Body-Brain Center Project

Mother-Child Play Study

The Mother-Child Play Study investigates social interactions between a mother and her child and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Early difficulties in behavioral self-regulation may lead to problems in emotional, cognitive, and social development. This study examines the important underlying neural mechanisms that enable and maintain self-regulation and self-soothing by measuring heart rate, respiration, and behavioral activity in mother and child. The study includes infants and toddlers ages 3 to 42 months. The cross-sectional design allows the evaluation of changes in self-regulation mechanisms that occur as the child develops. To date, no study of this scale has measured neurophysiological reactivity in both a mother and her child to understand the bi-directional interaction between the two.