Welcome

Professor Debbie Mills

My research bridges the areas of cognitive neuroscience and cognitive development. I am particularly interested in the effects of experience on brain development including: how learning two languages shapes the organization of the brain, and the interaction between social/emotional experience and language development. In another line of work, I study links between genes, brain, cognition, and culture.

My approach is to study typically developing monolingual and bilingual infants, children, and adults - in addition to individuals with altered genetic, neurocognitive, and/or experiential profiles such as children and adults with Williams Syndrome or autism. The technique I use is a combined behavioural and brain imaging (ERP/fMRI) approach to characterize trajectories of developmental change in the neural bases of language and social/emotional cognitive processes.