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fNIRS - Neuroimaging and Emotion

EDI-FNIRS Research Study

Funded by National Institute of Health      

Principal Investigator: Carla Mazefsky

Status: Active and enrolling

What is the study about?

The purpose of this research study is to understand emotion management in children with autism by measuring brain activity and having a parent report on their child’s emotional behavior via the Emotion Dysregulation Inventory. Our goal is to understand how brain and behavior relate.  The child will complete some flexibility and frustration tasks on a computer while wearing a cap that measures blood flow in the brain.  Parents will be asked to complete online questionnaires about their child as well.  This process is called the Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Understanding how children’s brains react to frustration-inducing and cognitive flexibility tasks will help us to better understand emotional reactions and create new opportunities for prevention and treatment efforts to support healthy emotional development.

This research is looking at children with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 4 to 8 years old.

To learn more about joining this study, email autismrecruiter@upmc.edu