Khula LEAP 

The PINE Lab, along with an international team of co-investigators and researchers, are collaborating on this project to investigate the neurodevelopment of sensory, language, executive function, and early academic skills over the first 4+ years of life in South Africa. We will use both MRI and EEG to identify the environmental, family, and biological factors that promote healthy development and the sensitive windows for intervention. Some core questions that this study aims to address are: What are the neurodevelopmental pathways linking sensory, language, executive function, and academic skills across infancy and early childhood? What are the scalable brain markers of healthy, at-risk, and resilient neurodevelopment? How do early experiences, microbiome composition/activity, sleep, and other interventive factors, shape early brain markers? We aim to use the findings of this study to develop culturally specific interventions that can promote healthy brain development.