Description: Romania's Abandoned Children reveals the heartbreaking toll paid by children deprived of responsive care, stimulation, and human interaction. Compared with children in foster care, the institutionalized children in this rigorous twelve-year study showed severe impairment in IQ and brain development, along with social and emotional disorders.
Brief description: Charles A. Nelson is Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.
Review Quotes: When thousands of infants were abandoned, to be raised in large and impersonal institutions, a group of scientists took on the task of understanding how deprivation impacts the psychological, cognitive, and neurological development of very young children. This is a fascinating story with important social, cultural, and policy implications.--Joan Stiles, University of California, San Diego