Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (DCN) Laboratory

The Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (DCN) Lab at the University of Central Lancashire is a multidisciplinary research team bringing together experts in cognitive and affective neuroscience, developmental psychology and other disciplines.

The lab has close links with the Group of Perception, Cognition and Neuroscience and Forensic Centre at the School of Psychology. The DCN Lab is supported by state-of-the-art facilities including Electroencephalography (EEG) facilities and a Child Observation Suite. We work with local hospitals, child and family services, schools and other national and international organisations. We aim to advance the understanding of child development and improve the quality of life of children and their families.

Mission

The mission of the DCN Lab is to understand the interaction of cognitive, social and affective aspects of typical and atypical development with the ultimate aim to translate basic research into clinical and educational practice and improve the quality of life of children, young people and their families.

Aims

Research in our lab encompasses a range of topics in Developmental Neuroscience. Our overall research aim is to develop a better understanding of typical and atypical socio-cognitive processes underlying child behaviour and translate this knowledge to real-life applications enhancing wellbeing in children and young people and reducing the risk for psychopathology.

The DCN Lab consists of a Social and Affective Neuroscience research stream and a Cognitive Neuroscience research stream.

Developmental Social and Affective Neuroscience

Our affective neuroscience research programme focuses on the neurobiology of social cognition and emotion processing in typical and atypical development. We have specialist expertise in the development of vocal emotion processing. Our research aims to understand the neural basis of emotion and reward processing in neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Our aim is to utilise this knowledge to inform preventive intervention and promote positive mental health in children and young people.

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Our cognitive neuroscience research programme cuts across a number of topics including cognitive development, the development and use of language and nonverbal communication in children and young people. Research in our lab investigates how speech and gesture come together to form language during development and how multimodal interaction advances our understanding of cognition and language. We are also interested in the development of implicit learning and second language learning in children. Our research has implications for educational settings and can contribute to our understanding of impairments in cognition and language.

Lab members

Nadiia Denhovska

Nadiia is a Lecturer in Developmental Cognition and her research interests are in the area of language acquisition, bilingualism and implicit learning.

Rohanna Sells

Rohanna is a PhD student and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Psychology. Rohanna’s PhD is investigating the effect of vocal emotion processing on visual spatial attention in adolescents with externalising behaviour problems.

Chloe Ord

Chloe provides technical support for the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab and acts as a liaison contact between the DCN Lab and Learning and Information Services at the University of Central Lancashire.

Detailed information

Kit list

Electroencephalography (EEG) facilities including recording and analyses systems and a wide range of EEG caps
Waiting area for children and families

Availability

9.00am-6.00pm (Weekdays)

Location

The Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (DCN) Laboratory can be found in 144 of the Darwin Building

General enquiry