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SIGNIFICANCE: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a frequently used neuroimaging tool to explore the developing brain, particularly in infancy, with studies spanning from birth to toddlerhood (0 to 2 years). We provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities that the developmental fNIRS field faces, after almost 25 years of research. AIM: We discuss the most recent advances in fNIRS brain imaging with infants and outlines the trends and perspectives that will likely influence progress in the field in the near future. APPROACH: We discuss recent progress and future challenges in various areas and applications of developmental fNIRS from methodological and technological innovations to data processing and statistical approaches. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The major trends identified include uses of fNIRS "in the wild," such as global health contexts, home and community testing, and hyperscanning; advances in hardware, such as wearable technology; assessment of individual variation and developmental trajectories particularly while embedded in studies examining other environmental, health, and context specific factors and longitudinal designs; statistical advances including resting-state network and connectivity, machine learning and reproducibility, and collaborative studies. Standardization and larger studies have been, and will likely continue to be, a major goal in the field, and new data analysis techniques, statistical methods, and collaborative cross-site projects are emerging.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Associations between caregiver-infant behaviours during social interactions and brain development outcomes were investigated. • Caregivers' and infants' behaviours in interactions related to children’s structural, functional and connectivity measures. • Concurrent associations between behavioural and brain measures were apparent as early as three months postnatally. • Long-term associations between behaviours in early interactions and brain development outcomes were observed decades later. • Individual differences in early interactions and associated brain development is an important avenue for further research., From birth, interactions with others are an integral part of a person’s daily life. In infancy, social exchanges are thought to be critical for optimal brain development. This systematic review explores this association by drawing together infant studies that relate adult-infant behaviours – coded from their social interactions - to children’s brain measures collected during a neuroimaging session in infancy, childhood, adolescence or adulthood. In total, we identified 55 studies that explored associations between infants’ social interactions and neural measures. These studies show that several aspects of caregiver-infant behaviours are associated with, or predict, a variety of neural responses in infants, children and adolescents. The presence of both concurrent and long-term associations - some of which are first observed just a few months postnatally and extend into adulthood - open an important research avenue and motivate further longitudinal studies.

Beyond Bea helps support families who experience baby loss. Their resource, the ‘alternative birth bag’, provides important information to families going through this difficult experience

Executive Functions (EFs) in infancy and childhood are important predictors of later outcomes. The present study used data from a prospective longitudinal study to examine the development and predictors of EF skills among infants during the first 24-months of life. First, we evaluated the use of a tablet-based assessment to measure EFs among infants aged 18- and 24-months. We also examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between attentional disengagement, general cognitive skills and EFs. Participants (N=60, 30 female) completed the EF task at 18- and 24-months of age. Attentional disengagement and general cognitive skills were assessed at 5-, 8-, 12-, 18- and 24-months using an eye-tracking measure (the gap-overlap task) and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), respectively. The EF task demonstrated good internal consistency, sensitivity to age-related change in performance and stable individual differences. No associations were found between EF skills and MSEL scores longitudinally or concurrently. The eye-tracking task revealed that slower attentional disengagement at 8-months, but faster disengagement at 18-months, predicted better EF skills at 24-months. These findings indicate that the tablet-based assessment is a potentially useful tool for measuring emergent EFs early in infancy. The multifaceted relationship between attentional disengagement and EFs suggests that the rapid development of the attentional system in infancy results in distinct attentional skills, at different ages, being relevant for EF development. On the other hand, overt behavioural skills early in infancy do not predict EF skills.

