Introduction to the special issue from Flux Congress 2023

The 11th annual international Flux Congress was held in Santa Rosa, California. This iteration of Flux represented only the second in-person, and the first Congress in the United States, since the COVID pandemic. For many trainees it was their first in-person Congress, and it was the largest Flux gathering to date. Flux 2023 presented a few firsts for the society: the first split-session offerings, a Peder Sather Foundation symposium, and the first public policy roundtable. Excellent science was communicated through these new aspects, but also through the flash talks, the Jacobs Foundation Science of Learning symposium, the local symposium, and splendid award talks, which, along with the fun night karaoke, continued long Flux tradition.

This special issue collects a remarkable set of 24 papers from presenters at Flux 2023. As the 2023 program chair, I asked three of my wonderful program committee members, Dr. Tracy Riggins, Dr. Deanna Greene, and Dr. Juliet Davidow to join me in co-editing this special issue. We were thrilled to see the diversity and strength of work represented at Flux, and equally pleased to see much of it represented here. The research included is diverse on several fronts: it spans data collections from around the globe, spans infancy through adolescence, spans structural and functional brain analyses across multiple techniques, and includes authors at all points of the career spectrum from multiple countries. Most importantly, the breadth and depth of research encompassed by these authors is inspiring.

Readers will find articles on the associations with environmental variables such as economic disadvantage, pollution, social media use, and country. They will find work in non-human primates, rodents, and humans of all developmental stages. There are several papers on neurodevelopmental disorders and mental health, including datasets of groups with Down Syndrome, ADHD, dyscalculia and dyslexia, and general psychopathology symptoms. Techniques span EEG, fNIRS, functional and structural MRI, and qualitative work on involving under-represented youth in the research process.

Although we still have much to learn about the developing brain, this special issue whole-heartedly embraces the diversity of research questions, techniques, and explorations that make developmental cognitive neuroscience such an exciting field. These articles represent strides towards greater understanding of the developing brain, in the hopes of someday better optimizing outcomes for all youth.

Flux has always aimed “to advance understanding of human brain development by serving as a forum for professional and student scientists, physicians, and educators” (Schlaggar and Luna, 2015), and the Congress has served each year as a venue for the exchange of powerful ideas. We think readers will agree that 11 years on, Flux is thriving with high quality, integrative work that captures some of the best understanding of developmental cognitive neuroscience to date.