Developmental and Brain Sciences

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Faculty

Jane Adams, PhD, New Mexico State University

• Neurobehavioral Teratology

 Erik Blaser, PhD, University of California, Irvine

• Visual Psychophysics

Vivian Ciaramitaro, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

• Sensory Development and Attention

S. Tiffany Donaldson, PhD, Northeastern University

• Behavioral Psychopharmacology

Richard Hunter, PhD, Emory University

• Neuroendocrinology and Epigenetics

Zsuzsa Kaldy, PhD, Rutgers University

• Cognitive Development

Celia Moore, PhD, Rutgers University

• Developmental Psychobiology

Jin Ho Park, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

• Reproductive Neuroendocrinology

Mohinish Shukla, PhD, SISSA/ISAS, Trieste, Italy

• Language and Cognition

Edward Tronick, PhD, University of Wisconsin

• Neurobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development

Susan Zup, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Behavioral Neuroendocrinology

Participating Faculty

Alice Carter, PhD, University of Houston

• Developmental Psychopathology

Abbey Eisenhower, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

• Child Clinical Psychology

Michael Milburn, PhD, Harvard University

• Social Psychology

Paul Nestor, PhD, Catholic University of America

• Clinical Neuropsychology

The Program

The PhD program in Developmental and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston is focused on understanding cognition, perception, and behavior when underlying neural and hormonal mechanisms are develop­ing. It is an intensive, developmentally-focused, research-based program using both human and animal models.

Core faculty engage in lab work that ranges from cognitive development and psychophysics to neuroendocrinology and behavioral genetics. Students may follow a cognitive neuro­science specialization investigating functional changes in perceptual and cognitive abilities or a behavioral neurosci­ence specialization investigating neural and hormonal correlates of behavior. Independent of specialization, DBS students receive rigorous core training in methods (dry and wet lab skills, advanced statistical methods, computational tools like MATLAB) and work in laboratories using multiple levels of investigation including psychophysical and neuro­psychological evaluation, functional brain imaging (NIRS, ERP), and neuropharmacological, molecular/cellular, and genetic/epigenetic methods.

Programs

• Developmental and Brain Sciences (PhD)

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