The specialised regional functionality of the mature human cortex partly emerges through experience-dependent specialisation during early development. Our existing understanding of this process is based on evidence from unitary imaging modalities and has thus focused on isolated changes in spatial or temporal precision of neural or haemodynamic activation alone, giving an incomplete picture of the process. We speculate that neural specialisation of function will be underpinned by better coordinated haemodynamic and metabolic changes in a broader orchestrated physiological response. Thus, we present a harmonised framework in which specialisation is indexed by the emergence of coupling between neuronal activity and vascular supply of oxygen and energy. Here, we combine simultaneous measures of coordinated neural activity (EEG), metabolic rate and oxygenated blood supply (broadband near-infrared spectroscopy) to measure emerging specialisation in the infant brain. In 4-to-7-month-old infants, we show that social processing is accompanied by spatially and temporally specific increases in coupled activation in the temporal-parietal junction, a core hub region of the adult social brain. During non-social processing coupled activation decreased in the same region, indicating specificity to social processing. Coupling was strongest with high frequency brain activity (beta and gamma), consistent with the greater energetic requirements and more localised action of high frequency brain activity. We conclude that functional specialisation of the brain is a coordinated activity across neural, haemodynamic, and metabolic changes, and our ability to measure these simultaneously opens new vistas in understanding how the brain is shaped by its environment.

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, expectant parents experienced changes in the availability and uptake of both National Health Service (NHS) community and hospital-based healthcare. Objective: To examine how COVID-19 and its societal related restrictions have impacted the provision of healthcare support for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A thematic analysis using an inductive approach was undertaken using data from open-ended responses to the national COVID in Context of Pregnancy, Infancy and Parenting (CoCoPIP) Study online survey (n = 507 families). Findings: The overarching theme identified was the way in which the changes to healthcare provision increased parents’ anxiety levels, and feelings of not being supported. Five sub-themes, associated with the first wave of the pandemic, were identified: (1) rushed and/or fewer antenatal appointments, (2) lack of sympathy from healthcare workers, (3) lack of face-to-face appointments, (4) requirement to attend appointments without a partner, and (5) requirement to use PPE. A sentiment analysis, that used quantitative techniques, revealed participant responses to be predominantly negative (50.1%), with a smaller proportion of positive (21.8%) and neutral (28.1%) responses found. Conclusion: This study provides evidence indicating that the changes to healthcare services for pregnant women during the pandemic increased feelings of anxiety and have left women feeling inadequately supported. Our findings highlight the need for compensatory social and emotional support for new and expectant parents while COVID-19 related restrictions continue to impact on family life and society., BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, expectant parents experienced changes in the availability and uptake of both National Health Service (NHS) community and hospital-based healthcare. OBJECTIVE: To examine how COVID-19 and its societal related restrictions have impacted the provision of healthcare support for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: A thematic analysis using an inductive approach was undertaken using data from open-ended responses to the national COVID in Context of Pregnancy, Infancy and Parenting (CoCoPIP) Study online survey (n = 507 families). FINDINGS: The overarching theme identified was the way in which the changes to healthcare provision increased parents' anxiety levels, and feelings of not being supported. Five sub-themes, associated with the first wave of the pandemic, were identified: (1) rushed and/or fewer antenatal appointments, (2) lack of sympathy from healthcare workers, (3) lack of face-to-face appointments, (4) requirement to attend appointments without a partner, and (5) requirement to use PPE. A sentiment analysis, that used quantitative techniques, revealed participant responses to be predominantly negative (50.1%), with a smaller proportion of positive (21.8%) and neutral (28.1%) responses found. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence indicating that the changes to healthcare services for pregnant women during the pandemic increased feelings of anxiety and have left women feeling inadequately supported. Our findings highlight the need for compensatory social and emotional support for new and expectant parents while COVID-19 related restrictions continue to impact on family life and society.

Background Young children are at risk for poorly managed pain after surgery, with significant negative consequence to their quality of life and health outcomes. Mobile applications offer a highly accessible, engaging, and interactive medium to improve pain assessment and management; however, they generally lack scientific foundation or support. Aims The aims of this study were to describe a successful parent–science partnership in the development and testing of Achy Penguin, a parent-developed iOS app to help assess and manage acute pain in young children, and to evaluate and refine the usability of Achy Penguin in young children with acute postoperative pain. Methods Three cycles of iterative usability testing were conducted with 20 4- to 7-year-old children (M = 5.8 years) in hospital who had recently undergone surgery (n = 6–7 children/cycle). Semistructured qualitative interviews were analyzed using simple content analysis. Results Feedback from children and further integration of evidence-based pediatric pain knowledge led to refinements in app pain assessment and management content, as well as app flow and functionality. Changes improved children’s ease of use and understanding and satisfaction by simplifying language in app instructions and content, adding audio and pictorial instructions, and increasing the engagement, interactiveness, immersiveness, and general appeal of pain management strategies. Conclusions This article showcases the value of collaborative partnerships between various stakeholders (parents, app developers, and researcher/health care providers) to address gaps in pediatric pain care. The Achy Penguin app shows promise for improving pain assessment and management in young children, although further evaluation of app effectiveness and implementation is warranted.

