Where developmental psychology and neuroscience meet: A threatening or a felicitous encounter?

Recently, a new field of developmental cognitive/socio-affective neuroscience has emerged at the crossroads of Developmental Psychology and Neuroscience, linked to new advances in neuroimaging and electrophysiological measures. This paper presents arguments and evidence from a variety of research areas to illustrate the potential strength of the neuroscience approach to the study of developmental phenomena. In particular, it is argued that adding neurological data to our theorisation of change may produce several beneficial effects: a) bringing new light to old topics; b) refining complex psychological constructs, and c) developing research areas that contemplate several levels of analysis, from genes to contextual influences. Finally, some reflections are presented on the challenges involved in adapting to new technologies and building new theoretical proposals. It is concluded that these challenges are worthwhile because they could potentially bring an end to the polarisation in our discipline between cognitive and sociocultural approaches by encompassing both within a more comprehensive view of developmental processes.