, and the heterogeneity and the late emergence of characteristic symptoms of ASD limits our ability to identify infants and children who may require early intervention. One way to address the complexity of this condition is to examine early cognitive and brain development prior to the consolidation of behavioral symptoms at around 2–3 years. This chapter overviews early brain and cognitive development in ASD-relevant domains, and putative underlying brain mechanisms. Isolating critical features of early development may be used to reduce the diagnostic window and establish effective intervention options.

Sleep, anxiety, and depression in adolescence

Adolescent sleep problems including insufficient sleep, poor-quality sleep, and related daytime impairments are common in adolescents, who are particularly susceptible to experiencing these problems owing to a “perfect storm” of neurodevelopmental and psychosocial factors that are unique to this stage of life. In fact, adolescent sleep problems commonly co-occur with depression and anxiety, and likely share complex bidirectional relationships over time. Evidence indicates that sleep problems, particularly insomnia, often precede the emergence of the onset of depression in adolescents, and may mediate the sequential comorbidity between anxiety and depression. An important future direction is to explore sleep improvement interventions tailored to the unique developmental needs of adolescents, which may represent a novel approach to prevent adolescent onset mental disorders.

Puberty and social brain development

Puberty is characterized by substantial change in many areas of development, including hormonal, physical, neuronal, psychological, and social domains. In this chapter, the authors outline how puberty, and its underlying hormonal and physical changes, might elicit a sensitive period for the development of the social brain. The literature to date suggests that pubertal development is relevant for the structural development of the social brain, and this is partly moderated by biological sex. Functionally, puberty might render the brain more sensitive to social information. However, methodological issues relating to sample size, study design, and analysis, limit the possibility of drawing more specific conclusions. Apart from overcoming these methodological problems, future research should focus on individual differences in pubertal processes and their relevance to social brain development, as well as examining the mechanisms via which pubertal processes impact social behavior through social brain functioning.

Neurocognitive underpinnings of social development during childhood

This chapter reviews the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social development during middle childhood. The author focuses on social abilities (e.g., theory of mind and empathy) and prosocial behavior (e.g., sharing and helping). The chapter discusses studies and theories on developmental changes in these social phenomena and references evidence of neurocognitive underpinnings where available. The author argues that changes in social development during childhood can best be explained in developments in regulatory processes, such as behavioral control, emotion regulation, conflict processing, and self-other control. The author refers to this cluster of functions as social control mechanisms. Changes in these social control mechanisms are driven by the maturation of neural circuitry comprising prefrontal cortical regions and their interactions with subcortical regions. Crucially, while the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social development are distinct for different abilities and behaviors, it appears to be domain-general processes that predominantly shape social development during middle childhood.

Diffusion imaging perspectives on brain development in childhood and adolescence

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a versatile tool which can be applied to investigate brain microstructure. This chapter outlines brain development trajectories from infancy to adulthood as described by dMRI. The chapter focuses on white matter development, as dMRI is particularly well suited to describing white matter tissue properties. The chapter also discusses sources of individual variation which are simultaneously fascinating and confounding to research efforts. Next, the chapter discusses links between white matter development and cognition, with specific examples drawn from reading research. Additional techniques which may complement future diffusion-based research are introduced in the chapter’s final section.

Cognitive neuroscience of dyscalculia and math learning disabilities

Dyscalculia and mathematical learning disability (MD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by difficulties in reasoning about numbers. Children with MD lag behind their typically developing peers in a broad range of numerical tasks, including magnitude judgement, quantity manipulation, arithmetic fact retrieval, and problem-solving. This chapter reviews current theories and knowledge of MD and its neurobiological basis from a systems neuroscience perspective. The chapter shows that MD involves processing deficits and aberrancies in multiple neurocognitive systems associated with non-symbolic and symbolic quantity judgment, visuo-spatial working memory, associative memory, and cognitive control. Convergent evidence from task and resting-state fMRI, along with morphometric and tractography studies, is used to demarcate distributed brain circuits disrupted in MD. The chapter examines neural mechanisms underlying intervention and remediation of deficits in MD, highlighting links between brain plasticity and response to treatment. The view that emerges is of a multi-component neurodevelopmental disorder, arising from aberrancies at one or more levels of the numerical information processing hierarchy.

Preverbal Categorization and its Neural Correlates: Methods and Findings

This chapter focuses on the very beginnings of categorization in early infancy. Following a general introduction, the authors provide the reader with an overview of methods and paradigms suitable for assessing category discrimination at the behavioural (section, Behavioural measures of preverbal categorization) and at the neurophysiological electroencephalogram (EEG) level (section, EEG methods for studying infant categorization at a preverbal age). Then, the authors summarize main empirical findings on auditory (section, Infant categorization in the auditory domain), visual (section, Infant categorization in the visual domain), and intermodal categorization (section, Intermodal categorization and cross-modal influences on infant categorization), as information processing in these areas is crucial for understanding the emergence of semantic memory. Finally, the authors draw some general conclusions and suggest some promising lines for future research (section, Concluding Remarks).

Training cognition with video games

This chapter reviews the behavioral and neuroimaging scientific literature on the cognitive consequences of playing various genres of video games. The available research highlights that not all video games have similar cognitive impact; action video games as defined by first- and third-person shooter games have been associated with greater cognitive enhancement, especially when it comes to top-down attention, than puzzle or life-simulation games. This state of affairs suggests specific game mechanics need to be embodied in a video game for it to enhance cognition. These hypothesized game mechanics are reviewed; yet, the authors note that the advent of more complex, hybrid, video games poses new research challenges and call for a more systematic assessment of how specific video game mechanics relate to cognitive enhancement.

Magnetoencephalography and developmental cognitive neuroscience

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an exceptionally useful tool to study child development. It measures brain waves: fluctuations in the magnetic field around the head caused by changes in the local field potential of neuronal populations that fire in synchrony. MEG has a high-temporal resolution, and a reasonable degree of spatial precision. It offers insights into how the brain responds to events, how brain rhythms affect perception and performance, and how different areas talk to each other. In addition to its scientific benefits, MEG is safe, silent, and requires relatively little setup time. In this chapter, the authors outline the origins of the MEG signal, provide practical tips specific to testing children, and describe a wide variety of analysis methods.

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides an essential bridge between our knowledge of adult human brain function and our current understanding of the developing brain. The capacity for fNIRS to provide localized measures of functional activation within awake and mobile infants, combined with a low set-up time and high tolerance to movement, far outweigh the limitations of fNIRS. To date, fNIRS has been applied to the study of object processing, social cognition, language, attention, learning and memory, functional connectivity, and recently to social and affective touch. Furthermore, it has been adopted by researchers targeting specific developmental populations including developmental disorders, cochlear implants and hearing loss, prematurity, and global health environmental and psychosocial risk factors. As fNIRS research continues to rapidly expand, it is paramount that the interpretation of, and subsequent claims arising from, fNIRS data are informed by a clear understanding of the complexities of fNIRS measurements.