Dr. Vaidehi Natu

Biography

Vaidehi Natu is a developmental neuroscientist whose research program aims to study how the human brain matures from infancy to adulthood and acquires new life skills and behaviors. Her work investigates the origins of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain development during infancy and the trajectory through which neural mechanisms unfold. She explores how school-aged children acquire complex skills such as reading and face recognition and examines parallels in brain development across primate species. Additionally, she researches changes that occur in the brain in developmental disorders including autism, multiple sclerosis, and dyslexia. Utilizing a multi-modal approach, her studies combine neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), quantitative MRI (qMRI), diffusion MRI (dMRI), alongside behavioral observations and histology. By integrating complementary techniques, her research provides a unified understanding of the brain's anatomy, function, and behavior, contributing to our knowledge of how complex human skills develop over time.

Research Interests