Home

Welcome to the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, directed by Dr. Anthony Dick. The laboratory conducts leading research on how children’s brains develop as they learn language and problem solving skills (i.e., executive function). We use safe and non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to learn about brain development. Our research has been supported by grants from the NIH (R01MH112588; R01DK119814; U01DA041156; R01HD098152) and from the National Science Foundation (NSF2028680), and our findings are published in major scientific journals and help to inform educational and mental health policy. Please use the links above to navigate the site!

The lab is accepting students for Fall 2027 to conduct research in brain development of speech/language and/or executive function in early childhood and adolescence. Our current major projects examine development in children (ages 4-7-years) with and without ADHD (in Project AHEAD), and in adolescents (9-early adulthood) using the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) data.

Projects

The DCN Lab is part of the landmark ABCD study, a multi-site study of brain and cognitive development in adolescents. More information is here!

The DCN Lab has been awarded two R01s with Dr. Paulo Graziano of the S.E.L.F-Regulation Lab) to conduct an extensive neuroimaging study of young children with ADHD! More information is here!
See our publications and press releases on research supported by the National Science Foundation!

Books

Our book, with Dr. Ulrich Müller, is an advanced graduate text for students in developmental science.

Recent Publications (last five years)

Roles: * Undergraduate student; ** Graduate student; ^ Post-Bac

2026

Dick, A. S., Hagler, D. J., Rigby, A., Bayat, M., Curtis, M., Gonzalez, R., Makowski, C., Pecheva, D., Wallace, A., Watts, R., Das, B., Linkersdörfer, J., Celhay, O., Parekh, P., Müller-Oehring, E., Irfanoglu, M. O., Dale, A., & Jernigan, T. (2026). Mapping the structure and microstructure of the adolescent brain: Insights from the ABCD study. Under review.

*Goldhagen, E., Dick, A. S., & Graziano, P. (2026). Peer Functioning Among Children with ADHD in Early Childhood: The Role of Emotion Dysregulation. Journal of Attention Disorders. 10.1177/10870547261469627

**Bayat, M., **Braun, B., Curzon, M., Hernandez, M., Coccia, C., Watts, R., Irfanoglu, M. O., Graziano, P., & Dick, A. S. (2026). Brain microstructure and obesity risk in early childhood: Insights from restriction spectrum imaging. Scientific Reports.

Dick, A. S., Hawes, S., Bayat, M., Curtis, M., Lopez, D. A., Parekh, P., Pecheva, D., Gonzalez, R., Heeringa, S. G., Linkersdörfer, J., Loughnan, R., Aguinaldo, L., Sher, K. J., Nichols, T. E., Tapert, S. F., Neale, M., Dale, A., & Thompson, W. K. (2026). The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study: Ten years of statistical and methodological contributions. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

Fuertes, F., Lalama, M., Dick, A.S., Baker, A.E., McMakin, D.L., Mattfeld, A.T. (2026). Anxiety severity moderates the relation between pineal parenchymal volume and sleep problems in peri-adolescent youth. Scientific Reports.

Comer, J.S., Pincus, D.B., Adrian, M., McCreary, G., Miller, L., Munarriz, T., Myers, K., Pierre-Louis, K.X., Platt, R., Ripley, M.K., Spencer, A.E., Syeda, H.S., Alegría, M., Brandt, A., Costa, C., Cooper, L., Coxe, S., Dantowitz, A., Dick, A.S., Farley, A.M., Furr, J.M., Keller, A., Lejeune, J.A., McLellan, L.F., McMakin, D.L., Merson, R.A., Muñoz, R.F., Rapee, R.M., Read, K.L., Rivero-Conil, S., Poznanski, B., Janvier, M., Salem, H.N., Shumway, P., Sikov, J., Porche, M.V., & Fortuna, L.R. (2026). The Kids FACE FEARS pragmatic randomized trial of therapist-led versus guided internet CBT for pediatric anxiety: Rationale and methods. JAACAP Open.

2025

Dick, A. S., & Tremblay, P. (2025). Editorial to Special Issue: The white matter connectome supporting speech and language in the human. Neurobiology of Language.

Mattox, N. Bowley, H., Vieites, V., Wu, Y., Ralph, Y., Lioi, P., Rodriguez, V., Olazabel, K. S., Hayes, T., Dick, A.S., Mattfeld, A., & Pruden, S.M. (2025). The relation between spatial language comprehension and mental transformation during early childhood. Cognitive Development.

