Welcome to the Infant Studies of Language and
Neurocognitive Development Lab

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Our Research

We are a developmental psychology lab interested in the impact of the home environment and early social interactions on children's brain and behavioral development. Our ultimate goal is to understand how to best support and empower caregivers during their child's first three years of life.

Current Studies

ORCA (Online Remote Child Assessment)

The aim of the Online Remote Child Assessment (ORCA) study is to make participation in research studies more accessible in order to better understand how diverse early experiences impact child development. Families are invited to hop on a 30-40 minute Zoom call where their baby watches short videos on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. Families also complete some short surveys and may be invited to participate in an interview.

Click here to learn more about ORCA!

We are actively recruiting pregnant women and families with 0-4 month olds. Sign up and determine if you are eligible here.

PEACH (Postpartum Ecological Assessment of Cognitive Health)

The PEACH study seeks to better understand maternal mental health during the early postnatal period.
Using low-burden methods, this fully remote study explores mothers' real experiences while caring for their new infants.
Moms will receive a Fitbit to track sleep, activity, and heart rate, and we will text you brief surveys three times a week for 10-14 weeks.
Each survey takes less than a minute to complete.

COVID-19 & Perinatal Experiences (COPE) Study

The aim of the COVID-19 and Perinatal Experiences (COPE) study is to understand the experiences of stress and resilience during the pandemic and potential impacts on infant development. We are currently following over 150 families across multiple stages of their baby’s life, collecting survey data, behavioral observations, neuroimaging and biospecimens.

Learn more about the study!

Háblame Bebé

Háblame Bebé is an educational phone application that aims to empower Hispanic parents and caregivers to engage with their cultural identities, to feel pride in being Hispanic and in speaking Spanish, and to promote bilingualism.  Fundamental to Háblame Bébe is the message that parents are their baby’s first and best teachers – regardless of what language they speak. Watch to learn more, and like us on Facebook and Instagram!

Past Studies

Stress, Home Environment, Language & Learning (SHELL) Study

Understanding how the early home environment impacts trajectories of language and cognitive development is crucial for identifying early risk and resilience factors associated with later school readiness. This study examines how caregiver stress and the home language environment influence early language and memory skills during the first two years of life.

Learn more about the study!

Family Interactions and Neural Synchrony (FINS) Study

Early learning is a social process. The ability to initiate interactions, respond appropriately, and take turns during bouts of communication are important aspects of growing up in a social world. This study uses EEG hyperscanning to simultaneously record neural responses of the dyad (caregiver and child) while interacting in a series of semi-naturalistic tasks. 

Parent Testimonials!

Meet Our Team

Dr. Natalie H. Brito

Director

Natalie Hiromi Brito is developmental psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at NYU. Dr. Brito’s research explores how social and cultural contexts shape the trajectory of brain and behavioral development, with the goal of better understanding how to best support caregivers and create environments that foster healthy development. Specifically, her ongoing studies examine how both proximal factors (e.g., caregiver mental health, caregiver-child interactions) and distal influences (e.g., social policies) impact the development of attention, memory, and socioemotional skills during infancy and toddlerhood.

Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Dr. Brito spent two years as a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar and two years as a K99/R00 postdoctoral research fellow within the Division of Developmental Neuroscience at Columbia University Medical Center. She received her PhD in Human Development and Public Policy from Georgetown University. Dr. Brito has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including recognition from the American Psychological Association (Boyd McCandless Award), CIFAR (Global Scholar), Association for Psychological Science (Rising Star Award), and the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (Kucharski Young Investigator Award).

Dr. Denise Werchan

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Denise Werchan is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the New York University School of Medicine. Prior to coming to NYU, Denise received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Brown University. Her research broadly focuses on how human brain and cognitive development is shaped by experience in the presence of risk and opportunity in infancy and early childhood. In her postdoctoral research, Denise is particularly interested in examining how early environmental factors, including variations in caregiving behaviors, stress/adversity, and socioeconomic variability, can act as risk and protective factors for healthy neurocognitive development and adaptive functioning. She examines these questions using behavioral paradigms, eye tracking, secondary data sets, and neuroimaging methods, including functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Annie Aitken

Postdoctoral Fellow

Annie a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology department. Annie is broadly interested in coupling biological and behavioral assessment methods to explore the impact of early childhood experiences on executive functioning and academic achievement. As an NSF Fellow, Annie aims to incorporate EEG methods in her research to better understand the relationship between SES and academic achievement and to ultimately inform intervention methods. Prior to attending NYU, Annie worked in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience research at UC San Francisco. Annie graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Psychology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Sasha Andrews

Lab Manager

Sasha graduated from the University of Denver in 2022 with a BA in Psychology and Spanish. She is very interested in biological bases of behavior and how early experiences shape the functions of the brain. She will be exploring her research interests and building on her research skills before completing graduate studies in psychology!

