Neurite density of the hippocampus is associated with trace eyeblink conditioning latency in 4- to 6-year-olds.

Limited options exist to evaluate the development of hippocampal function in young children. Research has established that trace eyeblink conditioning (EBC) relies on a functional hippocampus. Hence, we set out to investigate whether trace EBC is linked to hippocampal structure, potentially serving as a valuable indicator of hippocampal development.

Childhood wayfinding experience explains sex and individual differences in adult wayfinding strategy and anxiety.

Background: Anyone who has ever found themselves lost while driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood or forgotten where they parked their car can appreciate the importance of being able to navigate their environment. Navigation, or wayfinding, is a large-scale spatial ability that involves keeping track of the relative positions of objects and features in space, which allows for determining the path to a goal location. Early experiences shape spatial skill development, and research finds sex differences in spatial behaviors from preschool through adulthood, with males consistently outperforming females.

Using hippocampal-dependent eyeblink conditioning to predict individual differences in spatial reorientation strategies in 3- to 6-year-olds.

The hippocampus is a subcortical structure in the medial temporal lobe involved in cognitive functions such as spatial navigation and reorientation, episodic memory, and associative learning. While much is understood about the role of hippocampal function in learning and memory in adults, less is known about the relations between the hippocampus and the development of these cognitive skills in young children due to the limitations of using standard methods (e.g.

Individual differences in non-clinical maternal depression impact infant affect and behavior during the still-face paradigm across the first year.

Maternal depression can significantly impact mothers' sensitivity to their infants' needs as well as infants' social and emotional development. The still-face paradigm (SFP) is widely used to assess infants' understanding of the contingency between their own behavior and that of their caregivers, as well as infants' ability to self-regulate arousal levels during sudden changes in maternal responsiveness. Infants of clinically depressed mothers display blunted levels of negative affect compared to infants of non-depressed mothers during the still-face (SF) phase.

A new biomarker to examine the role of hippocampal function in the development of spatial reorientation in children: a review.

Spatial navigation is an adaptive skill that involves determining the route to a particular goal or location, and then traveling that path. A major component of spatial navigation is spatial reorientation, or the ability to reestablish a sense of direction after being disoriented. The hippocampus is known to be critical for navigating, and has more recently been implicated in reorienting in adults, but relatively little is known about the development of the hippocampus in relation to these large-scale spatial abilities in children.