Research in the CNS Lab
The transformation from a cooing infant into a talkative toddler is an amazing feat. The first two years is also a time period when infants turn rolling into crawling, crawling into walking, and walking into climbing! And perhaps most incredible, infants begin to engage and interact with the social world in many ways that researchers are only beginning to really understand. Within the first two years, your infant’s brain is rapidly changing and adapting as it learns to process complex social information. Not surprisingly, we have a lot to learn about how these changes happen and how your baby’s complex behaviors emerge. With your help, we want to discover how your child’s brain develops and how he/she learns and grows!
Currently, we have studies for babies ranging from 1 to 60 months. All of our studies are safe and designed to be easy and fun for the parent and child. Depending on the study, visits last between 30 minutes to a full day, which includes time for your child to acclimate to the new setting and time for us to answer any questions that you may have about your child’s development. Parents remain with their children during the entirety of the visit and all visits are scheduled during a convenient time for you. Our studies take place at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain and the Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Free parking is provided to all research participants.
Through behavioral assessments, eye tracking tasks, questionnaires/interviews, and magnetic resonance imagining we are mapping the development of specific neural circuits to specific behaviors over the first three years of life, and through these studies, we are able to better understand brain and behavioral development.
See below for more information about our current research studies.
Equipment and Procedures
Behavioral and Developmental Assessments
Most behavioral assessments take place in-person, where a trained member of our team will work with your child under the supervision of a Licensed Psychologist. Infants and toddlers may participate in a series of age-appropriate assessments, which consist of us playing games with your child and observing their behavior. These types of assessments allow us to characterize cognitive, attentional, language, motor, and social development.
Parent Interviews and Questionnaires
As part of our studies, parents may be asked to complete a series of questionnaires or interviews about their child's development and medical history. It is important for us to hear about the parent perspective on their child's typical behaviors and skills, to help us get a better picture of what their child's strengths and areas for improvement are.
Parent questionnaires are be completed online at the family's convenience. Most parent interviews are conducted remotely, either via phone or via Zoom.
Brain Imaging
In order to understand the relationship between the brain and child behavior, we collect brain images from research participants using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electroencephalography (EEG).
MRI: Brain images are collected on a research-dedicated whole-body scanner. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a common medical procedure and has been used and approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for over 20 years. The scanner is non-invasive and poses no known risk to your infant. We collect the brain scans while your child is naturally sleeping, so no sedation or anesthesia is used in any of our procedures. The total time scanning time is approximately 45 minutes.
EEG: Electroencephalography allows us to measure the electrical activity inside of your child's brain. Our brain neurons send information via electrical signals, so this gives us insight into how your child's brain is processing and transferring information. This is a non-invasive procedure, where a cap with a set of electrodes attached to it is placed on your child's head while they watch videos or perform a task. This procedure lasts approximately 30 minutes.
Eye Tracking
The CNS Lab uses a sophisticated, non-invasive eye tracking unit called the Tobii TX300. This tracking system follows the gaze of your child’s eyes and monitors where he/she is looking on a screen and for how long. Your infant simply sits on your lap and looks at a computer screen that will show different entertaining images and videos. The eye tracker enables a reliable and accurate measurement of gaze which provides a sophisticated avenue to study complex human behavior.