"The Impact of Social Interactions on Infant Brain Development"

Two studies conducted by the Infant Development Project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explore the relationship between infant brain development and social interactions/stress recovery during the first year of life. The studies utilize functional MRI scans and interactive tasks with mothers to observe early neural patterns. One study finds that greater brain network connectivity at 3 months correlates with improved infant-mother dyadic flexibility at 6 months. Another study reveals that connections between brain networks play a crucial role in infants' ability to recover from stress, potentially impacting their long-term emotional regulation and mental health. These findings have implications for early mental health screening and intervention.