Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2025
Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Editorial perspective: Leaving the baby in the bathwater in neurodevelopmental research
1School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK.
Insights
Studying children
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Neurodevelopmental conditions involve atypical interaction patterns.
- Current research struggles to find translatable brain mechanisms.
- Traditional lab settings isolate children from their natural environments.
Discussion:
- A novel approach measures complex, naturalistic datasets.
- This moves beyond lab-based isolation and stimulus control.
- Focus is on real-world, multivariate data interrogation.
Key Insights:
- New methods offer potential for translatable insights.
- Examples include stress, ADHD, and autism social development.
- Embracing naturalistic data is crucial for understanding neurodevelopment.
Outlook:
- Future research should prioritize ecological validity.
- This paradigm shift may unlock new conceptual understandings.
- Translational impact in neurodevelopmental disorders is anticipated.
Abstract:
Neurodevelopmental conditions are characterised by differences in the way children interact with the people and environments around them. Despite extensive investigation, attempts to uncover the brain mechanisms that underpin neurodevelopmental conditions have yet to yield any translatable insights. We contend that one key reason is that psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists study brain function by taking children away from their environment, into a controlled lab setting. Here, we discuss recent research that has aimed to take a different approach, moving away from experimental control through isolation and stimulus manipulation, and towards approaches that embrace the measurement and targeted interrogation of naturalistic, user-defined and complex, multivariate datasets. We review three worked examples (of stress processing, early activity level in ADHD and social brain development in autism) to illustrate how these new approaches might lead to new conceptual and translatable insights into neurodevelopment.
