PRELUDE: Understanding how early life experiences shape child brain development
Official title: 1/6 HBCD Prenatal Experiences and Longitudinal Development (PRELUDE) Consortium
Funded at Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst · NIH-11518959 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This nationwide study follows mothers and babies from before birth to age 10 to learn how experiences in pregnancy and early childhood affect brain development and behavior.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Little Rock, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $2,066,540 |
| NIH project number | 4U01DA055352-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11518959 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Expectant mothers and their children from birth to age 10 who are willing to participate in long-term imaging, assessments, and biospecimen collection across multiple sites.
✕Less likely to help
Families who are unable to commit to long-term participation or who prefer not to undergo imaging or biospecimen collection may receive no direct benefit.
What this research studies
We will recruit a large, diverse group of mothers and infants across 27 sites to collect brain imaging, brainwave data, and a wide range of behavioral and physiological measures. The study uses standardized protocols to map developmental trajectories over the first 10 years of life and to link environmental factors with outcomes. Researchers will share a rich dataset with the broader scientific community to help identify risk and protective factors that could inform interventions for children’s healthy development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could improve early identification of at-risk children and guide interventions to support healthier neurodevelopment.
How similar studies have gone: Previous neurodevelopmental studies have shown that early environmental factors influence later outcomes, and this study expands on those findings with a larger, harmonized dataset.
Where this research is happening
-
Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst
Little Rock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ou, Xiawei — Arkansas Children's Hospital Res Inst
- Study coordinator: Ou, Xiawei
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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.