How the brain develops
The developmental period from childhood to young adulthood is marked by profound physical, social, and emotional changes. But exactly how those changes are reflected in the brain remains something of a mystery. In an effort to get a clearer picture of how the brain and the connections between its regions change throughout development, Harvard scientists and researchers from three other universities will share a $14 million grant to support one of the most comprehensive brain imaging studies ever undertaken. The grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will allow scientists to capture magnetic resonance images of the brains of as many as 1,400 people, including scanning some a number of times to track how their brains change over time. “We’re particularly interested in looking at how a person progresses through development. How do the connections in the brain orchestrate themselves into an adult-like state?” said Leah Somerville, associate professor of psychology and...