Sheridan, M. A., Tervo-Clemmens, B., Demir-Lira, E., Dick, A. S., Hanson, J. L., Somerville, L. H., Sylvester, C. M., Thomason, M. E., Whittle, S., Barch, D. M., & Luna, B. (2025). Advances on design considerations in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101627

**Curtis, M., Alfano, A. R., Murphy, D., Pruden, S. M., **Bayat, M., Graziano, P. A., & Dick, A. S. (2025). Neurobiological Contributions to Speech and Language Interventions: Applications to Developmental Populations. Developmental Neuropsychology, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2025.2581699

Dick, A. S., Comer, J. S., **Bayat, M., **Curtis, M., Hayes, T. B., Pruden, S. M., Hawes, S., Gonzalez, R., Laird, A., & Graziano, P. (2025). Meaningful associations redux: Quantifying and interpreting effect size in the context of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 76, 101630.

Comer, J. S., Salem, H., Urcuyo, A. E., Sáez-Clarke, E., Karlovich, A. R., Coxe, S., Ehrenreich-May, J., Evans, A. D., Galvan, A., Malloy, L. C., Pincus, D. B., Dick, A. S., Furr, J. M., Green, G. J., Gurwitch, R. H., Peris, T. S. (2025). COVID-19-Related posttraumatic stress in US and Canadian youth in the first year of the pandemic. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2025.2521843

Krystal, J. H., Carter, C. S., Bearden, C. E., Barch, D. … Dick, A.S., et al., (2025). Biological Psychiatry: Preserving the promise. Biological Psychiatry.  

Li, L., Bayat, M., Hayes, T. B., Thompson, W. K., Neale, M. C., Gard, A. M., Dick, A. S. (2025). Missing data approaches for longitudinal neuroimaging research: Examples from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 74, 101563.

Curtis, M., Bayat, M., Garic, D., Alfano, A., Hernandez, M., Curzon, M., Bejarano, A., Tremblay, P., Pruden, S. M., Graziano, P., & Dick, A. S. (2025). Structural development of speech networks in young children: A cross-sectional study. Neurobiology of Language, 6, nol_a_00168.Graziano, P., Hernandez, M., & Dick, A. S. (2025). Emotion and Executive Dysfunction in Young Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders: The Role of Cardiac Autonomic Balance. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 47, 10.1007/s10862-025-10212-0.

Hawes, S. W., Littlefield, A. K.,  Lopez, D. A., Sher, K. J., Thompson, E. L., Gonzalez, R., Aguinaldo, L., Adams, A. R., Bayat, M., Byrd, A. L., Castro-de-Araujo, L.F.S.,  Dick, A. S., Heeringa, S. F., Kaiver, C. M., Lehman, S. M.,  Li, L., Linkersdörfer, J., Maullin-Sapey, T. J., Neale, M. C., Nichols, T. E., Perlstein, S., Tapert, S. F., Vize, C. E., Wagner, M., Waller, R., & Thompson, W. K. (2025). Longitudinal analysis of the ABCD study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 72, 101518.

**Bayat, M., **Hernandez, M., **Curzon, M., Garic, D., Graziano, P. A., & Dick, A. S. (2025) Reduced recruitment of inhibitory control regions in very young children with ADHD during a modified Kiddie Continuous Performance Task: A fMRI study. Cortex, 185, 153-169.

Graziano, P. A., **Hernandez, M. L., Dick, A. S., Arcia, E., Cox, S. K., Ayala, M., Carnero, N. A., O’Mara, N. L., & Sundari Foundation (2025). Parenting challenges among families experiencing homelessness with children with and without externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychology, 54, 699-715. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15374416.2024.2429087

2024

Graziano, P., **Hernandez, M., & Dick, A. S. (2024). Examining change in callous-unemotional behaviors in young children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and comorbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Impact of the Summer Treatment Program for Pre-Kindergarteners (STP-PreK). Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2024.2400877

Garcia-Sanchez, N. L., Dick, A. S., Hayes, T., & Pruden, S. M. (2024). Direct and indirect effects of mother spatial ability: What role does the home environment play? Developmental Science.

**Desme, C., Dick, A. S., Hayes, T., & Pruden, S.M.(2024). Individual differences in emerging adults’ spatial abilities: What role do affective factors play?Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications.

