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What if the trajectory of a 
child's life, their mental 

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health, their cognitive 
abilities, their resilience 

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could be predicted and protected
before they are even born? 

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That may sound like science 
fiction, but it's the goal of 

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the largest long term study of 
early brain development in U.S. 

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history. 
We're talking about a 

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groundbreaking study designed to
determine how environmental 

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exposures like stress, trauma, 
or substance use actually shape 

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the brain by looking into a 
window of human development that

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starts before birth and extends 
through childhood. 

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Today we're talking about the 
Healthy Brain and Child 

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Development study. 
I'm Mike Doherty, and this is 

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cracking the shell on 
psychological science. 

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We're. 
Cracking that shell now. 

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Happy. 
Ben. 

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Mike, Joey, let's go. 
Cracking the shell on the mic 

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psychological sciences site Abby
bringing that fire sparks when 

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she speaks ignition on sight 
been with the breakdown mind 

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state takedown never missed the 
details mic kit and concepts 

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heavy like brake trains on steel
rails Joey steady mapping brain 

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waves decoding how we feel they 
turn that abstract real yeah the

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knowledge is real they. 
Peel it back slowly after layer.

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Mind so deep. 
Yeah, we ride that elevator 

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cracking the shell, Yeah. 
We. 

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Dive into. 
The mind. 

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Welcome back to Crack in the 
Shell on psychological science. 

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I'm Mike Doherty. 
And I'm Joey Barnett. 

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And today we're joined by Tracy 
Riggins, professor of psychology

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here at the University of 
Maryland and a principal 

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investigator of the Healthy 
Brain and Child Development 

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Study. 
Doctor Riggins, thanks for being

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here. 
Thank you. 

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I'm happy to be here. 
Well, before we get started, do 

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you mind if I ask you a few non 
science questions? 

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Not at all. 
Go ahead. 

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So you lived in San Diego, 
Davis, CA, Minnesota, and now 

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Maryland. 
If you had to host a dinner 

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party with one signature dish or
food item from each of those 

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places, what would be on the 
menu? 

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Oh, this is a tough one. 
San Diego's easiest. 

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It would definitely be tacos. 
In Minnesota. 

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I actually became quite fond of 
cream cheese wontons. 

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It sounds good. 
Maryland, you have to go crab 

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all the way. 
And then finally in Davis 

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saltwater Taffy. 
OK so I have a second question 

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for you. 
A few years ago you were 

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specifically cited for your 
dedication to work life balance 

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and you won the woman of 
influence reward. 

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What is the one non negotiable 
activity or hobby in your weekly

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routine? 
And it could be a summer hobby 

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or a winter hobby or whatever 
that has absolutely nothing to 

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do with psychology that helps 
you fully reset and recharge. 

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Definitely kayaking. 
Being out on the water is a 

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wonderful way to reset and a 
wonderful way to ensure I'm not 

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in front of my computer. 
Do you do that both in summer 

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and winter? 
I have oh wow, my neighbors and 

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I had a challenge that we were 
going to go kayaking every month

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during the year and January is 
definitely the coldest. 

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This is not This has not been a 
good month. 

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OK, I haven't been out this 
month, to be honest. 

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Yeah. 
It's been so cold. 

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Well, how about we jump into 
your work life? 

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Starting broadly, what is the 
Healthy Brain and child 

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development study? 
Yeah. 

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The HBCD study as we refer to 
it, is the largest long term 

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study of brain development in 
the US And so what's special 

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about it, it actually begins in 
pregnancy. 

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And our goal is to enroll over 
7000 families across the country

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and follow those children for 
about a decade. 

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So 7000 families sounds 
impressive, but we know that big

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samples don't automatically mean
better science. 

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What does the size actually buy 
you? 

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That's a great question and a 
very mic question. 

