Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith on the developing brain

Professor Karmiloff-Smith is a professorial research fellow in the Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London.

Her Nursery World series begins by explaining how advances in foetal research mean that we now know far more about how babies learn in the womb before birth.

Future articles will look at the infant brain, rediscovering Piaget, and how babies learn about faces, numbers, and speech and language.

Professor Karmiloff-Smith is well-known for her work with Birkbeck's Babylab, which studies how babies learn and develop, particularly during the first two years of life, including how babies recognise faces, how they learn to pay attention to some things and not others, how they learn to understand what other people do and think, and how their language and understanding of the world develops. The Babylab is also studying why and how some children develop disorders such as autism.

The Babylab and Professor Karmiloff-Smith's research there featured on an edition of the BBC science programme, Horizon, in February. 'What makes a genius?' explored whether the brains of the gifted are fundamentally different to the norm.

As well as her numerous academic publications, Professor Karmiloff-Smith has written books for the general public and served as a consultant to various organisations specialising in books and toys for infants and children, verifying that their advertising statements are scientifically correct.

This series is exclusive to Nursery World. It will be published in the magazine, and online access to the full articles will only be available to subscribers, so make sure you don't miss out.

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