**Curzon, M. M., Dick, A. S., Coccia, C., Graziano, P. A. (2024). Exploring differences in physical health in young children with and without ADHD. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsad090

**Hernandez, M. L., Garcia, A. M., Spiegel, J. A., Dick, A. S., & Graziano, P. A. (2024). Multimodal assessment of emotion dysregulation in children with and without ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15374416.2024.2303706

Pelham III, W. E., Tapert, S. F., Gonzalez, M. R., Ahiarakwe, U., Patel, H., Davis, I. S., Meruelo, A., Van Rinsveld, A. M., Marshall, A. T., Dick, A. S., Guillaume, M., Dowling, G. J., Baskin-Sommers, A., & Brown, S. A. (2024). How does parental monitoring reduce adolescent substance use? Consideration of two potential mechanisms. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Vieites, V., Ralph, Y., Reeb-Sutherland, B., Dick, A. S., Mattfeld, A. T., & Pruden, S. M. (2024). Neurite density of the hippocampus is associated with trace eyeblink conditioning latency in 4- to 6-year-olds. European Journal of Neuroscience, 59, 358-369.

2023

Kiss, O., Nagata, J. M., de Zambotti, M., Dick, A. S., Marshall, A. T., Sowell, E. R., Van Rinsveld, A., Guillaume, M., Pelham, W. E., Gonzalez, M., Brown, S. A., Dowling, G. J., Lisdahl, K. M., Tapert, S. F. & Baker, F. (2023). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on screen time and sleep in early adolescents. Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001251

Meca, A.,Peraza, J. A., Riedel, M. C., Hale, W., Pettit, J. W., Musser, E. D., Salo, T., Flannery, J. S., Bottenhorn, K. L., Dick, A. S., Lobo, R. P., Ucros, K. M., Greaves, C. A., Hawes, S. W., Sanchez, M., Gonzalez, M. R., Sutherland, M. T., Gonzalez, R., & Laird, A. R. (2023). Acculturative orientations among Hispanic/Latinx caregivers in the ABCD Study: Associations with caregiver and youth mental health and youth brain function. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.

Gonzalez, M.R., Brown, S., Pelham, W.E., Bodison, S.C., MCCabe, C., Baker, F., Breslin, F., Dick, A. S., Dowling, G.J., Guillaume, M.J., Hoffman, E.A., Lisdahl, K., Alzueta, E., Marshall, A.T., McCandliss, B.D., Van Rinsveld, A.M., Sheth, C.S., Sowell, E.R., Wade, N.E., Tapert, S. (2023). Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Risks of Financial Insecurity and Coping. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33, 43-58. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12776

2022

Jobson, K. R., Hoffman, L. J., Metoki, A., Popal, H., Dick, A. S., Reilly, J., & Olson, I. (2022). Language and the cerebellum: Structural connectivity to the eloquent brain. Neurobiology of Language, https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00085

Öztekin, I., Garic, D., Bayat, M., Hernandez, M. L., Finlayson, M. A., Graziano, P., & Dick, A. S. (2022). Structural and diffusion-weighted brain imaging predictors of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and its symptomology in very young (4-7-year-old) children. European Journal of Neuroscience. http://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15842 (PDF)

Pelham III, W. E., Tapert, S. F., Gonzalez, M. R., Wade, N. E., Lisdahl, K. M., Guillaume, M., Marshall, A. T., Van Rinsveld, A., Dick, A. S., Baker, F. C., Breslin, F. J., Baskin-Sommers, A., Sheth, C. S., & Brown, S. A. (2022). Parental knowledge/monitoring and adolescent substance use: a causal relationship? Health Psychology.

Dick, A.S., Ralph, Y., Farrant, K., Reeb-Sutherland, B., Pruden, S., & Mattfeld, A. (2022). Volumetric development of hippocampal subfields and hippocampal white matter connectivity: Relationship with episodic memory. Developmental Psychobiology, 64, e22333. (PDF)

Hernandez, M. L., Spiegel, J. A., Coxe, S., Dick, A. S., & Graziano, P. A. (2022). Individual differences in germ spreading behaviors among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: The role of executive functioning. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 47, 892-904.

