Charles A. Nelson is professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and director of research at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Developmental Medicine Center.
Charles A. Nelson
Research director
Boston Children's Hospital
From this contributor
How separating children from parents causes irreparable harm
Science teaches us that housing children in institution-like settings is likely to cause severe and permanent damage to their minds and bodies.
How separating children from parents causes irreparable harm
By
Charles A. Nelson
26 June 2018 | 4 min read
Romanian orphans reveal clues to origins of autism
Understanding autism features in children who were deprived of social contact as infants could offer clues to the condition.
Romanian orphans reveal clues to origins of autism
By
Charles A. Nelson
25 April 2017 | 6 min read
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Cerebellar neurons reorient brain activity to differentiate similar behaviors
The findings provide a new perspective on how granule cells help to generalize learning across tasks.
Cerebellar neurons reorient brain activity to differentiate similar behaviors
The findings provide a new perspective on how granule cells help to generalize learning across tasks.
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29 September 2026 | 4 min read
Revisiting the neural correlates of consciousness
Life happens in real time, but experience may be composed in ragtime—like the music genre, full of offbeat notes and uneven rhythms. The assumption that waking life consists of a “stream” of conscious representations has inadvertently led consciousness science to its current impasse.
Revisiting the neural correlates of consciousness
Life happens in real time, but experience may be composed in ragtime—like the music genre, full of offbeat notes and uneven rhythms. The assumption that waking life consists of a “stream” of conscious representations has inadvertently led consciousness science to its current impasse.
By
Francis T. Fallon, Michael Pitts
28 September 2026 | 7 min read