Illinois Kids Development Study

Andréa Aguiar, PhD.Developmental Psychologist

IKIDS Director

• Bisphenol A (BPA) - mimic estrogen

• Phthalates – reduce testosterone

***Both chemicals could interfere with development of the reproductive tract and brain.***

Pregnant Women Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors

Q1: Does prenatal exposure to these chemicals affect children’s cognition?

Q2: Can we develop assessment tools that will allow us to identify risk for problems at a very early age?

BPA is in:

could

X

X

July, 2012

Phthalates are in:

• Personal care & household products, cosmetics, nail polish and perfumes; some food packaging.

• Coating of some Rx, medical devices, PVC foam, PVC pipes

The Study Pregnant women recruited at Ob-Gyn Clinics in early

pregnancy.

180 enrolled in Phase 1; 600 being recruited for Phase 2

Urine samples collected through pregnancy to measure exposure to chemicals.

Babies’ memory and attention measured 18 – 48 hrs after birth, at hospital.

160 newborns in Phase 1; 500 newborns expected in Phase 2

Children’s cognition assessed at IKIDS lab at ages: 4 months, 7 months, 3 years, and 5 years.

140 children in Phase 1 are reaching age 3 years.

500 children in Phase 2 will begin being born in June 2014.

BIRTH: Attention and memory are measured. At the hospital nursery, the newborn is placed in a bassinet (A) centered below a computer screen (B) that displays pairs of photographs of faces. A video camera (C) records the baby’s face during the test.

A

B C

A researcher controls the presentation of the photos (A) via a computer and monitors the infant’s eye movements via a TV monitor (B). To test their memory, infants are first familiarized to a pair of identical faces (A).

A

B

Next, the familiar face is paired with a novel face in two test trials (A). If infants remember the familiar face, they should look longer at the novel face. We want to see if exposure to BPA and phthalates affects newborns’ memory.

A

Later in the research lab, the video of the newborn’s test session is analyzed frame by frame to code the length and direction of all visual fixations.

DEMO VIDEO

7-8 months of age: Infants return to our research lab and their memory for faces is again assessed. They sit on their caregiver’s lap and watch pairs of black and white photos of faces in a computer screen (A). A hidden camera (B) records the infant’s face during this task.

B

A

Video7-Month Demo Video

We could use help with…

• Data to be collected (~ 500 newborns, ~ 350 3 y olds)

– Video capture:

• Portable, better quality, synchronized operation of camera & testing software, simultaneous recording of infant face & stimuli presentation,

– Coding of videos:

• Automatized (eye tracker?)

• more precise (left picture vs. right picture top vs. bottom of picture)

• More Info: aaguiar@illinois.edu http://vetmed.illinois.edu/ikids/