Utah Psychological Association
9:00 am to noon. 3 Continuing Education Hours
A second wave of significant brain development begins in late childhood and continues through adolescence into emerging adulthood. Neural circuits undergo extensive remodeling that may underlie changes in emotional development and emotion regulation. Brain development inherently involves plasticity, suggesting that the adolescent brain may be more significantly affected by environmental input than during later stages of development. Both human and animal research will be utilized to illustrate these neural changes and associated behaviors. In addition, we will discuss the potential contribution of such changes to the onset of difficulties in emotion regulation.
Dr. Lesa K. Ellis received her PhD from the University of Oregon in Developmental Psychology with an emphasis in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. She currently chairs the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at Westminster College and teaches courses in Brain and Behavior, Social Neuroscience, Human Brain Development, and assorted other courses within the major. She has conducted research on the neural correlates of anxiety in young adults, the contribution of genes to differences in neural processing of emotional stimuli, the maturation of prefrontal areas of the brain and emotional reactivity and delinquency in adolescents, and the relationship between pubertal maturation and emotional reactivity. She frequently presents at local conferences and works with various groups in the community to facilitate their understanding of brain development and its role in various behaviors.
Zoom link will be sent two days prior to the event.
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