Terry Jernigan
Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, and Radiology
Director, Center for Human Development
Co-Director, ABCD Study Coordinating Center
UCSD

Developmental Population Neuroscience and the ABCD Study

In the last decade, increasingly large-scale studies with a focus on the developing mind and brain have been launched in an effort to expand and update the data resources available to the research community. These high-dimensional longitudinal studies aim to meet epidemiological standards for participant accrual, use a wide array of biomedical and behavioral phenotyping methods, such as genome sequencing and multimodal neuroimaging, and are lately referred to as population neuroscience. One of the largest of these is the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study; which as the name suggests focuses on the adolescent brain, enrolling children at ages 9 and 10 for a ten-year study. I will describe this study, its rationale and aims, structure, and protocols; and will highlight its open science model. I will focus on attempts in ABCD to identify and assess relevant genetic, environmental, and experiential factors that are likely to impact important health, mental health, and intellectual outcomes. Finally, I will highlight some further advances in the structure of human developmental science needed to improve models of the developing human mind, and to translate this knowledge into better education, healthcare, and public policy.

The talk will begin at 12:00pm. A pizza lunch will be served at 11:45am.