# Fragmented early-life experiences, aberrant circuit maturation, emotional vulnerabilities

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2021 · $475,261

## Abstract

Project 3, integrated with the Center, investigates the processes and mechanisms by which a novel type of
early adversity influences the development of psychopathology. Early adversity is one of the strongest and
most widely reproduced determinants of subsequent mental illness. Novel findings from the current Center
award period identify fragmented and unpredictable early life experiences (FRAG), especially unpredictable
maternal signals, as altering trajectories of brain circuit maturation and influencing subsequent mental health.
In addition to several emotional and cognitive consequences, we recently discovered anhedonia, a
transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, as resulting from exposure to FRAG. Project 3 will capitalize
on a carefully characterized longitudinal cohort followed from early fetal life through adolescence, coupled with
cutting-edge longitudinal neuroimaging techniques and computational network analyses and recently validated
novel assessment tools to uncover the mechanisms by which unpredictable prenatal and postnatal maternal
and environmental signals influence neurodevelopmental trajectories and underlying circuit development that
contribute to mental health through young adulthood. Sex-specific susceptibilities to the effects of early-life
FRAG on trajectories of neural circuit maturation and emotional and cognitive functions will be addressed in all
3 Aims. With Projects 1, 2, 4 and the BCDM and Imaging Cores, we will determine the consequences of
early-life FRAG on neural circuits and behavioral trajectories that predict psychopathology with an emphasis on
anhedonia during adolescence and young adulthood.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10186817
- **Project number:** 5P50MH096889-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Elysia Poggi Davis
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $475,261
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-06-17 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10186817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10186817, Fragmented early-life experiences, aberrant circuit maturation, emotional vulnerabilities (5P50MH096889-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10186817. Licensed CC0.

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