Study Overview

Why is the study called the 'Nurture Study'?

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The word “nurture” reflects our commitment to understanding and supporting early development during one of the most important periods of life. Babies grow and change rapidly in their first years, and every interaction, experience, and relationship plays a role in shaping development.

Our goal is to learn more about these early stages so that we can better support children and families in the future.

 

Our Nurture Study is a collaboration between Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University. This study aims to deepen our understanding of infant development by following your baby for the first three years of their life, with a focus on children who have a family history of autism, as they are at an elevated likelihood of developing autism.

 

As part of the study, your baby may participate in:

• Clinical assessments to evaluate their social, cognitive, and motor skill development through engaging in play-based activities.

• Eye-tracking visits to examine how your baby responds to various stimuli in their environment.

• Noninvasive MRI to measure brain growth

• Noninvasive EEG to measure of brain activity while interacting with caregivers

• Recordings made in your home to explore language development.

 

Clinical assessment, eye tracking and EEG study visits will take place at the Marcus Autism Center and MRI visits take place at our imaging center at Emory University. We will do our best to accommodate your schedule for all visits and free childcare for siblings is available.

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Families who participate will be compensated for their time and will be able to receive feedback on their baby’s development and referrals to services as needed. Interested families can feel free to check out our recruitment tab here and a member of the recruitment team will follow up with you.