Understanding Healthy Brain Development in Children
16/24 Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium
This project aims to understand how children's brains develop from before birth through age 10, looking at how early life experiences shape their growth.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Maryland, College Park NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (College Park, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11138655 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project is creating a comprehensive picture of how children's brains develop from before birth up to age 10. Researchers will follow 7,500 mothers and their infants across 24 sites in the United States. They will use advanced brain imaging like MRI and EEG, along with various tests for behavior, body functions, and mental well-being, plus collect biological samples. The goal is to see how different experiences, both good and challenging, during pregnancy and early childhood affect a child's brain development over time. This large-scale effort will help us understand the complex interplay of genes and environment in shaping a child's future.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants would be pregnant mothers and their infants who are willing to participate in a long-term study across the United States.
Not a fit: Patients who are not pregnant or do not have infants, or those outside the specified age range, would not directly benefit from participating in this specific data collection.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: This project could help us better understand how early life experiences affect brain development, potentially leading to new ways to support children's health and well-being.
How similar studies have performed: While individual studies have looked at aspects of child development, this consortium aims to create an unprecedentedly large and diverse dataset, making its comprehensive approach quite novel.
Where this research is happening
College Park, United States
- Univ of Maryland, College Park — College Park, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fox, Nathan a — Univ of Maryland, College Park
- Study coordinator: Fox, Nathan a
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.