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SUMMARY:Shedding light on infant brain and cognitive development in Africa
 : The BRIGHT Project - Dr Sarah Lloyd-Fox\, Centre for Brain and Cognitive
  Development\, Birkbeck\, University of London\, Affiliated Lecturer\, Dep
 artment of Psychology\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20190517T110000Z
DTEND:20190517T123000Z
UID:TALK121183@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Louise White
DESCRIPTION:The first 1000 days of life  (from conception to two years of 
 age) are a critical window of vulnerability to exposure to socio-economic 
 and health challenges (i.e. poverty/undernutrition). While only a fraction
  of our lifespan\, it is characterised by prodigious physiological\, psych
 ological and physical change. Studies suggest that the presence of these r
 isk factors in infancy has a lasting impact throughout the life course\, h
 owever almost nothing is known about the neural bases of these early defic
 its. We have established a prospective longitudinal study (Brain Imaging f
 or Global Health: BRIGHT Project) to chart early neurocognitive trajectori
 es of brain development and behaviour at two parallel sites\, in the UK an
 d The Gambia. During the first two years of life\, infants partake in a se
 ries of neurocognitive fNIRS\, EEG\, eye-tracking and behavioural assessme
 nts. In this talk I will highlight some of the key milestones\, challenges
  and emerging findings from this work to date. \n\nBio\n\nSarah Lloyd-Fox 
 is a Research Fellow at Birkbeck\, University of London\, an Honorary Rese
 arch Associate at UCL and has recently become an Affiliated Lecturer at th
 e University of Cambridge. Lloyd-Fox received a PhD in developmental cogni
 tive neuroscience from Birkbeck\, University of London in 2011. After a po
 st-doc at the Central European University in Budapest\, she returned to Bi
 rkbeck as a part time postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on the
  investigation of core early cognitive and neural mechanisms in infancy: i
 n particular through the optimisation and application of functional Near I
 nfrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study infant brain development. She is cur
 rently investigating how individual differences in neurodevelopmental traj
 ectories associate with factors such as increased familial likelihood for 
 developmental disorders (i.e. autism) and poverty associated challenges (i
 .e. undernutrition)\, with a major focus in developing field friendly neur
 oimaging and behavioural toolkits for use in low-income settings in the UK
 \, Africa and Asia (www.globalfnirs.org/the-bright-project). Lloyd-Fox’s
  work has garnered awards and funding\, including an Association for Psych
 ological Sciences Rising Star Award\, the early career Wiley Prize in Psyc
 hology from the British Academy and grant funding from the Bill and Melind
 a Gates Foundation. \n\n
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of Psychology
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