This paper considers social workers’ in England understandings of the agency and choice-making of girls who are sexually exploited outside the home, by extra-familial persons. To further elicit the...

Among all the paper ephemera surviving from eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Britain, the humble Methodist ticket has attracted little attention from scholars and collectors. Issued quarterly to members as a testimonial to religious conduct, many still exist, reflecting the sheer quantity produced by 1850, and the significance of keeping practices, where Methodist habits were distinctive. This article explores first the origin and spread of tickets primarily within British Methodism, but also noting its trans-oceanic contexts. Apparently inconsequential objects, they shaped experience and knowledge, illuminating eighteenth-century religious life, female participation, and plebeian agency. Discussion then turns to patterns of saving and memorialization that from the 1740s preserved Methodists’ tickets. Such practices extended the lifecycle of the individual ticket and created the accidents of its survival, giving it new uses as an institutional resource. In recovering the dead, it acquired nostalgic value, but other capacities were lost and forgotten. The ticket's origins, uses, and preservation intersect with major historical and historiographical currents to complicate established narratives of print, urban association, and commerce, and to present alternative understandings of collecting.

Highlights • First investigation of validity of longitudinal infant channel-space fNIRS analysis. • Novel image reconstruction analysis conducted. • Variability in array position is dominant factor driving different inferences. • Channel-space fNIRS analyses robust to implicit assumptions at group-level. • Hope to encourage more widespread use of image reconstruction in infant analyses., The first 1000 days from conception to two-years of age are a critical period in brain development, and there is an increasing drive for developing technologies to help advance our understanding of neurodevelopmental processes during this time. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has enabled longitudinal infant brain function to be studied in a multitude of settings. Conventional fNIRS analyses tend to occur in the channel-space, where data from equivalent channels across individuals are combined, which implicitly assumes that head size and source-detector positions (i.e. array position) on the scalp are constant across individuals. The validity of such assumptions in longitudinal infant fNIRS analyses, where head growth is most rapid, has not previously been investigated. We employed an image reconstruction approach to analyse fNIRS data collected from a longitudinal cohort of infants in The Gambia aged 5- to 12-months. This enabled us to investigate the effect of variability in both head size and array position on the anatomical and statistical inferences drawn from the data at both the group- and the individual-level. We also sought to investigate the impact of group size on inferences drawn from the data. We found that variability in array position was the driving factor between differing inferences drawn from the data at both the individual- and group-level, but its effect was weakened as group size increased towards the full cohort size (N = 53 at 5-months, N = 40 at 8-months and N = 45 at 12-months). We conclude that, at the group sizes in our dataset, group-level channel-space analysis of longitudinal infant fNIRS data is robust to assumptions about head size and array position given the variability in these parameters in our dataset. These findings support a more widespread use of image reconstruction techniques in longitudinal infant fNIRS studies.

