Most mental health problems emerge in adolescence. Understanding the early roots of mental health problems may help to identify them early and provide more effective interventions.
In our lab, we study mental health from the prenatal period to early adulthood. For example, see our Pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic study, which is looking at how mental health is affected in pregnancy during the pandemic and the resulting impacts on children. We also study links between internalizing and externalizing behavior in adolescence.
Currently we are extending this work to understand brain alterations in children and youth with prenatal exposures, most of whom experience mental health challenges.
Stay tuned for more exciting work on brain and mental health coming out of the Developmental Neuroimaging Lab!!