Nim Tottenham, PhD

I have devoted my career to studying the role of experience in the neurodevelopment associated with affective and cognitive development. I have examined this topic both behaviorally, using computerized tasks and parent reports, and at the neurobiological and physiological level, using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, physiological and hormonal assays, both in typical developmental samples (including scanning awake children as young as 4-years-old) and following early life adversity. My program of research has focused on human subcortical regions (e.g., amygdala, hippocampus, ventral striatum) and developing connections with cortical regions (e.g., prefrontal cortex). With substantial support from the National Institute of Health and the Dana Foundation, I have examined the developmental construction of limbic-cortical connections and associated emotional behaviors during childhood and adolescence, conducting large, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies on emotional and cognitive development in children and adolescents.