How a mother's childhood trauma and pregnancy inflammation shape her baby's brain
Maternal adversity, inflammation, and neurodevelopment: How intergenerational processes perpetuate disadvantage in a low-resource setting
This project looks at whether a mother's early-life hardships and inflammation during pregnancy influence her baby's early brain development and risk for attention problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | New York State Psychiatric Institute Dba Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, INC NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-10778211 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be asked to join during pregnancy and your baby would be followed through the first two years of life to see how early experiences affect brain and behavior. The team will compare about 290 pregnant people with a history of major childhood adversity to 290 without, using infant brain MRI and behavioral tests of attention and self-control. They will take blood and placental samples to measure inflammation and study DNA and RNA patterns that might explain effects. The study also looks at differences between boys and girls and at postnatal factors that could be changed to reduce risk.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Pregnant people receiving care in the Brazilian public health system who are willing to share health history, provide biological samples, and bring their baby for MRI and follow-up visits are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are not pregnant, whose children are older than the study window, or who cannot attend in-person visits or provide samples are unlikely to directly benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to pregnancy or early-life biological and social targets to prevent attention problems in children whose mothers experienced childhood adversity.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research links maternal stress and inflammation to later child behavior, but combining prenatal inflammation measures, placental epigenetics, infant MRI, and longitudinal follow-up is a relatively new and integrative approach.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- New York State Psychiatric Institute Dba Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, INC — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Duarte, Cristiane S. — New York State Psychiatric Institute Dba Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, INC
- Study coordinator: Duarte, Cristiane S.
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.