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Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Autism Navigator

Session Schedule:

  • 10:00 am –12:00 pm – Session 1
  • 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm – Lunch Break
  • 12:45 pm – 2:15 pm – Session 2
  • 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Session 3

Foundational Mechanisms of Brain and Child Development

Featured Speaker — Pat Levitt, PhD

The presentation will elaborate several key neuroscience-based concepts of early brain and child development. 1) The core ingredients of healthy child development lie in the building of healthy brain architecture, which is established through a combination of a genetic blueprint to establish fundamental organization that is advanced through a child’s experiences – whether positive or negative; 2) Neuroscience principles from basic science and clinical research guide a basic understanding of how fundamental social, emotional and cognitive skills in children are established, and that these are inextricably entwined; 3) Risks that early adversity pose for later mental and physical health challenges will be presented, and the mechanisms through which these ‘get under the skin’ will be elaborated; 4) Data will be presented that reflect the challenges and promises of modeling neurodevelopmental disorders in relation to bringing a better understanding of clinical heterogeneity.

Learner objectives:

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe fundamental mechanisms of brain development that are involved in the wiring up of circuits related to social, emotional and cognitive functions
  2. Explain the role of experience and critical periods in brain circuit maturation, and the factors that regulate timing of maturation in relation to neurodevelopmental disorders
  3. Describe the impact of early life stress on brain and child development
  4. Describe novel model system approaches to study neurodevelopmental disorder heterogeneity
Register

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