How stress in early life shapes infant brain activity and early learning
Longitudinal investigation of the relations among stress, brain activity, neurocognitive skill, and socioemotional functioning during infancy
This project follows infants and their caregivers to link chronic stress with babies' brain activity and early language, thinking, and social skills.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Teachers College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11308840 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your baby would be followed over time while researchers measure caregiver stress using multiple methods and record infants' resting brain activity. The team will also collect age‑appropriate tests of language, cognitive skills, and social/emotional behavior at several time points. By combining these different measures, researchers aim to trace how stress-related changes in brain activity relate to later school‑readiness skills. The work focuses on early infancy and how early brain differences may predict later learning and social outcomes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are infants (and their caregivers, often mothers) and families, especially those experiencing chronic stress, who can take part in repeated visits and measurements.
Not a fit: Older children, adults, or families not experiencing chronic stress are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this infant-focused observational research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify early signs of risk and guide interventions to support learning and social development in children exposed to chronic stress.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked maternal stress to changes in infant resting brain activity, but it remains unclear whether those brain differences predict later language and socioemotional skills, so this approach is building on emerging but still limited evidence.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Teachers College — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Troller-Renfree, Sonya Violet — Columbia University Teachers College
- Study coordinator: Troller-Renfree, Sonya Violet
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.