Canada Research Chair Tier 1 & Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
     in the Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
     & the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, BC Children’s Hospital
Member of the Brain Research Centre,
     & the Neuroscience & Cognitive Science Programs, UBC
Member of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP)

Adele Diamond is both a psychologist and a neuroscientist. One of the pioneers in the field of "developmental cognitive neuroscience,” her specialty is the study in very young children of cognitive functions that depend on prefrontal cortex (PFC), collectively called “executive functions (EF),” “self-regulation” or “cognitive control.” She combines that with study of neuroanatomical, genetic, and neurochemical mechanisms that make those functions possible. These cognitive abilities include reasoning, working memory, self-control (inhibition), cognitive flexibility, and problem-solving. Deficits in one or more of these abilities are seen in many mental disorders (including ADHD, schizophrenia, autism, and depression).
          Her lab examines fundamental questions about the development and neural (neuroanatomical and neurochemical) bases of, and genetic and environmental influences on PFC-dependent cognitive functions throughout the lifespan, especially in infants, preschoolers, and young school-age children. Prof. Diamond studies the development of these abilities (using the same objective, neurocognitive measures with preschoolers through octogenarians), their neural bases and modulation by genes and neurochemistry (using functional neuroimaging [fMRI] & molecular genetic techniques), their modulation by the environment (including detrimental factors such as poverty and facilitative factors such as bilingualism), how they become derailed in disorders (as in ADHD or autism), effective treatments for preventing, ameliorating, or curing disorders, educational implications, and interrelations among these cognitive functions and motor, perceptual, emotional, & social abilities. The goal of her lab is to help all children reach their full potential. They seek to find ways to head off problems before they arise, and to help children who are having difficulties.
          In her early work, Dr. Diamond identified one of the first links between early cognitive development and the functions of a specific neural region. That work laid to rest old assumptions that PFC was not yet functioning in infancy and that rigorous brain-behavior studies could not be conducted in infants. Her later work led to worldwide changes in the medical guidelines for the treatment of a genetic disorder (PKU), improving the lives of many children (see: http://www.psychologymatters.org/diamond.html).
          In a recent evaluation of the Tools of the Mind preschool curriculum, using EF outcome measures unlike anything the children had done before (hence requiring generalization and transfer of EF skills to new situations), a team headed by Prof. Diamond found that exposure to Tools accounted for more variance in EF than did age or gender. The more EF-demanding the task, the greater the effect of curriculum, and the more highly the task correlated with academic performance. In 2004, Prof. Diamond and colleagues reported evidence of the relation between a genetic polymorphism and EF performance in children that challenged accepted notions of the role of dopamine in prefrontal cortex. In 2002, Prof. Diamond and her students halved the age at which infants could demonstrate the ability to deduce abstract rules. In pilot work Prof. Diamond has shown that this also works with children with autism. The implication of that work is that children with autism ARE capable of grasping abstract concepts long thought beyond their ability; the information just needs to be presented to them in a way they can understand.
          Adele Diamond received her BA from Swarthmore College Phi Beta Kappa (in Sociology-Anthropology and Psychology), her PhD from Harvard (in Developmental Psychology), and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale with Patricia Goldman-Rakic (in Neuroanatomy). In 2000, Prof. Diamond was named one of the “2000 Outstanding Women of the 20th Century” by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK. In 2003, her work was featured on the Public Television series, Scientific Am. Frontiers Series w/ Alan Alda on PBS (viewable online: www.pbs.org/saf/1302/video/watchonline.htm). A recipient of many awards, she was named a Distinguished Scientific Lecturer by the American Psychological Association (APA), received a Canada Fund for Innovation Award, and is a Fellow of the APA in both Developmental Psychology & Behavioral Neuroscience and of the American Association for Psychological Science. She has been continuously funded by NIH & NSF since 1975. One of her current NIH grants has been continuously funded since 1986.