Nelson to speak on brain and behavioral development in young children

April 28, 2006

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute will host Charles A. Nelson, professor of pediatrics at the Harvard University Medical School, on Wednesday, May 10, at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, 2825 50th St., Sacramento. He Schultz will present two lectures: a technical presentation at 4 p.m. and a community-interest lecture at 6 p.m.

During his technical presentation, Nelson will describe how the ability to “read” faces develops in infants and young children. His community-interest lecture will focus on the effects of early institutionalization on brain and behavioral development, as well as the efficacy of foster care as an intervention for treating the negative outcomes of this experience. TheBoth presentations are free and open to the public; no reservations are needed.

Nelson currently holds the Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research at Harvard Medical, and he serves as director of research at the Developmental Medicine Center at Children's Hospital Boston. Nelson studies the effects of early experience on brain and behavioral development, with special interest in the effects of early biological or psychosocial adversity. His research program focuses on the development and neural bases of memory, face and emotion processing, along with executive functions in both typically developing children and children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Prior to his 2005 move to Harvard, Nelson held the Distinguished McKnight University Professorship and the Lindahl Professor Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota.

A prolific speaker and writer, Nelson has published over 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, as well as numerous book chapters and edited volumes. He served on the National Academy of Sciences panel that wrote From Neurons to Neighborhoods and on numerous editorial and advisory boards, and he currently chairs the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development. A fellow of the American Psychological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Nelson has received many honors, including the Joseph P. Kennedy Award, honorary membership in the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences and an honorary Master of Science degree from Harvard University in 2005.

Nelson is the eighth of nine distinguished lecturers in the M.I.N.D. Institute's 2005-06 series, which was established as part of the institute's commitment to informing the community on current thinking and research in neurodevelopment. The final speaker in this year's series is Sally J. Rogers from the UC Davis, who will lecture on “Early Intervention in Autism: Models and Outcomes.” The M.I.N.D. Institute's 2006-07 Distinguished Lecturer Series will be announced soon, with presentations scheduled October 2006 through June 2007 on the second Wednesday of each month, beginning October 11, 2006, with David Pauls of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University.

The Distinguished Lecturer Series is funded in part by the SBC Foundation. For more information about this and future lectures, visit the M.I.N.D. Institute Web site at www.mindinstitute.org or call (916) 703-0280.