Bangladesh Early Adversity Neuroimaging Project
Challenge
Dhaka, Bangladesh, is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Children in Dhaka experience adversities such as poverty, poor sanitation, and environmental pollution, which can limit developmental potential and confer lasting effects.
Where We Started
Boston Children’s Hospital’s Charles A. Nelson, PhD, collaborated with William Petri, MD, of the University of Virginia; Clare Elwell, PhD, and Sarah Lloyd Fox, PhD, of University College London/University of London; and Rashidul Haque, MD, of the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) to use neuroimaging, behavioral tests, and eye-tracking to study the association between exposure to early adversities and brain development in children from low-income communities in Dhaka.
Our Impact
The teams at Boston Children's, UVA, and icddr,b are in the process of collecting longitudinal data from more than 500 children ages 6 months to 5 years. Several papers have been published based on analysis of this data.
Moving Forward
Longitudinal data collection will continue over the next two years. The collaborating teams will continue to use this data to help identify biomarkers of early childhood adversity and its associations with developmental outcomes.
Contact
Charles Nelson, PhD
