Teaching parents about communication strategies with their infants has a direct impact on their childrens’ language development according to new I-LABS research published online in Developmental Science. Parents instinctively use a special style of talking with their infants, called “parentese”. However, by coaching parents on the how and why of its importance when the infants were 6 and 10 months of … Read More
Social Learning & the Baby Brain
I-LABS co-Director, Dr. Patricia Kuhl, partnered with Edutopia to create a series of four short, engaging videos that explore infants’ use of social information to learn about the world. Links to each of the videos are below. The Social Brain Masters of Social Learning When the Social Brain Misfires The Social Classroom
How the Baby Brain Represents Lips
I-LABS co-director Andrew Meltzoff, and his colleagues Joni Saby and Peter Marshall, recorded brain activity while touching baby lips, hands, and feet. They documented significant activity over the somatosensory cortex in 60-day-olds. The most prominent activity occurred when infant’s lips were touched. The researchers hypothesize that infant body maps are foundational for imitative learning and self-other connections in early infancy. … Read More
Separating children from families: Relevant scientific evidence
An article jointly written by the Scientific Advisory Group, Early Childhood of the Bezos Family Foundation presents scientific information regarding stress on the brain development of children. It appears in the Brookings Institution report on Future Development. I-LABS co-Directors, Patricia Kuhl and Andrew Meltzoff, are members of the Scientific Advisory Group. Read the article
I-LABS wins Facilitator’s Choice in NSF’s STEM for All Video Showcase
Allison Master’s research on girl’s motivation for STEM activities was one of 200 videos in the 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase, and was selected to receive the “Facilitator’s Choice” award. This online event features innovative research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that aims to improve STEM learning and teaching. A gender gap exists in interest in programming, computer science … Read More
NSF Celebrating Women’s History Month – How to Increase Women in STEM
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is celebrating Women’s History Month by focusing on gender disparities in scientific fields. They reached out to I-LABS co-Director Andrew Meltzoff. As he describes in the video below, research at I-LABS has shown that children acquire stereotypes about ‘who does STEM’ at surprisingly early ages. Fortunately, children’s beliefs about STEM are malleable, rather than fixed in … Read More
Democratizing Science
Jason Yeatman, I-LABS researcher, and collaborators, have made neuroscience experiments easier to share and reproduce. View the interactive demo of this exciting neuroscience tool below. Read more about this work in UW Today here. Link to AFQ Browser
How babies think: Latest Zero To Three article
Read the latest Zero To Three article by I-LABS Outreach Specialist, Amelia Bachleda, and UC Davis professor, Ross Thompson.
How babies’ brains process touch
Through the use of safe, new brain imaging techniques, UW researchers provide one of the first looks inside the infant’s brain to show where the sense of touch is processed — not just when a baby feels a touch to the hand or foot, but when the baby sees an adult’s hand or foot being touched as well. I-LABS researchers, … Read More
I-LABS Outreach work featured in Slate magazine
I-LABS Outreach Specialist Anna Waismeyer, Ph.D., gets inside the mind of a toddler in Slate magazine’s new article “What Is It Like to Be 2 Years Old?” Whether it’s language, social interaction or self-esteem, Waismeyer provides an in-depth look at the developmental milestones happening in children between 24 to 36 months of age. Read the article here.