Maya Rosen

Maya Rosen is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist investigating how environmental experience during childhood—including socioeconomic status, cognitive stimulation, and exposure to violence—are associated with cognitive and neural development in children from diverse backgrounds. The ultimate goal of her research is to understand how individual differences in cognitive and neural function influence children’s chances for success in life, including academic achievement, socio-emotional development, and mental health.

Rosen received her Ph.D. from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. Her graduate work focused on understanding how we use past experience to guide attention and the neural correlates that support memory-guided attention.Rosen then completed her postdoctoral training in the Stress & Development Lab at the University of Washington and Harvard University. During her postdoc, Rosen dedicated her research to understanding how early life experience impacts brain and cognitive development, a line of research she continues at Smith. Before embarking on her graduate studies, Rosen graduated from Skidmore College with a dual degree in Neuroscience and Spanish.

Selected Publications

Rakesh, D., Sheridan, M., Humphreys, K. L., McLaughlin, K. A., Rosen, M. L. Environmental contributions to cognitive development: The role of cognitive stimulation. (2024).  Developmental Review. 73, 101135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2024.101135.

Lurie, L. A.*, Rosen, M. L.*, Weissman, D. G., Machlin, L., Lengua, L., Sheridan, M. A., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2024). Cognitive stimulation as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status and neural function supporting working memory: A longitudinal fMRI study. Cerebral Cortex. bhad545. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad545 *indicates equal contribution

Rosen, M. L., Lurie, L. A., Sambrook, K. A., Meltzoff, A. N., & McLaughlin, K. A. Neural mechanisms underlying the income-achievement gap: the role of the ventral visual stream. (2021). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101025

Rosen, M. L., Rodman, A. M., Kasparek, S. W., Mayes, M., Freeman, M. M., Lengua, L., Meltzoff, A. N., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2021). Promoting youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255294

Colich, N. L., Rosen, M. L., Williams, E. S. #, & McLaughlin, K. A. (2020). Biological aging in childhood and adolescence following experiences of threat and deprivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 146(9), 721-764. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000270

Rosen, M. L., Hagen, M. P., Lurie, L. A., Miles, Z. E., Sheridan, M. A., Meltzoff, A. N., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2020). Cognitive stimulation as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status and executive function: A longitudinal investigation. Child Development. e762-e779. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13315

Rosen, M. L., Sheridan, M. A., Meltzoff, A. M., & McLaughlin, K. A. ­­­Distinct aspects of the early environment shape long-term memory, attention, and memory-guided attention: Implications for academic achievement. (2019). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 40, 100731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100731

Rosen, M. L., Amso, D., & McLaughlin, K. A. The role of visual association cortex in scaffolding prefrontal cortex development: A novel mechanism linking socioeconomic status and executive function (2019). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 39, 100699. [Epub ahead of print] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019

Rosen, M. L., Sheridan, M. A., Sambrook, K. A., Meltzoff, A. N. & McLaughlin, K. A. (2018). Socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement: A multimodal investigation of neurodevelopmental mechanisms. NeuroImage. 173, 298-310. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.043

Rosen, M. L., Sheridan, M. A., Sambrook, K. A., Meltzoff, A. N., Peverill, M. R., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2018). The role of visual association cortex in associative memory formation across development. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 30(3), 365-380. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01202

Rosen, M. L., Sheridan, M. A., Sambrook, K. A., Dennison, M. J., Jenness, J. L., Askren, M. K., Meltzoff, A. N. & McLaughlin, K. A. (2018). Salience network response to changes in emotional expressions of others is heightened during early adolescence: relevance for social functioning. Developmental Science. 21(3), e12571. http://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12571.