I am very excited to be teaming up with Dr. Tomoki Arichi, Dr. Annika Linke, and Dr. Kathryn Manning to discuss “Innovations in Toddler functional MRI” at Flux 2024! Anyone who has spent time with a toddler knows that they change in the blink of an eye – so as developmental cognitive scientists, toddlerhood is a dynamic time to be studying the brain.

Research with toddlers can provide fundamental insights into cognitive processes and behaviors when they emerge, as well as shed light on how brain functioning might differ in certain neurodevelopmental conditions. However, anyone who has spent time with a toddler also knows that they can be… difficult. I like to say that toddlers are “old enough to have an opinion, but not quite old enough to be reasoned with.” This means that we have to get creative about how we go about trying to scan their brains!

In general, one thing I love about developmental cognitive science is that we get to be at the cutting edge of methodological and analytical innovations, since the techniques that work with adults don’t always work with our populations. Our speakers use a diverse array of methodological approaches – including awake passive viewing, awake tasks, sleeping tasks, and even virtual reality – to examine brain function in this uniquely challenging age group with fMRI.

Our goals are interrelated, but distinct, ranging from understanding the effect of experience on the developing brain, to early identification of developmental disorders, to characterizing the neural correlates of cognitive functions.

While this symposium focuses on toddlers, the key questions and takeaways – making our neuroimaging tools more accessible to difficult-to-study populations, grappling with individual differences, and connecting behavioral changes to brain function – are applicable across developmental cognitive neuroscience.