Current Projects

We are thrilled to announce that the Care Project is being extended! We look forward to connecting with our Care Project moms and babies as they grow and develop. We have added 2 new in-person research visits to our program, at 3 years old and 4 years old.

Our new project is focused on the effect of reducing prenatal depression upon child cardiovascular health. We are looking forward to exploring your child’s eating behaviors and food preferences, your child’s height and weight, and your child’s heart rate and other cardiovascular measures.

Continuing with Care is enrolling moms who have participated in the Care Project. If you are currently enrolled in the Care Project, please send us any updated contact information or addresses.

Depression during pregnancy is very common and affects 13-40% of pregnant women. Depression during pregnancy impacts the brain development of the unborn child which can make the child more likely to be overwhelmed by stress and negative emotions. It can also lead to difficulties with being patient and not acting on impulses. Because of these difficulties, children whose mothers were depressed while pregnant are 3-5 times more likely to experience depression themselves.

The Care Project is a large randomized control trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; R01MH109662) that is testing whether helping moms with feelings of sadness or depression during pregnancy can benefit mom and baby. We are looking to see if helping moms with these feelings during pregnancy can reduce the difficulties with stress, negative emotions, impulse control, and patience that put babies at higher risk of developing depression and anxiety later in life. We follow moms throughout pregnancy and into their baby’s first 18 months of life.

Other Projects

do fragmented EARLY LIFE ENVIRONMENTs INFLUENCE EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE VULNERABILITIES DURING CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE?

Mental health problems affect 15-20% of the people in the United States. Many mental health problems start sometime in childhood, with most of them starting during the teenage years. Girls are generally more likely than boys to have mental health problems.

For this project, our lab is working with the Conte Center. Funded by the National Institute of Public Health, the Conte Center focuses on brain development from before birth to adolescence by analyzing genes, behavior, and more! This particular project that we are working on with the Conte Center looks at how the predictability of mom’s behavior towards their baby both before and after birth impact their baby’s risk for future mental health problems. This particular project is funded by NIMH (P50 MH 096889).

what are the PRENATAL INFLUENCES ON CHILD BRAIN DEVELOPMENT?

Unborn children’s brains develop rapidly during pregnancy, making them very vulnerable to outside influences. Current research is looking at how mom’s stress hormone levels during pregnancy as well as any infections that she may have during pregnancy could impact the brain development of her unborn child.

We recently published an article in Biological Psychiatry that looks at the impact of mom’s use of synthetic glucocorticoids during pregnancy on the brain development of their unborn child. Synthetic glucocorticoids are a type of steroid that are prescribed for many reasons, including eczema and seasonal allergies. Our publication (see here) presents evidence that when moms use synthetic glucocorticoids during pregnancy, the impacts on the brains of their children can last for 6-10 years. These children were more likely to have a thinner cortex in the brain, and those who had this thinner cortex were more likely to have mental health problems.

Does PRENATAL EXPOSURE TO MATERNAL STRESS AND STRESS HORMONES INFLUENCE INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT?

These projects look at how mom’s stress during pregnancy and production of stress-related hormones may impact the development of their children before birth and throughout childhood. Currently, we are looking at how mom’s stress during pregnancy impacts their baby’s temperament, ability to handle stress and negative emotions, and cognitive abilities. Our data so far show that children who are exposed to more stress hormones before they are born have a harder time handling stress and negative emotions, and more likely to react to new situations and people with fear. In one of our recent publications (see here), we showed how exposure to stress hormones before birth impacts the development of the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain that processes fear, and this can lead to the development of anxiety and depression later in life.  

does PRENATAL EXPOSURE TO GLUCOCORTICOIDS HAve PERSISTING CONSEQUENCES FOR DEVELOPMENT?

Many women who go into preterm labor are given glucocorticoids, which have clearly been shown to improve survival in preterm infants. However, there is also strong evidence from studies in both animals and humans that being exposed to high levels of glucocorticoids before birth puts babies at a higher risk of poor growth, increased fear and anxiety, difficulties with cognitive function, altered brain development, and difficulties with dealing with negative emotions and stress. Our current project is a 5-year longitudinal study, supported by the National Institute of Child Development (NICHD R01 HD065823). The focus of the project is to determine how synthetic glucocorticoids impact placental corticotrophin-releasing hormones in the mom, and how exposure to this hormone contributes to preterm birth and a higher risk for disorders such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD.

Our study will help provide doctors with the information they need to make decisions regarding whether or not to treat pregnant women with glucocorticoids. This project will also allow us to develop new models of what puts children at risk for preterm birth, mental health problems, and cognitive problems later in life. These new models will allow us to identify individuals who are at risk for such difficulties earlier in life which will allow us to provide help and treatment earlier.

how does THE SYNERGISTIC RELATIONship BETWEEN THE PRENATAL AND THE EARLY POSTNATAL ENVIRONMENT affect development?

Several ongoing projects are looking at how a baby’s environment before birth and shortly after birth work together to affect a child’s health and development. This data will help address important questions such as: “Can high quality care shortly after birth help prevent the negative effects of prenatal stress?” and “Does the environment before birth prepare the baby for functioning in the world after birth?”

what are the PRECONCEPTION AND PRENATAL INFLUENCES ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT

This project is supported by the NICHD (R01 HD72021) looks at how a woman’s stress prior to pregnancy impacts the development of their child. This collaborative project includes researchers at University of Denver, University of California Los Angeles, Northwestern, and Virginia Tech. For this program, we are recruiting high-risk mothers and children who will help us look at how different factors before and during pregnancy impact child development. Specifically, we will look at how these factors impact a child’s emotional, cognitive, and physical health.