🎉🎉🎉

WHO statement on autism-related issues Follow @WHO for the latest updates

WHO statement on autism-related issues

The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that there is currently no conclusive scientific evidence confirming a possible link between #autism and use of acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) during pregnancy

Full statement bit.ly/47YsgwI

@paigemnelson.bsky.social @huilisun.bsky.social @shelby-leverett.bsky.social @mkorom.bsky.social @tristansyates.bsky.social @ainedineen.bsky.social @fitngin.bsky.social

Had a FANTASTIC time at #fitng2025 in Dublin - presenting preliminary results on how perinatal iron-related metrics shape infant brain maturation, coordinating events with the trainee committee, & catching up with friends and collaborators!! 🍀🧠👶 #babybrains

Who knew sewing and scanning skills go hand in hand?!

Early gut changes around 4-6 months of age especially relate to the largest number of subsequent brain changes over the next postnatal year! with the incredible @emma-margolis.bsky.social @kevinbonham.com @mightycrobe.bsky.social, Guilherme Bottino, Kirsty Donald, and our Khula study team!

It's been a big month for PINE Lab and our collaborators! First up, pleased to share our study examining the co-development of gut microbiome & brain longitudinally over infancy, the time of greatest flux for both systems! Gut gene enrichment for neuroplasticity regulators relates to brain changes!

we've known that GABA maturation is a key regulator of pace/timing of neuroplasticity & critical periods in rodents...Our findings support GABAergic inhibition as a general mechanism governing neurodevelopmental timing across species

thrilled to share this project over a decade in the making out now in @pnas.org! We show that precocious GABA boosting in neonates by early sevoflurane/propofol anesthetic exposure accelerates visual cortical maturation in human infants
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

JAMA Data Brief: Bar graph comparing infant mortality rates in the US vs. OECD18 between 2007 and 2022. Mortality rate decreased but remains higher in the US. Causes listed: prematurity, SUID, and other causes.

📊 JAMA Data Brief: Despite medical advances, US children's health is worsening with increased mortality and chronic conditions, partly due to inadequate insurance and societal investment.

ja.ma/4oA1Ve8

These programs provide essential early learning, child care and family support services to young children from low-income families. If funding is eliminated, hundreds of thousands of babies will lose the care and support they depend on.

Resisting Attacks on Science - Center for Critical Public Health So it happened. We have officially withdrawn a paper accepted for publication in a scientific journal because of editorial requests to remove language deemed out of compliance with executive orders.

We were asked to change language and delete data from a paper that already been through peer review successfully - "in order to comply with the Executive Order."

This is from the official journal of the US Surgeon General and the US Public Health Service.

criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

Prenatal influences on postnatal neuroplasticity: Integrating DOHaD and sensitive/critical period frameworks to understand biological embedding in early development Early environments can have significant and lasting effects on brain, body, and behavior across the lifecourse. Here, we address current research efforts to understand how experiences impact neurodev....

- @emma-margolis.bsky.social & @laurelgd.bsky.social outline a new perspective on biological embedding: DOHaD-characterised prenatal influences shape postnatal sensitive period mechanisms to produce lasting effects on brain and behaviour #EarlyYears #DevPsySky #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

This is an enormous loss. I recommend the NIH postbac program to virtually every undergrad who comes through my lab and I think 5 or 6 of them have ended up in the program and had absolutely transformative experiences. This is a huge blow to the next generation of scientists

There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing How regime change happens in America

Is Musk demanding the data held by the Social Security Administration in order to make it more efficient? Unlikely. Here's a better explanation:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Developmental Plasticity in Early Human Development: Infancy Click on the title to browse this issue

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

Check out this paper along with others from the Special Issue highlighting the 2023 @fitngin.bsky.social conference at tinyurl.com/fitng2023dcn.

We had wonderful co-authors w/ expertise across modalities: @abifiske.bsky.social, Juliette Champaud, @halieolson.bsky.social, @mjcastrogomez.bsky.social, @ainedineen.bsky.social, Chiara Bulgarelli, @strscience.bsky.social, Kirsten Donald, Marisa Spann, Brittany Howell, & @dscheinost.bsky.social.

Along w/ co-first author @paigemnelson.bsky.social & senior author @mkorom.bsky.social, we conclude w/ overarching directions for improved inclusivity in fetal, infant, & toddler neuroimaging that transcend modality.

Screenshot of paper titled "Modality-level obstacles and initiatives to improve representation in fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging research samples" with authors: Emma T. Margolis, Paige M. Nelson, Abigail Fiske, Juliette L.Y. Champaud, Halie A. Olson, Maria José C. Gomez, Áine T. Dineen, Chiara Bulgarelli, Sonya V. Troller-Renfree, Kirsten A. Donald, Marisa N. Spann, Brittany Howell, Dustin Scheinost, and Marta Korom.

It is more important than ever to promote inclusive & representative science as best scientific practice. In this new paper, we highlight modality-level (MRI, MEG, EEG, fNIRS, ultrasound) obstacles & initiatives for improved inclusivity in FIT neuroimaging. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101505

Infant mortality increased along with births in most U.S. states with abortion bans in the first 18 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to new research. Babies who were Black, lived in Southern states or had fetal birth defects died at the highest rates.

Don't miss our next FIT'NG Together Talk on February 25th at 11am EST!

Dr. Niall Bourke and Sharada Balaji will discuss UNITY (Ultra-low-field Neuroimaging In The Young), aimed to make neuroimaging more accessible worldwide.

Register for FREE at: tinyurl.com/4vf84ycm

“Your work is your rebellion” 💪

www.reddit.com/r/labrats/co...

Underrepresented minority faculty in the USA face a double standard in promotion and tenure decisions - Nature Human Behaviour Masters-Waage et al. report that underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in the USA face barriers in the promotion and tenure process, receiving more negative votes and fewer unanimous positive decisi...

📚 Bias in Faculty Promotions

A @natureportfolio.bsky.social study of 1,571 staff at US universities revealed underrepresented minorities face tougher standards. They received 7% more negative votes & their research was judged more harshly.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm 🧪 #HigherEd

Sharing my FIRST first-author paper to my Bluesky feed! Here, we outline a new perspective of biological embedding: demonstrating how DOHaD-characterized prenatal influences/exposures shape postnatal sensitive/critical period mechanisms to produce lasting effects doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Finally made it over here to Bluesky! Thanks Laurel :)

READIE script is in HAPPE software as a new Generate function! No more guessing how many trials of data you need to get a sufficient estimate of your EEG/ERP feature! Power your analyses with these tools and let's keep improving developmental EEG science!
github.com/PINE-Lab/HAPPE

My contribution to the lab is convincing everyone that our fall activity should be going to the International Cryptozoology Museum (it did not take much convincing).