Imaging the Brain

In an animated style, John Kerns explains what scholars know about basic brain functioning, much of which has until recently remained relatively speculative – simply because we can’t penetrate the inner regions of the brain. An assistant professor of psychology, Kerns describes how he hopes to someday remedy that problem by using brain-imaging technology, which has been around for only about ten years but could eventually prove to be one of “the most important technological developments” in the area of brain science.

Through the Eyes of an Infant

How much do infants know about the world in which they live? At what age do humans begin to develop an understanding of object permanence and of the reality that people act in response to different things around them? These are the kinds of questions Yuyan Luo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, seeks to answer. In addition to teaching cognition development courses—from infancy to toddler—she runs the Infant Cognition Lab, which tests psychological and biological knowledge development through a series of lab experiments. Now in its second year of operation, the lab conducts experiments with participants as young as two and one-half months old.

This is Your Brain on Camera

A rainbow of feathers floats upward like a psychedelic butterfly. Fingers of color, violet and lime green, seem to flow outward from the tips of the wings. If you didn’t know better, you might assume it is a work of art. Beyond their beauty, for Shawn Christ these images taken at MU’s new Brain Imaging Center reveal the brain’s activity and connections. In his role as Assistant Professor of Psychology and Director of MU’s Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory, Christ studies how the relationship between the brain and behavior changes as we develop. Christ chose a career in psychology because it would combine two passions— working with kids and solving puzzles.