Charles Nelson, Ph.D.

Professor of Pediatrics

Children's Hospital
Developmental Medicine Center Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience
1 Autumn Street
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: 617-355-0401
Fax: 617-730-0518
Email: charles.nelson@childrens.harvard.edu
Lab Website: The Nelson Lab

Nelson’s research interests are broadly concerned with developmental cognitive neuroscience, an interdisciplinary field that requires expertise in developmental neuroscience and developmental psychology. His specific interests are concerned with the effects of early experience on brain and behavioral development, particularly as such experience influences the development of memory and the development of the ability to recognize faces.  Nelson studies both typically developing children and children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, and he employs behavioral, electrophysiological (ERP), and metabolic (MRI) tools in his research.

References:

• Leppanen JM, Moulson MC, Vogel-Farley K, Nelson CA (2007).  An ERP Study of Emotional Face Processing in the Adult and Infant rain.  Child Development, 78, 232-245.
• Richmond J, Nelson CA (2007).  Accounting for change in declarative memory:  A cognitive neuroscience perspective.  Developmental Review, 27, 349-373.
• Nelson CA, Zeanah CH, Fox NA, Marshall PJ, Smyke A, Guthrie D (2007).  Cognitive Recovery in socially deprived young children:  The Bucharest Early Intervention Project.  Science 318, 1937-1940.
• Marshall P, Reeb BC, Fox NA, BEIP Core Group (2008).  Effects of early intervention on EEG power and coherence in previously institutionalized children in Romania.  Development and Psychopathology, 20, 845-859.
• Leppanen JM, Nelson CA (2009).  Tuning the developing brain to social signals of emotion.  Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 37-47.
• Moulson MC, Fox NA, Zeanah CH, Nelson CA (2009).  Early adverse experiences and the neurobiology of facial emotion processing.  Developmental Psychology, 45(1), 17-30.
• Nelson CA, Furtado EA, Fox NA, Zeanah CH (2009).  The Deprived Human Brain.  American Scientist.  97(3), 222-229.
• Fox SE, Levitt P, Nelson CA (in press).  How the Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Influence the Development of Brain Architecture.  Child Development.

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