About the ReNeu Lab
In the Regulation, Education, and Neuroscience, or ReNeu Lab, we conduct research from an applied developmental science perspective to address three related questions:
- How do we define and measure self-regulation, in terms of both top-down, volitional processes (e.g., executive functions) and the bottom-up, involuntary activity of neurophysiological systems?
- How do poverty-related risk and caregiver behaviors influence the development of self-regulation?
- How can educational interventions, including those designed for caregivers, disrupt the associations between risk, self-regulation, and children’s subsequent development?
Most of our research is focused on early childhood (ages 0 to 8), with a particular emphasis on preschool and the early school years. One particular area of interest in how interventions that expand children’s access to high-quality arts and STEM education can buffer the effects of risk on development. In general, projects about arts education are pursued in conjunction with our colleagues at the Research on Advancing Equity Through the Arts in Children, or REACH Lab, which is an Arts Research Lab funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and co-directed by Professor Eleanor Brown (West Chester University) and Dennie Palmer Wolf (WolfBrown).
