Gallaudet University’s Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience program kicks off its 2016-17 Distinguished Lecture Series with a talk by Dr. Nathan Fox focusing on the effect of abandonment and social deprivation on the developing child.

Dr. Fox, chair of the Developmental Science Program at the University of Maryland, will present the lecture "What Happens to Infants who are Abandoned?" from 4-5:30 p.m. Thursday, September 15, 2016, in Merrill Learning Center (MLC) B111.

Dr. Fox, principal investigator for the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, will discuss the findings of the project, a study "of foster care as an intervention for children abandoned at or around the time of birth and placed in one of six institutions for young children in Bucharest, Romania," according to the project's website at Link .

The project compared outcomes of children who remained in orphanages to those placed in foster care, and investigated cognitive and social-emotional behaviors. The team's preliminary findings suggest that "early institutionalization leads to profound deficits and delays in cognitive and socio-emotional behaviors, a greatly elevated incidence of psychiatric disorders and impairment, and differences in brain electrical activity." These findings also suggest there is a sensitive period for foster care intervention to be effective in reducing adverse impacts in these areas.

This presentation is ideal for those interested in child development, education, behavior, psychology, and/or neuroscience.