BackgroundExpectant parents worldwide have experienced changes in the way they give birth as a result of COVID-19, including restrictions relating to access to birthing units and the presence of birthing partners during the birth, and changes to birth plans. This paper reports the experiences of women in England.MethodsData were obtained from both closed- and open-ended responses collected as part of the national COVID in Context of Pregnancy, Infancy and Parenting (CoCoPIP) Study online survey (n = 477 families) between 15th July 2020 – 29th March 2021. Frequency data are presented alongside the results of a sentiment analysis; the open-ended data was analysed thematically.ResultsTwo-thirds of expectant women reported giving birth via spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) (66.1%) and a third via caesarean section (CS) (32.6%) or ‘other’ (1.3%). Just under half (49.7%) of the CS were reported to have been elective/planned, with 47.7% being emergencies. A third (37.4%) of participants reported having no changes to their delivery, with a further 25% reporting COVID-related changes, and 37.4% reporting non-COVID related changes (e.g., medical intervention). Experiences of COVID-related changes included limited birthing options and reduced feelings of control; difficulties accessing pain-relief and assistance, and feelings of distress and anxiety. Under half of the respondents reported not knowing whether there could be someone present at the birth (44.8%), with 2.3% of respondents reporting no birthing partner being present due to COVID-related restrictions. Parental experiences of communication and advice provided by the hospital prior to delivery were mixed, with significant stress and anxiety being reported in relation to both the fluctuating guidance and lack of certainty regarding the presence of birthing partners at the birth. The sentiment analysis revealed that participant experiences of giving birth during the pandemic were predominately negative (46.9%) particularly in relation to the first national lockdown, with a smaller proportion of positive (33.2%) and neutral responses (19.9%).ConclusionParents reported an overall increase in birthing interventions (e.g., emergency CS), increased uncertainties related to the birth, and poor communication, leading to increased feelings of anxiety and high levels of negative emotions. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Background Expectant parents worldwide have experienced changes in the way they give birth as a result of COVID-19, including restrictions relating to access to birthing units and the presence of birthing partners during the birth, and changes to birth plans. This paper reports the experiences of women in England. Methods Data were obtained from both closed- and open-ended responses collected as part of the national COVID in Context of Pregnancy, Infancy and Parenting (CoCoPIP) Study online survey (n = 477 families) between 15th July 2020 – 29th March 2021. Frequency data are presented alongside the results of a sentiment analysis; the open-ended data was analysed thematically. Results Two-thirds of expectant women reported giving birth via spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) (66.1%) and a third via caesarean section (CS) (32.6%) or ‘other’ (1.3%). Just under half (49.7%) of the CS were reported to have been elective/planned, with 47.7% being emergencies. A third (37.4%) of participants reported having no changes to their birth (as set out in their birthing plan), with a further 25% reporting COVID-related changes, and 37.4% reporting non-COVID related changes (e.g., changes as a result of birthing complications). One quarter of the sample reported COVID-related changes to their birth plan, including limited birthing options and reduced feelings of control; difficulties accessing pain-relief and assistance, and feelings of distress and anxiety. Under half of the respondents reported not knowing whether there could be someone present at the birth (44.8%), with 2.3% of respondents reporting no birthing partner being present due to COVID-related restrictions. Parental experiences of communication and advice provided by the hospital prior to delivery were mixed, with significant stress and anxiety being reported in relation to both the fluctuating guidance and lack of certainty regarding the presence of birthing partners at the birth. The sentiment analysis revealed that participant experiences of giving birth during the pandemic were predominately negative (46.9%) particularly in relation to the first national lockdown, with a smaller proportion of positive (33.2%) and neutral responses (19.9%). Conclusion The proportion of parents reporting birthing interventions (i.e., emergency CS) was higher than previously reported, as were uncertainties related to the birth, and poor communication, leading to increased feelings of anxiety and high levels of negative emotions. The implications of these findings are discussed.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationship between iron status in early infancy (1–5 months) and longitudinal trajectories of cognitive development (5–18 months) in a cohort of infants from rural Gambia. METHODS: This study used data from the Brain Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT) study, which recruited pregnant women (n = 223) and followed up mothers and their children to 18 months of age (n = 191). Infant blood samples collected at 1 and 5 months of age were analysed for soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and ferritin using a COBAS INTEGRA 400 (Roche). Cognitive development was measured at 5, 8, 12 and 18 months of age using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and an eye tracking measure of attentional flexibility (disengagement time). For each outcome measure, mixed effects models of individual developmental trajectories from 5–18 months of age were developed. Each model had a different measure of iron status as the primary exposure (ferritin or sTfR at 1 or 5 months of age) and was adjusted for confounding factors. RESULTS: Prevalence of iron deficiency (ferritin 5mg/L) increased from 0% to 29.5% between 1 and 5 months of age. In mixed effects models, a -1mg/L difference in sTfR (indicating better iron status) at 1 month of age was associated as with a 31.2ms difference in disengagement time (SE = 13.1, p = 0.017) at each time point from 5–18 months of age, but was not associated with MSEL developmental trajectory. A -1mg/L difference in sTfR at 5 months of age associated with a 0.6 point difference in MSEL score from 5–18 months of age (SE = 0.180, p = 0.001) and a 10.6ms difference in disengagement time (SE = 4.8, p = 0.028) across the same period. There was no relationship between ferritin concentration at 1 or 5 months and trajectories of either MSEL or disengagement time (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Infants under 6 months of age in rural Gambia are at risk of iron deficiency. Poor iron status in early infancy, measured by sTfR but not ferritin, is associated with both global cognition and a specific measure of attentional flexibility, from 5–18 months of age. Maintenance of adequate iron in infants up to 6 months of age may benefit the developing brain. FUNDING SOURCES: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Medical Research Council (UK).

