# From neighborhood disadvantage to antisocial behavior: Neurobiological pathways

> **NIH NIH R01** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $76,748

## Abstract

Decades of research have highlighted the damaging effects of disadvantaged neighborhood contexts on later
health outcomes, including youth antisocial behaviors (ASB) such as assault, theft, and vandalism. Although
few would now contest the behavioral sequelae of neighborhood disadvantage, the mechanism(s) driving
these effects are as yet unclear. A major focus of the parent grant is to understand how social processes in the
home (parenting) and physical processes in the environment (toxicants) undermine brain development (across
structure and function). The current supplement application aims to deepen the focus of this study on the
social processes in the neighborhood that affect the activation of the amygdala and broader corticolimbic circuit
– a critical neural regions for the initiation and regulation of the stress response. By examining social factors in
the neighborhood (lack of social cohesion, exposure to violence) that may undermine the development of
stress-related neural functioning, the proposed supplement will use a genetically-informed developmental
neuroscience approach to understand how the broader social context outside of the home may undermine
development. Through the use of a twin sample, the proposed project will leverage twin differences to identify
causal mechanisms affecting brain development. Moreover, through this project, a PhD student will gain
cutting-edge, interdisciplinary training in functional neuroimaging, behavior genetics, and neighborhood effects,
in a way that will continue her strong academic trajectory and uniquely position her for a novel, research
focused career with training well outside of the typical course of study. This training will position this student
well for future funding (F, K, R series) by establishing her skills across multiple disciplines. Thus the proposed
study will enhance the Aims of the parent grant, while providing unique training for a talented junior researcher
who will add diversity to the scientific community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10015409
- **Project number:** 3R01HD093334-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** S. Alexandra Burt
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $76,748
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-08-18 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10015409

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10015409, From neighborhood disadvantage to antisocial behavior: Neurobiological pathways (3R01HD093334-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10015409. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*