Project description
Identifying neurodevelopmental markers of early life adversity with remote eye tracking
Early life adversity (ELA) refers to traumatic or stressful childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect or household dysfunction, which can cause neurobiological changes and hinder socio-cognitive development. Early detection of emerging cognitive markers in at-risk children could lead to earlier intervention. In this context, the EU-funded EYE-to-ELA project aims to assess the impact of ELA on childhood cognition using portable, home-based eye tracking to identify early neurodevelopmental markers. It will design the study in collaboration with families experiencing ELA and their practitioners. To validate the methodology, it will compare the remotely collected data with those of a research centre, and establish protocols, methods and infrastructure for large-scale screening.
Objective
Early life adversity encompasses a range of experiences, from maltreatment and neglect to parental mental health issues and neighborhood poverty, with long-term effects on mental and physical health. More research is needed to identify sociocognitive risk and protective factors that contribute to adaptive trajectories in at-risk children, especially within diverse socioeconomic and psychosocial contexts. Asynchronous remote testing (participant-administered data collection outside the lab) can enhance sampling and increase access to typically understudied groups. However, its application for assessing neurocognitive development in at-risk populations has not been studied yet. This proposal aims to use innovative remote data collection methods to examine sociocognitive attention biases in infants and children (6-36 months) from families who have experienced early life adversity. The study will be co-designed with families, and practitioners working with them, to enhance engagement and relevance. I will validate the protocol by comparing data collected remotely with data collected at the Psychology Research Center (CIPsi) of the University of Minho, in collaboration with Prof. Adriana Sampaio. I will also collaborate with Prof. Rhodri Cusack (Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin), a leader in pioneering initiatives for at-home infant testing, to implement web-based eye-tracking and automated tools for estimating looking times. This fellowship will establish protocols, techniques, and infrastructure for large-scale screening and monitoring of infants and children across Portugal and globally. The outcomes could influence policy, community support, and targeted interventions for disadvantaged families. A non-academic placement at the ProChild CoLAB, a private non-profit association dedicated to fighting childhood poverty and social exclusion through research-action projects, will maximize the impact and uptake of the results.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-TALENTS-02
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4704 553 Braga
Portugal
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