IntroductionWhile the secondary impact of the COVID pandemic on the psychological wellbeing of pregnant women and parents has become apparent over the past year, the impact of these changes on early social interactions, physical growth and cognitive development of their infants is unknown, as is the way in which a range of COVID related changes have mediated this impact. This study (CoCoPIP) will investigate: i) how parent’s experiences of the social, medical, and financial changes during the pandemic have impacted pre and postnatal parental mental health and parent-infant social interaction; and (ii) the extent to which these COVID-related changes in parental pre and postnatal mental health and social interaction are associated with fetal and infant development.Methods and analysisThe CoCoPIP study is a national online survey initiated in July 2020. This ongoing study (n = 1700 families currently enrolled as of 6th May 2021) involves both quantitative and qualitative data being collected across pregnancy and infancy. It is designed to identify the longitudinal impact of the pandemic from pregnancy to two years of age, with the aim of identifying if stress-associated moderators (i.e., loss of income, COVID-19 illness, access to ante/postnatal support) impact parental mental health, and in turn, infant development. In addition, we aim to document individual differences in social and cognitive development in toddlers who were born during restrictions intended to mitigate COVID-19 spread (e.g., social distancing, national lockdowns).Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was given by the University of Cambridge, Psychology Research Ethics Committee (PREC) (PRE.2020.077). Findings will be made available via community engagement, public forums (e.g., social media,) and to national (e.g., NHS England) and local (Cambridge Universities Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) healthcare partners. Results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviews journals.Strengths and Limitations of this study‐This is a new cohort of families being followed from prenatal to postnatal (up to 18 months) during the COVID-19 pandemic.‐The study involves the collection of quantifiable data to identify the short- and long-term influences of the pandemic on key aspects of infant development.‐The study also has a range of open-ended questions for qualitative analysis aimed at exploring familial experiences in more detail.‐The data is being collected online and is therefore limited to self- and parent-report measures, with no direct assessment of child development and parental mental health.‐Although the sample of families being recruited are diverse in their indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) and geographic location, they may not be fully representative of the wider population.

Studies of cortical function in the awake infant are extremely challenging to undertake with traditional neuroimaging approaches. Partly in response to this challenge, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has become increasingly common in developmental neuroscience, but has significant limitations including resolution, spatial specificity and ergonomics. In adults, high-density arrays of near-infrared sources and detectors have recently been shown to yield dramatic improvements in spatial resolution and specificity when compared to typical fNIRS approaches. However, most existing fNIRS devices only permit the acquisition of ~20–100 sparsely distributed fNIRS channels, and increasing the number of optodes presents significant mechanical challenges, particularly for infant applications. A new generation of wearable, modular, high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) technologies has recently emerged that overcomes many of the limitations of traditional, fibre-based and low-density fNIRS measurements. Driven by the development of this new technology, we have undertaken the first study of the infant brain using wearable HD-DOT. Using a well-established social stimulus paradigm, and combining this new imaging technology with advances in cap design and spatial registration, we show that it is now possible to obtain high-quality, functional images of the infant brain with minimal constraints on either the environment or on the infant participants. Our results are consistent with prior low-density fNIRS measures based on similar paradigms, but demonstrate superior spatial localization, improved depth specificity, higher SNR and a dramatic improvement in the consistency of the responses across participants. Our data retention rates also demonstrate that this new generation of wearable technology is well tolerated by the infant population.

