Child Development and the Brain: An Introduction

This accessibly written textbook explores how our increasing knowledge of neuroscience and advances in methods of investigation is changing our understanding of child development. Packed full of images, case studies, reflection points, further reading suggestions and a full glossary of technical terms, it examines key aspects of development such as emotion, memory, learning, perception and language, as well as neurodevelopmental disorders. It is designed to introduce undergraduate students on social science courses to the science behind the brain, looking at how it is structured and how it develops from a tiny cluster of cells into a complex dynamic structure that controls every aspect of our very existence.

Rob Abbott is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, as a counsellor and Registered Member of BACP (Snr accredited) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He teaches on a range of child development courses.

Dr Esther Burkitt is a Reader in Developmental Psychology and has Chartered Psychologist and Scientist status with the British Psychological Society and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She regularly publishes and teaches on the subject of children's emotional and communicative development.