Silvia Bunge

Silvia Bunge is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University and specializes in Cognitive Neuroscience, focusing on the development and plasticity of higher cognitive functions in humans, including reasoning, learning, memory, and goal-directed behavior. Her research also explores how education and environmental factors influence cognitive development across childhood and adolescence.

Her laboratory, the Building Blocks of Cognition Laboratory, investigates core cognitive processes through behavioral, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging experiments. Key studies include longitudinal investigations of neural changes underlying cognitive development (ages 6–19) and the effects of experience-dependent plasticity in brain function. Recent work emphasizes the role of brain structure (e.g., sulcal morphology) in reasoning ability and executive functions.

Bunge teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, including Psych 125: The Developing Brain and Psych 240B: Developmental Proseminar. She is actively involved in mentoring and has co-authored a foundational textbook, Fundamentals of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Current projects include the Illuminating the Brain Consortium, leveraging functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study neural bases of cognition in early childhood and diverse populations.

Her research highlights the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping cognitive trajectories, emphasizing the importance of education and home environments. Ongoing studies explore how schooling impacts cognitive control and brain activation in children, with a focus on neurodevelopmental disparities linked to socioeconomic status.