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
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
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
First 5 California – Keynote
Dr. Andrew Meltzoff delivered the opening keynote at the First 5 California annual summit. His presentation highlighted children’s early brain development and the importance of social interactions between children. From imitating others to the development on empathy, the keynote underscored children’s social nature as they way they learn.
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
I-LABS Roundtable: Children as consumers
The next I-LABS Roundtable is on 2/27 is called “Children as consumers: The case of Croatia (EU), presented by Ružica Brečić. She is from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, EU. Consumer research recognizes developmental differences in information processing among children of different ages. The fact that most children experience media and marketplace as part of their daily lives—and that consumption … Read More
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.
I-LABS part of Seattle brain research trust
Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large says “People around here are interested in the brain at every stage of life.” The article calls out I-LABS as a leader in brain development research, and focuses on Seattle’s philanthropic investments in other aspects of brain research.