The effects of psychosocial risks/intervention and neuropsychiatric symptoms on social functioning and neural networks in Brazilian infants, children, and young people

• Grant number: 17/17718-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: February 26, 2018
• End date: February 25, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Eurípedes Constantino Miguel Filho
• Grantee: Eurípedes Constantino Miguel Filho
• Visiting researcher: Elizabeth Shephard
• Visiting researcher institution: King's College London, England
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50917-0 - INCT 2014: developmental psychiatry for children and adolescents, AP.TEM

Abstract

The proposed visiting researcher grant will support research activities of Dr. Elizabeth Shephard from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, King's College London, to be conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo with the host Professor Euripedes Constantino Miguel. Dr. Shephard has expertise in using cognitive neuroscience techniques to study neural and cognitive mechanisms involved in neurodevelopmental disorders, and in mapping risk pathways to neurodevelopmental disorders via longitudinal studies of children with familial or genetic risk. During the 12 months (26/02/2018 - 25/02/2019) of the grant, Dr. Shephard will analyze data from FAPESP-funded projects, including the National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry (INDP-II), applying her techniques to address three related questions about neurodevelopment in Brazilian infants, children, and young people: 1) Which cognitive factors mediate the relationship between exposure to family violence and conflict and the development of children's social functioning? 2) How is the developmental trajectory of infant neurocognitive risk-markers for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder influenced by socioeconomic depravation and parenting intervention? 3) Can abnormalities in neural habituation and hyper connectivity explain some of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder? Dr. Shephard's visit is in line with one of the key goals of the USP Department of Psychiatry and the INDP-II - to increase internationalization of developmental psychiatry research in São Paulo by exchange of researchers with other leading institutions around the world. In addition to providing analytical support to the research projects, she will give lectures and workshops in using neurophysiology to understand neuropsychiatric disorders, and participate in the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Program (PROTOC) at USP, assisting with the development of new research proposals. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SHEPHARD, ELIZABETH; FATORI, DANIEL; MAURO, LARISSA REZENDE; DE MEDEIROS FILHO, V, MAURO; HOEXTER, MARCELO Q.; CHIESA, ANNA M.; FRACOLLI, LISLAINE A.; BRENTANI, HELENA; FERRARO, ALEXANDRE A.; NELSON, III, CHARLES A.; et al. Effects of Maternal Psychopathology and Education Level on Neurocognitive Development in Infants of Adolescent Mothers Living in Poverty in Brazil. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING, v. 4, n. 10, p. 925-934, OCT 2019. (16/22455-8, 17/17718-2)