Researcher Helps Lead Nationwide Study of Early Childhood Brain Development

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCHER’S COLLECTION OF BRAIN IMAGING DATA WILL CONTRIBUTE TO FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND COMPREHENSIVE INITIATIVE

BY SARA GAVIN

Distinguished University Professor of Human Development Nathan Fox will lead the collection of brain imaging data for a landmark national study designed to analyze the influence of prenatal substance use and other environmental impacts on brain development and behavior in infants and children and provide new insights on healthy brain development overall.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse, in collaboration with several other NIH institutes, selected the University of Maryland as one of 25 institutions across the country to implement the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study. This large, multi-year project will recruit a diverse cohort of pregnant people and follow them and their children into early childhood. Researchers will examine typical developmental trajectories and how prenatal and postnatal exposure to alcohol, drugs and other adversities like poverty and trauma impact the structure and function of the brain, as well as the development of social, emotional and cognitive processes.

Using brain imaging methods—specifically, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalograms (EEG) collected at UMD—they will track brain development over time and assess which factors alter developmental patterns.

“We have never seen a study of this magnitude combine data from so many mothers and infants all across the country, so it’s important we’re all using the same methods and metrics,” said Fox. “We will be collecting information on the families as well, which will help us identify risk and resilience factors that could have major policy implications.”

In addition to analyzing whether early adversity has lasting effects on brain development, researchers say the study will provide critical information that’s currently unavailable on healthy brain development trajectories.

“When parents take their children to the pediatrician, they can see how their child’s body is growing relative to a growth chart, which is based on data from thousands of children over a long period of time,” said Tracy Riggins, associate professor of psychology and another principal investigator for the study. “We don’t have anything like that for early brain development, but a study like this will help us map that out.”

The UMD research team will receive more than $1 million per year over the first five years of the project.

“We have never seen a study of this magnitude combine data from so many mothers and infants all across the country.”