Gonzalez, M.R., Brown, S., Pelham, W.E., Bodison, S.C., MCCabe, C., Baker, F., Breslin, F., Dick, A.S., Dowling, G.J., Guillaume, M.J., Hoffman, E.A., Lisdahl, K., Alzueta, E., Marshall, A.T., McCandliss, B.D., Van Rinsveld, A.M., Sheth, C.S., Sowell, E.R., Wade, N.E., Tapert, S. (2022). Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Risks of Financial Insecurity and Coping. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 

Garcia, N., Dick, A. S., & Pruden, S. M. (2022). Contributions of executive function to spatial thinking in preschool children. Infant and Child Development, https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2317

Poudel, R., Tobia, M. J., Riedel, M. C., Salo, T., Flannery, J. S., Hill-Bowen, L. D., Dick, A. S., Laird, A. R., Parra, C. M., & Sutherland, M. T. (2022). Risky decision-making strategies mediate the relationship between amygdala activity and real-world financial savings among individuals from lower income households: A pilot study. Behavioural Brain Research.

Hare, M. M.**, Dick, A. S., Graziano, P. A. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences predict neurite density differences in young children with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Developmental Psychobiology, 64, e22234. (PDF)

Graziano, P., Garic, D.**, & Dick, A. S. (2022). Individual differences in white matter of the uncinate fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus: possible early biomarkers for callous-unemotional behaviors in young children with disruptive behavior problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63, 19-33. (PDF)

Guillaume, M., Toomarian, E.Y., Van Rinsveld, A, Baskin-Sommers, A.R., Dick, A.S., Dowling, G.J., Gonzalez, M. R., Hasak, L., Lisdahl, K.M, MArshall, A.T., Nguyen, Q.T.H, Pelham III, W.E., Pillai C., Sheth, C., Wang, A., Tapert, S.F., McCandliss, B.D. (2022) Negative impacts of pandemic induced at-home remote learning can be mitigated by parental involvement. Frontiers in Education, 7, 804191.

Coccia, C., Lovan, P., Macchi, A., Coto, J., Dick, A. S., & Graziano, P. (2022). How much and what: Using a buffet to determine self-regulation of food intake among young school-age children. Physiology and Behavior, 249:113745.

Marshall, A., Hackman, D., Baker, F. C., Breslin, F. J., Brown, S. A., Dick, A.S., Gonzalez, M. R., Guillame, M., Kiss, O., Lisdahl, K. M., McCabe, C. J., Pelham, W. E., Sheth, C., Tapert, S. F., Van Rinsveld, A., Wade, N. E., Sowell, E. R. (2022). Resilience to COVID-19: Socioeconomic disadvantage associated with positive caregiver-youth communication and youth preventative actions. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.734308

Pelham, W. E., Tapert, S. F., Gonzalez, M. R., Guillaume, M., Dick, A. S., Sheth, C. S., Baker, F. C., Baskin-Sommers, A., Marshall, A. T., Lisdahl, K. M., Breslin, F. J., Van Rinsveld, A., & Brown, S. A. (2022). Parental knowledge/monitoring and adolescents’ depressive symptoms: protective factor or spurious association? Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00896-9

Kiss, O., Alzueta, E., Yuksel, D., Pohl, K. M., de Zambotti, M., Müller-Oehring, E. M., Prouty, D., Durley, I., Pelham, W. E., McCabe, C. J., Gonzalez, M. R., Brown, S. A., Wade, N. E., Marshall, A. T., Sowell, E. R., Breslin, F. J., Lisdahl, K. M., Dick, A. S., Sheth, C. S., McCandliss, B. D., Guillaume, M., Van Rinsveld, A. M., Dowling, G. J., Tapert, S. F., & Baker, F. C. (2022). The pandemic’s toll on young adolescents: Prevention and intervention targets to preserve their mental health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70, 387-395.

2021

Dick, A.S., Lopez, D. A., Watts, A. L., Heeringa, S., Reuter, C., Bartsch, H., Fan, C. C., Kennedy, D. N., Palmer, C., Marshall, A., Haist, F., Hawes, S., Nichols, T. E., Barch, D. M., Jernigan, T. L., Garavan, H., Grant, S., Pariyadath, V., Hoffman, E., Neale, M., Stuart, E. A., Paulus, M. P., Sher, K. J., & Thompson, W. K. (2021). Meaningful effects in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. NeuroImage, 239, 118262. (PDF) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921005395?via%3Dihub#!

