John Colombo

Frontiers | Leveraging research in early cognitive development for application and impact Research in cognitive development has generally been aligned with the explication and understanding of basic mechanisms underlying change in mental developme...

Our team has a new paper in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology
www.frontiersin.org/journals/dev...

The World’s Top Universities of 2026 Explore the top universities of 2026 leading in innovation, academic performance, and global engagement.

Time Magazine has published global rankings for universities in 2026. The Big 12 ranks are interesting: Utah, ASU (top 100), Arizona, KU, CU, ISU, Houston (100-200), WVU, Baylor, KSU (200-300). BYU, TTU (300-400), and Cincinnati (495). OSU, TCU, and UCF are not ranked.
time.com/7358185/top-...

Most enjoyable part of the CFP so far…watching Alabama fans at the Rose Bowl today.

@hcrichardson.bsky.social today:
“…as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, when British colonists on the North American continent took the radical step of rejecting…all kings… the American people are reclaiming that history.”

Let’s make this the story of 2026

Happy Veterans' Day. My dad was an aircraft mechanic on the carrier USS Cowpens before being pressed into service flying raids over Okinawa. On one mission, his plane was downed, spending 24 hours on the water before rescue. After the war, he worked as a tool and die maker until retirement in 1985.

Effects of Prenatal DHA Dose on Infant Visual Attention Prenatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been reported to improve cognitive outcomes in infancy and early childhood in some studies. Existent studies have examined the effects of ...

New paper from our lab in Developmental Psychobiology. Giving moms 800 mg of DHA prenatally improved their infants' habituation performance (shorter looking times) at 4 and 6 months of age, although it did not affect HR or ocular RTs in gap/overlap task. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Been saying for years that the "radical left-wing university faculty" is largely mythical, a point confirmed here scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outp....

That said, some will conflate "fairness" and "intellect" with "radicalism." That is one of the TRUE failures of our educational system.

I thought there were 50 ways to leave your lover.

A new paper from our research group shows prenatal maternal intake of DHA, lutein/zenaxanthin, and choline were all related to various ERP parameters in infants born to these moms.

doi.org/10.1016/j.cl...

Fish consumption advice is depriving children of neurolipids and other nutrients essential to brain and eye development A large and growing body of published research has found considerable evidence of improvements and little evidence of harm to children’s neurodevelopm…

I've joined with a group of nutrition and developmental scientists to publish a letter in the journal Neurotoxicology on policy advising women to avoid eating fish during pregnancy. The full-text paper is available at:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Kim Cuevas and I have a new paper on infant learning in IBAD’s forthcoming special issue on the last 25 years of research in infant studies.

nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Just 'cause your head comes to a point doesn't mean you're sharp.

Which only proves that cats are vampires

MZ twins are always same sex. DZ twins aren’t, and opposite sex DZs are included in the comparison (I checked the primary source). This effect (it’s small) could be a sex difference.

It’s not horseshoes, people. You have to win, not just get close.

Hey, lay off. It has three syllables.

Emory should rescind Gingrich's PhD in history

I was working out with two guys yesterday. Both of their wives are teachers (special education and ESL) and are now concerned about losing their jobs. Both volunteered that they voted for neither candidate in the last presidential election, because "they both sucked." Well, lesson learned (maybe).

A Direct Hit, by @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
"This is a moment to unite."

I head up a research institute. A good part of our portfolio is funded by the Institute for Education Sciences. Our researchers provide scientifically-proven ways to promote early language, manage classroom behavior problems, and keep students engaged. Did anyone really vote to shut this all down?

NIH announces a 15% cap on indirect costs. This is probably illegal and will be challenged in court.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

I made roasted chestnut puree filling for homemade ravioli. Happy new year!

If you want to get paid for enacting process (in the absence of a product), then become a consultant. Or a philosopher.

Another lecture trip to Texas, another encounter with the culture here. Don’t always think of it this way but I am always reminded that, outside of Austin, it is as much the Deep South as Alabama or Mississippi.

Well, this is ironic. An incendiary title backed up by a 120-year-old incident and no other empirical data.

This tracks. Ever notice that, in nearly every children’s TV show, the child has a sidekick who is less competent and can learn from the child? Same rationale.

Certainly, graduate mentoring could use systemic improvement, but this work isn't compelling. This sample had pre-existing conditions of anxiety/depression. Aside from obvious generalization issues, I can't tell whether these are causal associations or just self-reported attributions.

New article from our lab on long term cognitive effects of infant formula supplemented with MFGM and lactoferrin.
www.jpeds.com/article/S002...