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The scale actually you know we 
hope is going to let us capture 

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some real world diversity. 
So across socio economic 

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backgrounds, geographic 
locations, healthcare access, 

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life experiences, even 
differences in state laws are 

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going to be of interest here. 
So those are some reasons it 

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also we hope will improve our 
statistical power and helps 

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ensure our findings aren't 
limited to 1 narrow group. 

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That's fascinating. 
So the goal is general 

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generalizability findings that 
apply beyond just a single lab 

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sitting then. 
Exactly. 

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So you begin enrolling families 
during pregnancy. 

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Why is that critical? 
Oh, brain development begins 

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before birth. 
And actually so much of brain 

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development is laid down during 
that prenatal period. 

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It's one of the most rapid 
phases of of neural growth and 

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it's when the foundation is laid
for a lot of the circuitry 

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supporting the abilities that 
psychologists are interested in,

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memory, attention, emotion 
regulation, etcetera. 

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OK. 
So I hear you. 

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But, you know, skeptics might 
ask, how much can we really 

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attribute to prenatal factors 
versus everything that happens 

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afterwards? 
Oh, it's It's definitely not 

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either or. 
Development is cumulative and 

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interactive. 
Prenatal development sets 

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initial conditions, but post 
Natal environment continues 

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shaping brain systems throughout
our lives, so our longitudinal 

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design will allow us to see how 
those influences unfold together

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over time. 
Great. 

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So can you walk us through the 
science and what kind of 

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measures are you collecting? 
It might be a shorter list to 

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talk about what we're not 
collecting. 

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Just joking so you have multiple
approaches. 

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There we go, MRI scans to 
examine brain structure and 

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connectivity, EEG to measure 
neural activity, biospecimens 

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like saliva and blood, and then 
developmental assessments of 

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cognition, language and emotion.
And then we're trying to get as 

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much about the context and 
environment as possible, about 

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family environments as well as 
community and where they are in 

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the US. 
OK so I have to ask. 

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So infant F MRI or MRI sounds 
technically daunting. 

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Any babies don't exactly hold 
still. 

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That's right, we scan infants 
during natural sleep whenever 

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possible, and so it requires #1A
lot of patients, but then some 

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specialized training and careful
protocols. 

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But doing this while they're 
sleeping is feasible and it's 

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safe. 
And you know, just to address 

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the inevitable concern, MRI 
doesn't involve radiation. 

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That's correct. 
It uses magnetic fields, not 

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radiation, and is considered 
safe in research and clinical 

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settings. 
So one major focus of HVCD is 

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prenatal substance exposure. 
Yes. 

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The study is supported in part 
by the NIH Heel Initiative to 

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address the opioid crisis in our
country. 

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And so we're examining how 
prenatal exposure to opioids, as

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well as a variety of other 
substances including alcohol, 

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cannabis, nicotine, may 
influence brain development. 

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OK, so here's the tricky part 
though. 

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So substances or substance 
exposure often Co occurs with 

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stress, poverty, trauma, or 
limited healthcare access and a 

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whole host of other variables. 
How do you avoid oversimplifying

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cause and effect here? 
That's exactly why the study is 

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designed the way that it is. 
We measure those contextual 

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variables directly. 
We don't assume a single factor 

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explanation. 
Instead, we model how biological

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exposures and social 
environments interact. 

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So the study isn't about 
isolating 1 mechanism, it's more

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like you're trying to understand
the entire system of variables. 

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Precisely. 
So a theme that I hear in your 

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responses is complexity, right? 
You know, some children exposed 

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to serious adversity still 
thrive. 

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Yes, and that's a key focus. 
We're very interested in 

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resilience. 
Protective factors like 

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responsive caregiving, community
support, stable housing, access 

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to healthcare can buffer 
adversity. 

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So rather than asking what goes 
wrong, you're asking what goes 

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right, despite the challenges. 
Exactly. 

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Understanding protective 
processes might be the best way 

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to inform future interventions. 
There have been other large 

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developmental studies. 
What makes this one different? 

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Several reasons. 
A big focus is that prenatal 

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enrollment, that we are starting
at a time when that brain 

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development is just starting to 
be laid down. 