Dick, A. S., ^Silva, K., Gonzalez, R., Sutherland, M. T., Laird, A. R., Thompson, W. K., Tapert, S. F., Squeglia, L. M., Gray, K. M., Nixon, SJ., Cottler, L. B., La Greca, A. M., Gurwitch, R. H., & Comer, J. S. (2021). Neural vulnerability and hurricane-related media are associated with posttraumatic stress in youth. Nature Human Behaviour, 5, 1578-1589. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01216-3  (PDF)

Barch, D. M., Albaugh, M. D., Baskin-Sommers, A., Bryant, B. E., Clark, D. B., Dick, A. S., Feczo, E., Foxe, J. J., Gee, D. C., Giedd, J., Glantz, M. D., Hudziak, J. J., Karcher, N. R., LeBlanc, K., Maddox, M., McGlade, E. C., Mulford, C., Nagel, B. J., Neigh, G., Palmer, C. E., Potter, A. S., Sher, K. J., Tapert, S. F., Thompson, W. K., & Xie, L. (2021). Demographic and mental health assessments in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study: Updates and age-related trajectories. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 52, 101031. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929321001201 

Stinson, E. A., Sullivan, R. M., Peteet, B. J., Tapert, S. F., Baker, F. C., Breslin, F. J., Dick, A. S., Gonzalez, M. R., Guillaume, M., Marshall, A. T., McCabe, C. J., Pelham, W. E., Van Rinsveld, A., Sheth, C. S., Sowell, E. R., Wade, N. E., Wallace, A. L., & Lisdahl, K. M. (2021). Longitudinal impact of childhood adversity on early adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ABCD Study® cohort: Does race or ethnicity moderate findings? Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. 2021 Sep 29. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.08.007

**Garic, D., Yeh, F-C., Graziano, P., & Dick, A. S. (2021). In vivo Restricted-Diffusion Imaging (RDI) is sensitive to differences in axonal density in typical children and adults. Brain Structure and Function, 226, 2689-2705. (PDF)

Byrd, A.L., Hawes, S.W., Waller, R., Delgado, M.R., Sutherland, M.T., Dick, A.S., Trucco, E. M., Riedel, M.C., Pacheco-Colón, I., Laird, A.R., & Gonzalez, R. (2021). Neural Response to Monetary Loss Among Youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Callous-Unemotional Traits in the ABCD Study. NeuroImage: Clinical, 32, 102810. 

Silverman, M.R., Bennett, R., Feuerstahler, L., Stadterman, J., Dick, A.S., Graziano, P., & Roy, A.K. (2021). Measuring emotion dysregulation in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Revisiting the factor structure of the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC). Behavior Therapy, 53, 196-207.

Lisdahl, K.M.,…Dick, A.S., et al., (2021). Substance use patterns in 9-10-year-olds: Baseline findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 227, 108946.

Pelham, W. E., Tapert, S. F., Gonzalez, M. R., McCabe, C. J., Lisdahl, K. M., Alzueta, E. R., Baker, F. C., Breslin, F. J., Dick, A. S., Dowling, G. J., Guillaume, M., Hoffman, E., Marshall, A. T., McCandliss, B. D., Sheth, C. S., Sowell, E. R., Thompson, W. K., Van Rinsveld, A. M., Wade, N. E., & Brown, S. A. (2021). Early adolescent substance use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal survey in the ABCD Study® cohort. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69, 390-397.

Öztekin, I., Finlayson, M., Graziano, P., & Dick, A. S. (2021). Is there any incremental benefit to conducting neuroimaging and neurocognitive assessments in the diagnosis of ADHD in young children? A machine learning investigation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 49, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929321000578?via%3Dihub

De Bruin, A., Dick, A. S., & Carreiras, M. (2021). Clear theories are needed to interpret differences: Perspectives on the bilingual advantage debate. Neurobiology of Language, 2, 433-451. https://direct.mit.edu/nol/article/2/4/433/100565/Clear-Theories-Are-Needed-to-Interpret-Differences

Li, W., … Dick, A. S., et al.,… Sugrue, L. (2021). Rates of incidental findings on brain MRI in children. JAMA Neurology, 78, 578-587. (PDF)

Hawes, S. W., Waller, R., Byrd, A. L., Bjork, J. M., Dick, A. S., Sutherland, M. T., Riedel, M. C., Tobia, M. J., Thomson, N., Laird, A. R., & Gonzalez, R. (2021). Reward processing among children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Callous-Unemotional Traits in the ABCD Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 333-342.

Chaarani, B., … Dick, A. S., et al.,… Garavan, H. (2021). Brain function in the pre-adolescents of the ABCD Study. Nature Neuroscience, 24, 1176-1186.

Read more Publications from the DCN Lab!