Current Studies

TrND Lab Projects

Maternal Serotonin and Neurodevelopment

Multiple factors of the uterine environment, such as nutritional status or inflammation, impact fetal development. The goal of this project is to examine the relationship between maternal serotonin levels and offspring neurodevelopment, both structural and behavioral/cognitive. We use rodent models to determine the level of access of the fetus to maternal peripheral serotonin across gestation.

In collaboration with the Safe Passage Study, we are exploring the relationships between maternal whole blood serotonin levels, placenta serotonin levels, and cord blood serotonin levels, as well as the relationships between these and offspring behavioral outcomes in a normative population. In collaboration with the MYRNA study, we will examine the relationship between maternal whole blood serotonin levels and placenta function, as well as maternal serotonin levels and offspring outcomes, including MRI and measures of social and repetitive behaviors in a normative. We are additionally exploring the relationship between maternal, paternal, and offspring serotonin levels and offspring outcomes and polygenic risk for autism in an autistic population.

The Juvenile Social Brain

Graphic examining the social reinforcement, sociability, social memory, dominance, and aggression expressed by juvenile mice.

The juvenile period is a sensitive time for the development of social skills and cognitive behaviors and many factors influence this development. The goal of this project is to understand the influence of peer social interactions on tuning the neural circuitry underlying social behaviors and to determine what happens when neural circuit activity is uncoupled from typical social interactions. Techniques used with this longitudinal study include rodent behavioral assessments, evaluation of neural circuit activation (cFos, network analyses), and chemogenetics.

Developing Multiple Memory Systems

The brain has the capacity to use different strategies to solve problems depending on the cues present or the amount of training involved in learning a task. The goal of this project is to understand the neural changes that occur in multiple memory systems as animals learn to perform tasks. Of particular interest is how changes in synaptic function reflect behavioral changes and how altered development of these systems, through stress or through neuronal silencing, might shift the balance of which system is used to execute behavior.

Neonatal Hippocampal/Parahippocampal Altas

Cross sections of neonatal hippocampuses in mice.

Previous studies have shown that the developing hippocampus has adult-like connectional and transcriptional features at birth, but that development of the hippocampus continues through adolescence. We are creating an atlas of the developing rat hippocampal-parahippocampal regions to help investigators develop hypotheses based on cytoarchitectural changes that occur in these regions across postnatal and juvenile development.

CADB Studies

The aV1ation Study

Principal Investigator Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD

The Translational Medicine Program at the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain is recruiting individuals with autism from 5 17 years of age with an IQ over 70 to participate in our study called aV1ation. The purpose of this study is to test an investigational medicine that blocks a hormone receptor in the brain linked to the control of socialization, stress, anxiety and aggression. We want to see if this medicine is effective as a treatment to help improve social functioning in children with ASD. To determine this, participants will be randomly assigned to take the investigational drug or a placebo pill. Participation lasts up to 39 weeks and will involve regular visits to the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain. This will allow the study team to assess participants general health, social communication skills and social interaction skills.

Participants will not have to pay for any study related treatments, lab tests, or assessments and will also be reimbursed $50 per visit.

Autism Biorepository

The Translational Medicine Program at the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain is recruiting individuals with autism from 1 to 40 years of age and their biological family members from 1 to 70 years of age to participate in our Autism Biorepository. Participants will be given a travel reimbursement of $25 for 2 family members, $30 for 3 family members, and $40 for 4 or more family members. The purpose of this study is to determine genetic factors that influence the development of autism.

If you would like more information or would like to participate in the research study, you can email Elizabeth Aaron at ea2781@cumc.columbia.edu or call her at 914-997-5242.

The FX-LEARN Study

The Translational Medicine Program at the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain is recruiting children with Fragile-X syndrome from 32 months to 6 years of age to participate in our study called FX-LEARN. Participation comes at no cost to the family, and participants will be given a reimbursement at each visit. The purpose of this study is to find out if the drug AFQ056, made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, is safe and has beneficial effects on language learning in children who have Fragile-X syndrome (FXS). The study also aims to find out if a structured language intervention can help children with Fragile-X syndrome communicate better.