Title:  The Child is the Father of The Man

How does our developmental context mold neural endophenotypes of motivation, social sensitivity, and vigilance, and why does all of this seem to matter so much for health in adulthood? I will present studies grounded in evolutionary developmental theory and human ecology which look at how early life stress, affordances within our developmental environment, and epigenetic tuning of the oxytocin receptor gene all converge to shape these adult neural endophenotypes. The talk will focus on  conditional adaptations and diversity, not deficits, as the guiding mechanisms.

Dr. Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in Human Development at Cornell University.

NACS Seminars are free and open to the public.