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides an essential bridge between our knowledge of adult human brain function and our current understanding of the developing brain. The capacity for fNIRS to provide localized measures of functional activation within awake and mobile infants, combined with a low set-up time and high tolerance to movement, far outweigh the limitations of fNIRS. To date, fNIRS has been applied to the study of object processing, social cognition, language, attention, learning and memory, functional connectivity, and recently to social and affective touch. Furthermore, it has been adopted by researchers targeting specific developmental populations including developmental disorders, cochlear implants and hearing loss, prematurity, and global health environmental and psychosocial risk factors. As fNIRS research continues to rapidly expand, it is paramount that the interpretation of, and subsequent claims arising from, fNIRS data are informed by a clear understanding of the complexities of fNIRS measurements.

We aimed to determine the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) distraction for children with cancer undergoing subcutaneous port (SCP) access. We also aimed to estimate preliminary treatment effects of VR compared with an active distraction control (iPad).A single-site pilot randomized controlled trial comparing VR to iPad distraction was conducted. Eligible children and adolescents were aged 8 to 18 years undergoing treatment for cancer with upcoming SCP needle insertions. Intervention acceptability was evaluated by child, parent, and nurse self-report. Preliminary effectiveness outcomes included child-reported pain intensity, distress, and fear. Preliminary effectiveness was determined using logistic regression models with outcomes compared between groups using preprocedure scores as covariates.Twenty participants (mean age 12 y) were randomized to each group. The most common diagnosis was acute lymphocytic leukemia (n=23, 58%). Most eligible children and adolescents (62%) participated, and 1 withdrew after randomization to the iPad group. Nurses, parents, and children reported the interventions in both groups to be acceptable, with the VR participants reporting significantly higher immersion in the distraction environment (P=0.0318). Although not statistically significant, more VR group participants indicated no pain (65% vs. 45%) and no distress (80% vs. 47%) during the procedure compared with the iPad group. Fear was similar across groups, with ~60% of the sample indicating no fear.VR was feasible and acceptable to implement as an intervention during SCP access. Preliminary effectiveness results indicate that VR may reduce distress and distress compared with iPad distraction. These data will inform design of a future full-scale randomized controlled trial.

Preliminary evidence suggests that changes in DNA methylation, a widely studied epigenetic mechanism, contribute to the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, data is primarily derived from post-mortem brain samples or peripheral tissue from adults. Deep-phenotyped longitudinal infant cohorts are essential to understand how epigenetic modifications relate to early developmental trajectories and emergence of ASD symptoms. We present a proof-of-principle study designed to evaluate the potential of prospective epigenetic studies of infant siblings of children with ASD. \ud \ud Illumina genome-wide 450K DNA methylation data from buccal swabs was generated for 63 male infants at multiple time-points from 8 months to 2 years of age (total N=107 samples). 11 of those infants received a diagnosis of ASD at 3 years. We conducted a series of analyses to characterize DNA methylation signatures associated with categorical outcome and neurocognitive measures from parent-report questionnaire, eye-tracking and electro-encephalography. \ud \ud Effects observed across the entire genome (epigenome-wide association analyses) suggest that collecting DNA methylation samples within infant-sibling designs allows for the detection of meaningful signals with smaller sample sizes than previously estimated. Mapping networks of co-methylated probes associated with neural correlates of social attention implicated enrichment of pathways involved in brain development. Longitudinal modelling found covariation between phenotypic traits and DNA methylation levels in the proximity of genes previously associated with cognitive development, although larger samples and more complete datasets are needed to obtain generalizable results.\ud \ud In conclusion, assessment of DNA methylation profiles at multiple time-points in infant-sibling designs is a promising avenue to comprehend developmental origins and mechanisms of ASD.

