Author Archives: sbunge

Silvia is currently attending a research workshop on task driven control of thought and action by working memory: linking mind and brain in Bielefeld, Germany.

“In his recent New Yorker piece, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gareth Cook concluded that working memory training will not make you smarter. According to Gareth, ‘Playing the games makes you better at the game, in other words, but not at anything anyone might care about in real life.’ But is this really the most informative conclusion we can draw from the data?”

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/04/15/in-defense-of-working-memory-training/

THURSDAY, APRIL 18TH

Executive Function: Basic Science to Intervention: Room 4C-3 (Washington Convention Center)
Discussant(s): Adele Diamond (University of British Columbia)
Chair(s): Philip Zelazo (University of Minnesota)
10:20 AM – 11:50 AM:  A Neuroscientific Perspective on the Cognitive Training of Executive Function
Silvia A. Bunge

Poster Session 5: Exhibit Hall 4EF (Washington Convention Center)
2:40 PM – 3:40 PM: Variations on the Bilingual Advantage? Heritage Language Maintenance and Executive Function in 2nd Generation Immigrant Children
Stephen H. Chen; Qing Zhou; Silvia A. Bunge

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FRIDAY, APRIL 19TH

Mindfulness In children: The effects of training studies in low- and high-risk samples: Aspen (Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 2nd Floor)
Discussant(s): Silvia Bunge (University of California, Berkeley)
Chair(s): Elisa Esposito (University of Minnesota)

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM: Mindfulness in children: The effects of training studies in low- and high-risk samples
Elisa A. Esposito; Silvia A. Bunge
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM: Benefits of Mindfulness Training in Early Childhood
Anna E. Johnson; Kristen Lyons; Philip D. Zelazo
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM: Applications of a Mindfulness-based Curriculum in Early Education
Lisa Flook; Richard J. Davidson
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM: The Effects of Mindfulness and Executive Function Skills Trainings on Post-Institutionalized Children
Jamie M. Lawler; Elisa A. Esposito; Colleen B. Doyle; Anna E. Johnson; Megan Gunnar

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SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH

Poster Session 13: Exhibit Hall 4EF (Washington Convention Center)
10:20AM – 11 :20AM: Developmental Differences in Medial Temporal Lobe Recruitment During Episodic Recollection
Marcos Sastre; Julia Ross; Jacqueline Pospisil; Joshua K. Lee; Carter Wendelken; Silvia A. Bunge; Simona Ghetti

Memory: Context and Predictors: Aspen (Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 2nd Floor)
Chair(s): Catherine Haden (Loyola University Chicago)
10:20 AM – 11 :50 AM: Increasing White Matter Coherence Between MTL and PFC Supports Improving Mnemonic Control in Children
Carter Wendelken; Joshua K. Lee; Jacqueline Pospisil; Marcos Sastre; Julia Ross; Silvia A. Bunge; Simona Ghetti

Poster Session 14: Exhibit Hall 4EF (Washington Convention Center)
11 :40AM – 12:40 PM: I Spy a Triangle! Preschoolers’ Geometric Knowledge
Angeliki Athanasopoulou; Brian N. Verdine; Ann Bunger; Roberta Golinkoff; Kathryn A. Hirsh-Pasek

September 19-21, 2013
Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The aim of The Flux Congress is to provide a forum for developmental cognitive neuroscientists to share their findings, expand their knowledge base, and be better informed of translational approaches.

Each year will focus on a compelling new theme in the field.  The theme of the inaugural Flux Congress will be basic mechanisms of cognition and motivation through development.

The Flux team have created a conference program that will appeal to developmental cognitive neuroscientists, researchers, and students alike.  David Lewis, MD, will present the Keynote Address on understanding how molecular mechanisms can inform systems level neuroimaging studies of cognitive development.

http://www.fluxcongress.com

The Bunge Lab was recently cited in Scientific American for our recent publications linking reasoning training to strengthened neural pathways associated with higher-level cognitive ability:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/03/18/reasoning-training-increases-brain-connectivity-associated-with-high-level-cognition/

Paz-Alonso, P.M., Ghetti, S., Anderson, M.C., & Bunge S.A. (2013) Strength of coupling within a mnemonic control network differentiates those who can and cannot suppress memory retrieval. Journal of Neuroscience. PDF

Mackey, A.P., Miller Singley, A.T., & Bunge, S.A. (2013) Intensive reasoning training alters patterns of brain connectivity at rest. Journal of Neuroscience. PDF

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/03/18/reasoning-training-increases-brain-connectivity-associated-with-high-level-cognition/

http://dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=40904

“Tough seeks to dispel the notion that children from underserved communities are doomed to fail. The basic premise is that, regardless of a child’s IQ, she or he can excel through hard work and perseverance—if given proper encouragement and opportunity. Rather than dwelling on sobering national statistics, which do little to move even the most well-intentioned reader to action, he focuses on the human element. He does this by showing what is possible through the success stories of individual children, teachers, and schools and also by introducing us to top scientists who explain firsthand the significance of their and others’ research on child development and education.”

- Silvia Bunge, Ph.D.

New Education Week article about the Frontiers of Innovation project, which our lab is involved with in Washington:

Overcoming the Impact of Adversity on Learning

Over 30,000 neuroscientists are descending on New Orleans as we speak, for the annual Society for Neuroscience conference. Silvia wishes she could be among them, but is holding down the fort at UC Berkeley this year… We will have two talks at SfN this year:

Kirstie Whitaker will fly back from her new postdoc in the U.K. to speak on Sunday morning in this special session:

And Alison Miller Singley will speak on Monday afternoon about work that she carried out with Allyson Mackey:

Kirstie will show that development of a specific white matter tract in the brain – the left frontoparietal tract – is particularly important for reasoning development from age 6-19 (even after accounting for massive age-related changes in both white matter and reasoning ability over this age range). Alison will show that fMRI is more sensitive than *some* behavioral measures when it comes to measuring the benefits of cognitive training.

Finally, conference-goers will see the artwork of our dear friend Elizabeth Jameson on the cover of a complementary copy of the Journal of Neuroscience: http://www.jneurosci.org/

Astonishing new study

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212007932

Invited commentary from our lab
BungeWhitaker_CurrentBiology2012