Advances in Neural Basis of Infant Information Processing

Dear Colleagues,

Studies of infant information processing are broad and far-reaching. Research in this area spans from exploring how infants use statistical regularities to hone their perceptual abilities, to how an infant’s attention is distributed, and identifying the limits of working memory and representational competence. Individual differences in infant information processing are associated with the development of complex abilities in multiple domains, including language acquisition, motor skill attainment, social-emotional development, and academic achievement. Questions still remain about whether such continuity is qualitatively different in infancy as compared to childhood and beyond. The last two decades have seen rapid growth in studies assessing the neural basis of infant information processing. This is partly due to the development non-invasive infant-friendly technologies and partly bolstered by dynamical modeling techniques. These studies use state of the art methodologies (e.g., high density EEG/ERP, fMRI, MRI, NIRs) to address complex questions about the fundamental nature of brain-behavior relations in prenatal development and infancy and how this intricate interaction supports continuity and stability across the lifespan.

This Special Issue of Brain Science aims to bring together current evidence across domains (perception, attention, motor, memory, etc.) of infant information processing and cognition and developmental neuroscience to further understand the emergent properties of the brain that support and translate to behavior, concurrently and predictively. The common thread that binds this collection is the enduring interest in understanding the regularities (e.g., stability and continuity) of human development. The end goal is to not only account for a sizeable amount variance that predicts later abilities from the first 2 years of life, but to also to understand risk and resiliency and create better outcomes for children’s development.

We invite submissions that speak directly to brain-behavior associations in the first 2 years of life in typically and atypically developing populations. We welcome research articles related to advances in the neural basis of infant information processing. Please contact the Editors of this Special Issue with any pre-submission enquiries.

Prof. Naseem Choudhury
Prof. Shaziela Ishak
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.