http://tdlc.ucsd.edu/research/DNS/speakers/Bachevalier.html Dr. Bachevalier presents “The primate hippocampus: ontogeny and early dysfunction.” This presentation will review a series of nonhuman primate developmental neuropsychological studies that inform us on the functional and anatomical development of the hippocampus. Several classes of behavioral paradigms used in monkeys and their analogs in humans will be described as well as the specific medial temporal structures that support memory demands on these tasks in early infancy. The data will also demonstrate how early insult to the hippocampus becomes evident later in childhood and how the neural reorganization of the brain following these early lesions may severely impact some cognitive functions while facilitating others. Dr. Bachevalier, studies the neural substrates underlying the development of learning and memory functions and the regulation of socioemotional behaviors in nonhuman primates. One aspect of this research involves working to determine the structural or functional brain immaturity responsible for infantile amnesia, the inability to remember virtually anything from infancy. An important facet of the research program has been to relate basic research findings in nonhuman primates to normal and abnormal human behavior, such as autism and schizophrenia and the development of memory processes. Dr. Bachevalier collaborates with a number of Yerkes researchers as well as researchers at the Marcus Autism Center.