Studying the Influences on Brain Development

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - MIND Lab is currently working on a study “Impact of Nutrition and Experience on Infant Neurodevelopment”. This study is focusing on the different influences that influence brain development.

Dr. Brittany Howell, Danielle Murray, Director of Development; Science Museum of Western VA, and Kavya Iyer join us on Here @ Home to talk about how the MIND Lab was recently awarded a bid to participate in a National Institute of Health (NIH) study called “HEALthy Brain & Child Development”.

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study will recruit a large cohort of pregnant women from regions of the country significantly affected by the opioid crisis and follow them and their children through early childhood. The study will collect information beginning at birth and continuing through early childhood, including structural and functional brain imaging; anthropometrics; medical history; family history; biospecimens; and social, emotional, and cognitive development.

The MIND Lab is also leading a number of other research studies here in the Roanoke Valley and is hopeful that its research will positively impact the community and help parents and providers understand what influences brain development.