Early baby brain changes linked to maternal immune activation during pregnancy
Establishing Early Brain Signatures associated with Maternal Immune Activation Exposure
This project looks at whether the mother's immune activity during pregnancy is linked to early brain and behavior changes in fetuses, newborns, and infants.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11289294 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your baby would be followed from pregnancy into early infancy with repeated MRI scans to see how the baby's brain networks develop after prenatal immune exposures. Researchers will collect maternal blood markers of immune activation during pregnancy and use magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and functional MRI in the fetus, neonate, and infant to measure brain chemistry and connectivity. Babies will also have brief behavioral assessments to see if early brain findings match early behavior differences. The team aims to map when and how changes in the salience network and related brain systems appear so they can be linked to prenatal immune signals.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are pregnant people who had infections, inflammation, or medical stressors during pregnancy and their unborn babies, newborns, or infants who can come for repeated imaging visits.
Not a fit: People without notable prenatal immune activation or older children beyond the infant period are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify infants at higher risk for later psychiatric problems earlier so they can be monitored or offered support sooner.
How similar studies have performed: Animal studies and some early human work (including prior findings linking maternal IL-6 to newborn brain connectivity) support the idea, but longitudinal fetal-to-infant imaging of these effects is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Spann, Marisa N — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Spann, Marisa N
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.