NEUROBIOLOGICAL LAB FOR LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Exciting news from our Play team! We’re thrilled to announce that their paper, “Disabling fear: Parental risk-tolerance in play for children with disabilities”, has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Play! This is one of the few papers examining risk tolerance in parents of children with disabilities! Congratulations once again to Paige and Matthew for this outstanding achievement!

Abstract: Children with disabilities (CWD) face a heightened risk of mental health challenges, demanding urgent attention. Despite the recognized significance of play for mental well-being, limited research explores the role of play, especially risky play, in CWD. This study investigates parental perspectives on risky play in CWD and its links to child playfulness, parent-child relationships, and problem symptoms. One hundred and five participants, parents of CWD (n=52) and without (n=53), were recruited via Prolific and surveyed on various questionnaires. Findings indicated significant disparities between parents of CWD and without disabilities groups, including group differences in playfulness, problem symptoms, and child-parent relationships and positive associations across all participants and between groups on all measures, emphasizing the interplay of key variables. No significant differences were found in measures of risk tolerance and rough-and-tumble play. Future research should expand these inquiries to various disability categories and consider alternative measures to validate these exploratory findings.

We are thrilled to announce that Sadie Pazoki has received the Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Award at the APA Convention 2024.

Her poster, titled “Understanding Reading Difficulties: Neural Correlates of Reading and Inhibitory Control in Children,” presented groundbreaking research on the relationship between inhibitory control and reading comprehension in children. By using EEG to measure the N2 brain component as a biomarker, Sadie found that children with larger N2 activation during an inhibitory task achieved better reading comprehension scores. These findings underscore the importance of considering neural markers of inhibitory control in developing strategies for reading interventions. Congratulations to Sadie on this well-deserved recognition!

As the semester wrapped up, the NLD lab members stepped out of the lab and into nature to celebrate our achievements. Our day began with a refreshing hike, surrounded by the natural beauty of waterfalls and wildlife, including a serene encounter with a family of deer. The highlight of our adventure was a visit to Dr. Woltering’s garden, where we were treated to an exclusive tour of his  palm collection, showcasing a variety of species and his deep passion for plants!

We are thrilled to announce that Renee has successfully passed her defense and can now be officially addressed as Dr. Jones! Her remarkable dissertation focused on “Professional mental health help-seeking behaviors”. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Jones on this well-deserved accomplishment!

Cheers to Christine, our new baking hero! Golden Spatula winner at the EPSY Showdown! 🥇 If you’ve ever had a slice of her famous Thanksgiving apple pie, you won’t be surprised.

A huge congratulations to Christine!

Say cheese! The NLD lab squad is all set to conquer the new semester.

From joyful grins to our TAMU spirit, these group photos capture the essence of our teamwork and dedication. Here’s to another semester of learning and achievements together!

Congratulations to Jennifer and Paige on their publication regarding parents’ perspectives on children’s risky play!

Their research report investigates parents with children attending Becky Gates Children Center in College Station, Texas, and provides valuable insights into parents’ attitudes towards risky play, specifically rough and tumble play. The study explores key demographic information, risk tolerance, specific domains of risk, and themes from open-ended responses on risks and rough and tumble play. This important research sheds light on an area that has received limited attention and will undoubtedly inform future discussions and policies on children’s play behaviors.

Congratulations to Drs. Huilin Sun, Qinxin Shi, and Jia, along with Sadie Pazoki (3rd author), on the acceptance of our groundbreaking paper titled “Neurophysiological correlates of reading difficulties in elementary school children” in Developmental Neuropsychology!

This achievement is a major milestone for our lab and Texas A&M University. It’s the first paper from our university to help explore neural correlates of reading in beginner readers.

Congratulations to the authors and the entire team!

We are proud of Dr. Megan Nguyen, who successfully defended her dissertation entitled ‘Perceived Injustice and Pain Outcomes in Youth with Chronic Pain”! Megan will pursue a future in pain research, starting as a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School!  They will be lucky to have such a colorful, resourceful, and passionate force of nature!