Building upon my undergraduate study in biology, I combine the study of biological underpinnings with social and environmental factors to predict child neurodevelopment in my research. Alongside Dr. Yoko Nomura at the Stress in Pregnancy Lab, I have so far examined the magnitude of Superstorm Sandy, antenatal depression, and other maternal stress effects on gene expression in the placenta and child temperament. Currently, my interest revolves around mother-child coregulation.

Project

The real-time co-occurring of responses in mothers and their children, a process labeled coregulation, is a scaffolding instrument for a child’s self-regulation development during early childhood. Coregulation has been linked to better developmental outcomes, including lower rate of substance use; however, investigation of the biological antecedents of coregulation has been inadequate. Oxytocin has been found to be essential in mother-child relations ranging from childbirth to caregiving behavior, while the placenta, a mediating organ between the fetus and the mother, has been shown to have an impact on development post birth. Therefore, building on an established longitudinal study of child development with available assayed gene expression data from the mothers’ placentas, I plan to evaluate whether oxytocin placental gene expressions predict greater coregulation of rhythmic heart oscillations at a child’s 2nd birthday.

Research shows that high capacity for self-regulation is associated with fewer problems across lifespan, from better academic achievement to fewer criminal transgressions and lower rates of substance use (Moffitt et al., 2011). Early self-regulation is learned from healthy mother-child “coregulation.” Newborns rely entirely on their caregivers to be soothed when stressed; however, each arousing situation they encounter, whether pleasurable or discomforting, presents an opportunity for them to learn how to self-regulate by attuning to a caregiver’s responses (Feldman, 2007). Despite the importance of the biological antecedents of coregulation, this area has been understudied to date.

Using as my foundation the established longitudinal study I work on at the Stress in Pregnancy Lab at Queens College (CUNY), for which mothers were recruited from prenatal clinics in metropolitan New York and then followed annually until their child’s 5^th birthday, I will draw upon previously collected data to learn about the potential origins of mother-child coregulation.

I am interested in how oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene expression from the placenta may be explanatory of future coregulation. Oxytocin, dubbed the “love” hormone, has been found to be essential in mother-child relations ranging from childbirth to caregiving behavior, while the placenta, a mediating organ between the fetus and the mother, has been shown to have an impact on development post birth (Bronson & Bale, 2015; Feldman, Weller, Zagoorny-Sharon, & Levine, 2007). Placental tissue was previously collected as part of the study, and oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene expressions have been assayed.

One approach to examining mother and child coregulation is recording their rhythmic heart oscillations. In the original study, this data was collected from mothers and their children when both were engaged in the same task. Their heart responses were recorded throughout and I have prepared for analysis the assessment made at the children’s 2^nd birthday. Momentary oxytocin levels affect mother-child coregulation. SIP Lab collected saliva to ascertain oxytocin levels present at the time of heart recordings, and I have secured a laboratory to perform this analysis.

This project comprises the core of my dissertation, and the next steps will be to: 1) evaluate how mother-child coregulation and oxytocin genes expression predict child development in my sample of mother-child dyads, and 2) focus on explaining the variability of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene expression in the placenta.

References:

Bronson, S. L., & Bale, T. L. (2015). The Placenta as a Mediator of Stress Effects on Neurodevelopmental Reprogramming. Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews, 41, 207–218. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.231

Feldman, R. (2007). Parent – infant synchrony and the construction of shared timing ; physiological precursors , developmental outcomes , and risk conditions, 4, 329–354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01701.x

Feldman, R., Weller, A., Zagoorny-Sharon, O., & Levine, A. (2007). Evidence for a neuroendocrinological foundation of human affiliation. Psychological Science, 18(11), 965–970. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02010.x

Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., … Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693–2698. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010076108