# Examining Prenatal Inflammation and Neurodevelopment in a Longitudinal Fetal-to-Age 9 Imaging Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $828,594

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The association between early inflammation and altered child neurobehavioral development is indisputable, but
understanding of neurological phenomena underlying this association is almost entirely lacking. Studies in
animals suggest that, even before birth, inflammation acts on developing neural connections to alter the course
of development. However, these critical associations remain to be tested in the human brain. Here, we will
examine prenatal inflammation, fetal neural programming effects, and child neurodevelopment in a unified
framework. We will leverage an existing longitudinal cohort to evaluate whether inflammation in the prenatal
period exerts influence over the developing fetal neural connectome, and subsequently increases risk for
childhood disorders. We will pair advances in fetal resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) MRI with
innovations in tooth-biomarker assays to address prenatal neural-immune interactions, and using advanced
modeling techniques will rigorously investigate protective and resilience factors in early life that mitigate
maladaptive childhood outcomes. To achieve these objectives, we will attain deciduous tooth samples from
children enrolled in a longitudinal neurodevelopmental protocol that included fetal brain RSFC MRI. A new
wave of data collection, partially harmonized with the NIH’s Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD)
study protocol, will be conducted at age 9 and will include MRI on the same scanner used prenatally. In these
participants, associations between fetal systemic inflammation, fetal brain functional connectivity, and child
neurobehavioral development will be examined. Our technique involves high temporal resolution sampling of
five inflammatory markers, C reactive protein, Interleukin (IL) 1, 6, 10, TNF-a, across post conception week 15
through postnatal week 12, enabling isolation of sensitive periods and interactive effects. The primary aims of
this project are to (i) identify fetal brain connectome abnormalities associated with heightened prenatal
inflammation, (ii) characterize long-term brain and behavioral consequences of heightened prenatal
inflammation, and (iii) isolate protective factors in the postnatal environment that predict advantageous long-
term outcomes. We will thus be able to meaningfully evaluate whether and how prenatal inflammatory events
affect functional neurocircuitry of the developing fetal brain, and the long-term neurobehavioral consequences
of those associations. Such work would constitute a substantial advance in our understanding of not only the
long-term effects of prenatal inflammation, but also the origins of child neurological disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9943610
- **Project number:** 1R01MH122447-01
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTOPHER J TRENTACOSTA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $828,594
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-14 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9943610

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9943610, Examining Prenatal Inflammation and Neurodevelopment in a Longitudinal Fetal-to-Age 9 Imaging Study (1R01MH122447-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9943610. Licensed CC0.

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