The Handbook of Developmental Social Neuroscience is a comprehensive collection of chapters written by leading researchers in the area of the development of social neuroscience summarizing the explosion of research in “the investigation of how social and biological factors interact during development.” This book consists of 25 chapters in six sections. It is particularly wide-ranging and most chapters have an important role in the volume, although some overlap in information is present. The first chapter provides a thorough description of the history of social neuroscience and why it is important to study development. The Introduction by de Haan and Gunnar alone is a first-rate summary of both this volume's collection of chapters as well as of the extant research in developmental social neuroscience. Section II, Methodological and Biological Background, provides a detailed explanation of methodology, issues involved in researching development in social neuroscience, and a comprehensive summary of the neuroanatomy of the developing social brain. Section III, Perceiving and Communicating with Others, includes eight chapters on perception of social information and communication, including face processing, perception of eye gaze, emotion, imitation, adolescent mentalizing, development of communication, and the evolutionary origins of social communication. Section IV, Relationships, focuses on relationships and social development including attachment, mothering, and romantic relationships. In Section V, Regulatory Systems: Motivation and Emotion, four chapters focus on the development of regulatory systems including temperament, reward systems, neurobiology of attachment, and social decision-making. The final Section VI, Perspectives on Psychopathology, includes six chapters on adolescent depression, development and neural bases of psychopathology, autism, genetic syndromes, international adoptions, and early abuse and neglect.

For developmental and pediatric neuropsychologists, the research reviews contained in this book are important to understand and consider in our research or clinical work. Clearly, social perception and functioning develops interactively with and parallel to attention, sensory, motor, visual-spatial, language, and memory systems. As this volume makes clear, neuropsychology often neglects quantitative assessment of emotional and social processing and functioning in assessments. This will likely need to change if the intent is to conduct comprehensive and meaningful research in developmental neuropsychology. Important risk factors for poor social development that should be addressed clinically or considered in research are covered in this volume, and the reader is strongly encouraged to use “hot” executive measures in assessments, including of emotional regulation, affect perception, and theory of mind.

For those who are not familiar with the research field of developmental neuroscience, Drs. DeHaan and Gunnar are thoughtful, well published, and collaborative investigators who present us with a book that has many strengths. The organization of this volume is nearly flawless and the authors assembled include experts in their respective topic areas. As is often the case with comprehensive, invited volumes, one of the downsides is that some overlap in information is present across the chapters. The upside to this, however, is that each chapter is like a stand-alone literature review paper summarizing the research as well as the authors’ views on what is important to know right now, what are the limitations, and what research is essential to move that area along.

I note a few chapters that should be highlighted as likely of particular interest for pediatric neuropsychologists. Chapter 3, Neuroanatomy of the Developing Social Brain, by Payne and Bachevalier provides an easy to read and clear summary of which neural systems are involved in mediating the development of social skills. Chapter 6 by deHaan and Metheson, The Development and Neural Bases of Processing Emotion, Chapter 8 by Decety and Meyer, Imitation as a Stepping Stone to Empathy, and Chapter 10 by Mills and Conboy, Early Communicative Development and the Social Brain, made me think intensely about how to consider these issues in assessing infants and preschoolers. Chapter 9 by Choudhury, Charman, and Blakemore, Mentalizing and Development during Adolescence, and Chapter 20 by Pine, A Social Neuroscience Approach to Adolescent Depression, emphasized the importance of considering social development and its impact on depression in all adolescent research and assessment. Finally, each of the chapters summarizing the literature on social neuroscience of psychopathology was particularly informative.

Handbook of Developmental Social Neuroscience is highly recommended for use as a comprehensive summary of a new and important field in developmental cognitive neuroscience. This volume will serve as an important reference book for pediatric neuropsychologists doing research or clinical work in early-life developmental areas. This would make an excellent textbook for graduate studies and postdoctoral studies in developmental neuroscience and pediatric neuropsychology. Because of the fast progression of research in these areas, the first edition of this book is likely to become a classic, with further additions hopefully continuing to summarize this important and exciting field. In summary, I would highly recommend this book to any professional involved in research or clinical practice related to early development of neuropsychological functions.