How Socioeconomic Status and Perinatal Maternal Diet Impact Infant Social Development: a longitudinal study utilizing the NBAS and fNIRS

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It is well known that the window between conception and the second year of life is critical for infant development, with early experiences and environments playing a key role in shaping early developmental trajectories. Both socioeconomic status (SES) and perinatal maternal diet have been demonstrated to have a profound impact on infant development, however, despite much evidence of significant impacts upon later outcomes, little is still known about their influences on emerging developmental pathways. My research project centres around furthering our understanding of the factors that impact early infant development through a knowledge exchange partnership between The Brazelton Centre and the Perinatal Imaging in Partnership with Families (PIPKIN) project. The Brazelton Centre is a UK charity which aims to enhance parental and clinical knowledge of newborn behaviour and communication using the neonatal behavioural assessment scale (NBAS) in order to support early infant development. The PIPKIN project at the University of Cambridge aims to further our understanding of the significant developmental changes that occur from the second trimester of pregnancy, across birth, and up to 9-months post-birth by examining infant development using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), electroencephalography (EEG), ultrasound, NBAS and a variety of cognitive-behavioural and background measures. Through the collection of these measures, we will gain a better understanding of perinatal infant development and the factors that shape this. I shall use the PIPKIN project as the backbone for my PhD, aiming to understand the role of perinatal maternal diet and SES on infant development using the variety of measures discussed. I shall also examine how newborns capacity for social engagement (using the Brazelton NBAS) correlates with observational coding of reciprocity in parent-child interactions (using naturalistic home video recordings) and with neural markers of early social development (using fNIRS and EEG).Through annual internships with The Brazelton Centre I shall also be working collaboratively with the charity and with community focus groups to derive further insights into early infant development and those most vulnerable to poor outcomes. The aim is to then use data from both PIPKIN and further insights from The Brazelton Centre and local groups to guide the development of an app-based intervention to both track and support the infant and their families early on.