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Another one, the large, diverse,
diverse national sample and that

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the neuroimaging begins in the 
first month of life. 

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Every single infant in the study
is getting that MRI, their first

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MRI within the first month of 
life. 

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And then last but not least, a 
strong open science commitment. 

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Data will be shared broadly with
researchers. 

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Open science raises another 
issue. 

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With such a massive data set, 
how many many researchers will 

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analyze it? 
How do we avoid over 

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interpretation or conflicting 
claims? 

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That's an ongoing challenge in 
large scale science. 

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Pre registration, transparency, 
replication, and careful 

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statistical practices are 
essential. 

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The openness actually allows 
findings to be scrutinized and 

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tested by multiple groups. 
So let's talk about the real 

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world impact. 
What practical difference could 

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this study make? 
If we identify sensitive 

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developmental windows that can 
inform the timing of 

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interventions, I think that 
would be a big potential 

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difference. 
And if we can start to better 

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understand protective factors 
that buffer risk, that can guide

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policy and family support 
programs. 

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So ultimately the goal is 
evidence based decision making. 

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So the hope is not just academic
knowledge, but actionable 

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insight. 
That's right. 

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OK, so as we close out, what's 
one thing you want every 

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listener to take away? 
That child development is shaped

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by many interconnected factors, 
biological, environmental, 

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social. 
Studying them together gives us 

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the best chance to understand 
and support all children's 

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healthy growth. 
Well, Doctor Riggins, thank you 

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so much for taking the time to 
unpack this fascinating and 

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important research with. 
Us. 

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It's been a pleasure. 
If you'd like to learn more 

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about the Healthy Brain and 
Child Development study, you can

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check out the study website at 
hbcdstudy.org. 

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In the meantime, thanks for 
listening to Cracking the Show 

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on Psychological Science. 
I'm Joey Barnett. 

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And I'm Mike Doherty. 
And until next time. 

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Past that pen culture class data
stag mind expanding the stag 

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we're world western educated in 
the district of rich democratic 

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test 2 minds all thinking the 
same sample too clean, but we 

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00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,080
played the game. 
We got fighters in the blood 

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system in the frame wiggles in 
the vein science to blame. 

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Cognitive maps got a single lane
but the world got colors we 

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can't explain survey sheets 
don't catch the pain to drive 

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the streets or the mental 
change. 

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We have samples in the data. 
We the glitch in the. 

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Cold Cracking the Shell on 
Psychological science is a joint

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00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,520
production from Abby Nicholas, 
Ben Jones, Joey Barnett and me, 

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Mike Doherty. 
We also want to credit ChatGPT 

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and SUNO AI for their help 
behind the scenes today. 

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00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,960
If you enjoyed what you heard, 
help us grow by subscribing and 

209
00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:38,720
sharing. 
And hey, if you got thoughts on 

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00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,160
the HBCD study or just want to 
say hi, e-mail us at Cracking 

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the Shell on 
psychology@gmail.com. 

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That's one long shell, 
cracking.word@gmail.com. 

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Until next time, keep thinking, 
keep learning, and keep 

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tracking. 
From the whole arsenal, from the

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00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:54,560
favela to the plains of the 
east. 

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00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,480
Knowledge don't rest. 
It's a hungry beast yo break 

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them chains. 
Diversify the beast. 

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Real data means truth released. 
We're samples in the data. 

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We're the glitch in the cold. 
Trying to find truth in the 

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narrow Rd. you understand. 
But the stories untold we're 

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samples. 
We're minds unfold IRD break the

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code free. 
WEIRD new world, new theory. 

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Science got a rhythm. 
I feel that beat Uh huh. 

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Where minds collide, make truth 
complete. 

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Go go. 
Free go. 

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By the way, saltwater taffy, 
yeah. 

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Sacramento has the best. 
Okay, well you didn't live 

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there, so we don't need to count
that one.