Introduction Infants and children in low- and middle-income countries are frequently exposed to a range of poverty-related risk factors, increasing their likelihood of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. There is a need for culturally objective markers, which can be used to study infants from birth, thereby enabling early identification and ultimately intervention during a critical time of neurodevelopment. Method In this paper, we investigate developmental changes in auditory event related potentials (ERP) associated with habituation and novelty detection in infants between 1 and 5 months living in the United Kingdom and The Gambia, West Africa. Previous research reports that whereas newborns’ ERP responses are increased when presented with stimuli of higher intensity, this sensory driven response decreases over the first few months of life, giving rise to a cognitively driven, novelty-based response. Anthropometric measures were obtained concurrently with the ERP measures at 1 and 5 months of age. Neurodevelopmental outcome was measured using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) at 5 months of age. Results The described developmental change was observed in the UK cohort, who exhibited an intensity-based response at 1 month and a novelty-based response at 5 months of age. This change was accompanied by greater habituation to stimulus intensity at 5 compared to 1 month. In the Gambian cohort we did not see a change from an intensity-to a novelty-based response, and no change in habituation to stimulus intensity across the two age points. The degree of change from an intensity towards a novelty-based response was further found to be associated with MSEL scores at 5 months of infant age, whereas infants’ growth between 1 and 5 months was not. Discussion Our study highlights the utility of ERP-based markers to study young infants in rural Africa. By implementing a well-established paradigm in a previously understudied population we have demonstrated its use as a culturally objective tool to better understand early learning in diverse settings world-wide. Results offer insight into the neurodevelopmental processes underpinning early neurocognitive development, which may in the future contribute to early identification of infants at heightened risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome., Highlights • Infants in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of poor cognitive outcomes. • There is a need for objective markers of infant brain development across settings. • We measured infants' event related potentials at 1–5 month in the UK and The Gambia. • Results show attenuated habituation and novelty responses in the Gambian cohort. • ERP P3, but not growth measures, were associated with neurodevelopment at 5 months.

Data analysis methods for infant fNIRS data in global health are not standardised yet. This work proposes an analysis pipeline that improves the quality of the recovered HRF for use by other researchers in this field.

Over the past 25 years, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a valuable tool to study brain function, and it is in younger participants where it has found, arguably, its most successful application. Thanks to its infant-friendly features, the technology has helped shape research in the neurocognitive development field by contributing to our understanding of the neural underpinnings of sensory perception and socio-cognitive skills. Furthermore, it has provided avenues of exploration for markers of compromised brain development. Advances in fNIRS instrumentation and methods have enabled the next step in the evolution of its applications including the investigation of the effects of complex and interacting socio-economic and environmental adversities on brain development. To do this, it is necessary to take fNIRS out of well-resourced research labs (the majority located in high-income countries) to study at-risk populations in resource-poor settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Here we review the use of this technology in global health studies, we discuss the implementation of fNIRS studies in LMICs with a particular emphasis on the Brain Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT) project, and we consider its potential in this emerging field.

Children living in low‐resource settings are at risk for failing to reach their developmental potential. While the behavioral outcomes of growing up in such settings are well‐known, the neural mechanisms underpinning poor outcomes have not been well elucidated, particularly in the context of low‐ and middle‐income countries. In this study, we measure brain metabolic responses to social and nonsocial stimuli in a cohort of 6‐ and 36‐month‐old Bangladeshi children. Study participants in both cohorts lived in an urban slum and were exposed to a broad range of adversity early in life including extreme poverty, malnutrition, recurrent infections, and low maternal education. We observed brain regions that responded selectively to social stimuli in both ages indicating that these specialized brain responses are online from an early age. We additionally show that the magnitude of the socially selective response is related to maternal education, maternal stress, and the caregiving environment. Ultimately our results suggest that a variety of psychosocial hazards have a measurable relationship with the developing social brain.