# Prenatal Environmental Mixtures, Cognitive Control and Reward Processes, And Risk for Psychiatric Problems in Adolescence.

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $547,647

## Abstract

In utero exposure to environmental chemicals can disturb neurobehavioral development in both animals and in
humans. The pathways linking in utero environmental exposures to neurobehavioral development likely involve
exposure-induced changes in the function of neural circuits that support cognitive control and reward
processes. We hypothesize that changes in the function of these circuits may act as a pathway between
environmental exposure and a range of maladaptive behaviors that commonly emerge in late childhood and
adolescence, a period that has been largely understudied with respect to the effects of prenatal exposures on
neurodevelopmental outcomes. Such behavioral symptoms include attention problems, substance abuse, and
psychotic experiences. This study will: 1) apply novel pattern recognition approaches to identify specific
exposure profiles of complex high-dimensional mixtures of prenatal chemical and social exposures and
examine how these profiles explain variation in risk for these behavioral symptoms in adolescence; 2) use task
and resting state functional MRI (fMRI) to identify how distinct exposure profiles affect circuits that support
cognitive control and reinforcement learning; and 3) explore if exposure-induced changes in brain activation
and connectivity mediate associations between prenatal exposure profiles and behavioral symptoms in
adolescence.
Impact: This R01 will integrate advanced pattern recognition methods, a cognitive neuroscience approach and
state-of-the-art fMRI techniques to explore brain pathways through which prenatal exposures alter behavior later
in adolescence. We will explore circuit-based changes in brain function that may mediate associations between
prenatal exposure profiles and symptoms of psychiatric disorders that typically emerge and co-occur in
adolescence. By simultaneously studying mixtures of chemical and social stressors as well as profiles of co-
occurring symptoms, we will greatly enhance our ability to comprehensively characterize the complex impacts
of prenatal environmental exposures on behavioral symptoms in adolescence. Our findings will allow public
health interventions to improve the quality of children's perinatal environment and the development of novel
circuit-specific intervention tools.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10473871
- **Project number:** 5R01ES032296-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** AMY MARGOLIS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $547,647
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10473871

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10473871, Prenatal Environmental Mixtures, Cognitive Control and Reward Processes, And Risk for Psychiatric Problems in Adolescence. (5R01ES032296-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10473871. Licensed CC0.

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