World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Award Badge
Psychology
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Neuroscience

D-Index
133
Citations
67630
World Ranking
252
National Ranking
157

Psychology

D-Index
135
Citations
67267
World Ranking
139
National Ranking
86

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
  • 2013 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2002 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Charles A. Nelson is affiliated with Boston Children's Hospital in the United States. Their research spans multiple fields including Medicine, Psychology, and Neuroscience, with a particular focus on Cognitive Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, and Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health.

Their research addresses key topics such as Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development, Autism Spectrum Disorder Research, Child Abuse and Trauma, Child Welfare and Adoption, Infant Development and Preterm Care, Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Functional Brain Connectivity Studies.

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Charles A. Nelson include Nathan A. Fox, Charles H. Zeanah, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Carol L. Wilkinson, and Helen Tager-Flusberg.

Their work is commonly published in venues such as bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Developmental Science, and Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Notable recent papers authored or co-authored by Charles A. Nelson include:

  • "Adversity in childhood is linked to mental and physical health throughout life" (2020) published in BMJ
  • "Early Adversity and Critical Periods: Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Violating the Expectable Environment" (2020) published in Trends in Neurosciences

Charles A. Nelson has been recognized with awards such as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013 and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2002.

Best Publications

  • The NimStim set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants

    Nim Tottenham;James W. Tanaka;Andrew C. Leon;Thomas McCarry

  • Inequality in early childhood: risk and protective factors for early child development

    Susan P Walker;Theodore D Wachs;Sally Grantham-McGregor;Maureen M Black

  • How the Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Influence the Development of Brain Architecture

    Sharon E. Fox;Pat Levitt;Charles A. Nelson

  • Cognitive Recovery in Socially Deprived Young Children: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project

    Charles A. Nelson;Charles H. Zeanah;Nathan A. Fox;Peter J. Marshall

  • Is Face Processing Species-Specific During the First Year of Life?

    Olivier Pascalis;Michelle de Haan;Charles A. Nelson

  • The functional emergence of prefrontally-guided working memory systems in four- to eight-year-old children

    Monica M Luciana;Charles A. Nelson

  • Managing incidental findings in human subjects research: Analysis and recommendations

    Susan M Wolf;Frances P Lawrenz;Charles A. Nelson;Jeffrey P. Kahn

  • Developmental science and the media. Early brain development.

    Ross A. Thompson;Charles A. Nelson

  • Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

    Charles A. Nelson;Monica Luciana

  • The Development and Neural Bases of Face Recognition

    Charles A. Nelson

  • Adversity in childhood is linked to mental and physical health throughout life

    Charles A Nelson;Richard David Scott;Zulfiqar A Bhutta;Nadine Burke Harris

  • Development and natural history of mood disorders.

    E.Jane Costello;Daniel S. Pine;Constance Hammen;John S. March

  • Biological embedding of childhood adversity: from physiological mechanisms to clinical implications.

    Anne E. Berens;Anne E. Berens;Sarah K. G. Jensen;Sarah K. G. Jensen;Charles A. Nelson

  • The Ontogeny of Human Memory: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective.

    Charles A. Nelson

  • Insights into the molecular basis of the hormonal control of molting and metamorphosis from Manduca sexta and Drosophila melanogaster.

    Lynn M Riddiford;Kiyoshi Hiruma;Xiaofeng Zhou;Charles A Nelson

  • Corepressor-Dependent Silencing of Chromosomal Regions Encoding Neuronal Genes

    Victoria V. Lunyak;Robert Burgess;Robert Burgess;Gratien G. Prefontaine;Charles Nelson

  • Designing research to study the effects of institutionalization on brain and behavioral development: the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.

    Charles H. Zeanah;Charles A. Nelson;Nathan A. Fox;Anna T. Smyke

  • EEG complexity as a biomarker for autism spectrum disorder risk

    William Bosl;William Bosl;Adrienne Tierney;Adrienne Tierney;Helen Tager-Flusberg;Charles A. Nelson;Charles A. Nelson

  • Early Adverse Experiences and the Developing Brain

    Johanna Bick;Charles A Nelson;Charles A Nelson

  • Neurocognitive sequelae of infants of diabetic mothers.

    Charles A. Nelson;Sandi Wewerka;Kathleen M. Thomas;Stephanie Tribby-Walbridge

  • Assessment of neuropsychological function through use of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery: performance in 4- to 12-year-old children.

    Monica Luciana;Charles A. Nelson

  • Personal familiarity influences the processing of upright and inverted faces in infants.

    Benjamin J. Balas;Benjamin J. Balas;Charles A. Nelson;Charles A. Nelson;Alissa Westerlund;Vanessa Vogel-Farley

  • The recognition of facial expressions in the first two years of life: mechanisms of development.

    Charles A. Nelson

Frequent Co-Authors

Charles H. Zeanah
Charles H. Zeanah Tulane University
Nathan A. Fox
Nathan A. Fox University of Maryland, College Park
Helen Tager-Flusberg
Helen Tager-Flusberg Boston University
Kathleen M. Thomas
Kathleen M. Thomas University of Minnesota
Katie A. McLaughlin
Katie A. McLaughlin University of Oregon
Kathryn L. Humphreys
Kathryn L. Humphreys Vanderbilt University
Mustafa Sahin
Mustafa Sahin Boston Children's Hospital
Sara Jane Webb
Sara Jane Webb Seattle Children's Hospital
Margaret A. Sheridan
Margaret A. Sheridan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Megan R. Gunnar
Megan R. Gunnar University of Minnesota

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Exploring an online psychology degree unlocks numerous career options in mental health and beyond. Graduates can pursue roles such as counselors, therapists, or behavioral specialists, and many programs offer flexible pathways for working professionals or those seeking a career change.

When selecting a program, it’s important to compare factors like accreditation, faculty expertise, and graduate outcomes. For those interested in the Pacific Northwest, the best counseling program rankings in Seattle highlight top opportunities in both urban and suburban settings. If your plans take you further south, the best counseling program rankings in South offer insights on respected institutions throughout the southern United States.

Students based in California can explore the Stockton counseling degree programs for a mix of in-person and online learning options. Those in Arizona may want to consider the top counseling degree programs in Tucson, known for their diverse faculty and real-world clinical experience.

No matter your location, it's worth researching a variety of programs and career pathways to find the right fit for your professional goals and interests in psychology.

Best Scientists Citing Charles A. Nelson

Trending Scientists