As a Developmental Psychologist, I specialize in the area of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. My expertise is  memory processes and sleep in the developing child, including those diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, including Down Syndrome and autism.

In the early 2000s, my work  was instrumental in characterizing the specific learning/memory profiles (i.e., the individual strengths and weaknesses) of individuals with Down syndrome and autism. For these efforts, I received the 2008/2009 Charles Epstein award from the National Down Syndrome Society and the 2015 David Cox “Rising Star” Award from the LuMind Foundation.

My most recent work has shown links between sleep problems, memory, and language in Down syndrome and is the first empirical evidence to suggest that poor sleep might limit how well these individuals can learn to communicate. Future work will assess trajectories of sleep and neural development in populations at risk for neurodevelopmental delay, including children born premature and at risk for autism.

Research Interests: 

Selected Publications: 

• Spanò, G., Gómez, R. L., Demara, B. I., Alt, M., Cowen, S. L., & Edgin, J. O. (2018). REM sleep in naps differentially relates to memory consolidation in typical preschoolers and children with Down syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(46), 11844-11849.
• Gómez, R. L., & Edgin, J. O. (2015). Sleep as a window into early neural development: Shifts in sleep‐dependent learning effects across early childhood. Child development perspectives, 9(3), 183-189.
• Spanò, G., Intraub, H., & Edgin, J. O. (2017). Testing the “Boundaries” of boundary extension: Anticipatory scene representation across development and disorder. Hippocampus, 27(6), 726-739. 
• Edgin, J. O., Spanò, G., Kawa, K., & Nadel, L. (2014). Remembering things without context: development matters. Child development, 85(4), 1491-1502.
• Edgin, J.O. & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Spatial cognition in autism spectrum disorders: superior, impaired, or just intact? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35 (6), 729-745. PMID:16328713

Courses Taught:

• PSY 326 - Human Memory (2014)
• PSY 340 - Cognitive Development (2014)
• PSY 405 - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience [of Developmental Disorders]  (2023)
• PSY 478 - Sleep & Sleep Disorders (2021)
• PSY 595A - Cognition & Neural Systems Seminar (2022)

*Year listed indicates when this individual last taught the specified course.

Updated: 10/31/22