Colwyn Trevarthen, Ph.D.

Colwyn Trevarthen is a Professor (Emeritus) in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Crete in Greece and has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as well as a Member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.  Professor Trevarthen is also a researcher in the University of Edinburgh’s Perception-in-Action laboratories. 

His research interests include the development of communication in infants and toddlers, adult-infant and infant-infant interactions, rhythmic communication and imitation in infancy, and maternal vocalizations.  He has an extensive list of publications in a wide variety of domains including neuropsychology, brain development, and infant intersubjectivity.  Professor Trevarthen has also explored the use of music therapy in children with autism and adults with schizophrenia, as well as levels of function in split-brain patients.  He is currently examining the innate foundations of ‘communicative musicality’ as part of his research in the perception-in-action laboratories.  Professor Travarthen will be speaking at the Birthlight Trust Launch Conference in Cambridge in July, 2006.