Shedding light on infant brain development

The BRIGHT project studies the effect that living in a low-resource environment has on children's brain

The Brain Imaging for Global HealTh (BRIGHT) Project is a longitudinal study following 200 Gambian infants and 60 UK infants from birth to 24 months. The researchers hope to gain insights into the effects that malnutrition, social or environmental difficulties, and increased risk of disease have on infant development.

A large amount of research highlights the detrimental impact that poverty has on child development but not much is known about the neural basis of these consequences. The project hopes to shed light on this by providing the first-ever brain imaging of infants in Africa. 

The group is comprised of researchers from UCL, Birkbeck University, Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Medical Research Council. 

Related links:

• The BRIGHT project
• Prof Clare Elwell