Skip to main content
Carnegie Mellon University
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences  ›  Department of Psychology  ›  People  ›  Core and Training Faculty  ›  Jessica Cantlon

Jessica Cantlon

Jessica Cantlon

Ronald J. and Mary Ann Zdrojkowski Professor of Developmental Neuroscience/Psychology

Areas of Expertise

Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Developmental

Bio

Jessica uses behavioral and neuroimaging methods to study the origins of quantitative reasoning in human adults, children, and non-human primates. Her research shows the impact of early-developing and evolutionarily primitive nonverbal concepts on human thought. Using behavioral methods, her work observed parallel numerical processing capabilities between human children and non-human primates. Using fMRI, she found that the IPS processes quantitative information in children as young as 4 years of age. Her research implicates a primitive cognitive and neural basis for the development of human mathematical cognition derived from very old, evolutionary processes.