Our Research Framework:

Empathy has been shown to ameliorate social relations and is a protective factor against the development of psychopathology and recent theories suggest that the capacity to empathize in social situations is necessary for healthy development.  Our lab focuses on studying the development of emotions (specifically empathy) from a neuro-physiological perspective to better understand how the brain develops and interacts with the environment to shape how an individual will experience emotions.  We currently have 3 ongoing studies:

Pre-School Study

In this study, we work with children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old and their parents.  We are interested in finding out whether depression in the parents, and the family’s style of expressing (or not expressing) emotions might affect the development of empathy in the child.  To attempt to answer this question, our study is done in 2 parts.  In the first part, research assistants (that’s you!) go to the participants’ home.  During that visit, the research assistants instruct the parents on doing a particular reading task with their child.  The task is repeated 4 times, under slightly different conditions, and the whole thing is videotaped.  We also take heart rate measurements on the child during the reading.  Typically, one research assistant will manage the data-recording equipment, while the other will interact with the participants. 

In the second part, the children come into our lab with their mothers only. Here, we have the mother and/or child participate in a variety of tasks and we take EEG (electroencephalogram) measurements of brain electrical activity in the child.

Newborn Study

In this study, we look at one-day old newborn babies in the hospital.  In addition to screening their mothers for depression, we take heart rate data on the babies, assess their level of reactivity to the environment (using portions of the Brazelton neonatal assessment) and observed the babies’ innate self-soothing abilities, as well as the mother’s soothing of her baby.  Furthermore, we observe the baby’s ability to be calmed by a stranger (i.e. the research assistant).  Again, as with the previous study, research assistants work in teams, with one assistant handling the equipment, and another interacting with the participants.

Feeding Study

In this study, we are again looking at emotions and maternal depression as main variables, but we are interested to know if feeding method (i.e. breast or bottle) might have a mitigating or aggravating impact on the development of emotions in these children.  There is a growing body of research that suggests depressed mothers interact with their babies in a way that may inhibit the development of healthy emotions and pro-social behavior.  At the same time, there is lots of evidence that breast feeding is not only better for the baby physically, but also better for the baby (and the mother!) emotionally.  So, we decided to mix it all up a bit and ask ourselves: What about a depressed mother who breast feeds?  Is her child going to become more emotionally healthy than a non-depressed mother who bottle feeds?  These are the kinds of questions this line of research is designed to shed light on. 

The participants come to our lab when the baby is 1-month old and again at 3-months old.  The mothers feed and play with their baby while we videotape and take EEG measurements.