Amy Hume

Research Associate

Amy is a third year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Bath, completing a year-long internship at the ISLAND Lab as part of her degree. She is interested in the neurocognitive development of language and gender identity, and how these are influenced by factors like bilingualism, socioeconomic status, and attachment type. As a research assistant at the ISLAND Lab, she is excited to gain a better understanding of how to utilise these areas of research to support disadvantaged families.

Alejandra Lemus

Research Associate

Alejandra graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with B.A. in Psychology and then went back to her country (Colombia) to obtain a Master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology. She practiced neuropsychology and clinical psychology at different institutions in Bogotá, Colombia, and her interest on research brought her back to the United States. She is currently working as a research assistant at the Island Lab and is very excited to learn research skills and understand how social environment, bilingualism, and socioeconomic status are correlated with cognitive skills during childhood. Alejandra hopes to further pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology in order to apply her clinical knowledge.

Gianina Perez

Doctoral Student

Gianina is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. She received her B.S. in Psychology and Biology from Fordham University in 2015 and her M.S. in Neuroscience and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2021. With the support of Dr. Karen Froud at Teachers College and Dr. Natalie Brito, she wrote her master's thesis on the development of joint attention in bilingual and monolingual infants. She is interested in examining factors that influence maternal mental health in hopes of implementing support systems for caregivers that promote healthy infant development. Additionally, she is interested in examining how bilingualism in infancy influences infant neurocognitive development with the ultimate goal of supporting bilingual families.

Lissete Gimenez

Doctoral Student

Lissete is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. She received a B.A. and M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College. Her previous research examined how cultural context and language ambiguity influence language selection and language access among Spanish-English bilinguals. Her current research examines how fluctuations in bilingual language exposure during infancy impact cognitive development.

Maggie Zhang

Doctoral Student

Maggie is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. She graduated from NYU with a B.S. in Applied Psychology in 2020. Since graduating, she was the lab manager at ISLAND where her passion for research and working with students grew. She is looking forward to continuing her contributions to the lab as a graduate student! Her research interests include examining how environmental factors play a role in the development of bio-behavioral synchrony in caregivers and infants.

Michelle Masiello

Research Assistant

Michelle graduated from NYU in December 2023 with a B.S. in Applied Psychology and Global Public Health. She is interested in developmental and cognitive psychology, with a focus on how infant and child-directed speech influences cognitive development and resilience. She hopes to investigate the linkages between psychology and public health to inform accessible and effective implementation of community interventions. Michelle worked as a research assistant at ISLAND throughout her undergraduate career and is excited to continue at the lab in a new capacity.

Jamiez Vo

Research Assistant

Jamiez Vo is a junior pursuing a B.A in Digital Design and Psychology with a minor in Child and Mental Health Studies. She is interested in understanding how technology helps enhance child development. She believes that future technology can be further developed and innovated to support children’s learning and development. She is mainly working on the OWLET project, which she hopes to enhance the experience of online assessment for caregivers and their babies.

Carolyn Zazueta

Research Assistant

Carolyn is a junior at NYU pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology with a minor in American Sign Language. She has a keen interest in language, both in terms of multilingualism and communication between caregivers and their children. As Carolyn joins the ISLAND lab this school year, she is delighted to combine her passion for childhood development with real-world research experience.

Priya Lochab

Research Assistant

Priya, a third-year psychology student at the University of Bath, is currently on a year-long placement with the ISLAND lab as part of her BSc program. Her interests lie in understanding how infant emotional development is shaped by parental risk factors, particularly maternal mental health and socio-economic challenges. Eager to expand her expertise, Priya looks forward to working in an overseas lab, where she can further delve into developmental psychology research!

Angelina Gryzbowski

Research Assistant

Angelina Grzybowski is a rising Junior at New York University pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology with a minor in Chemistry on the Pre-Health track. She is interested in understanding how physical health and mental health interact, as well as the impact of culture on early development. She is excited to work with ISLAND this year!

Paulina Chin-Wong

Research Assistant

Paulina Chin-Wong is a sophomore at NYU Steinhardt, pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology with a specialization in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. She is deeply interested in healthcare administration and is particularly passionate about the impact of early childhood experiences on neurological development. Paulina aims to merge her interests in business and medicine to create environments that support the well-being of children and their families. She is thrilled to join the ISLAND Lab this year, where she hopes to explore the intersection of early childhood development and public health while honing her research skillset.

Charlie Li

Research Assistant

Sophie Lehman

Research Assistant

Sophie is a rising junior at NYU working toward a B.S. degree in Applied Psychology. As a ski racer, she spent every summer in Argentina immersing herself in the culture and learning about the ways of Latin America. Because of this experience, Sophie is interested in the cognitive development of children who grow up in bilingual vs. monolingual households. She anticipates pursuing a career in developmental psychology research, focusing on marginalized Hispanic communities. Sophie is thrilled to join the ISLAND Lab where she will gain experience, improve her skills, and build strong connections with an amazing team.

Anna Hsu

Research Assistant

Anna is a rising junior at the Bronx High School of Science with a passion for neuroscience and psychology. She is interested in how environmental factors such as stress and adversity influence neural cognitive development and how they can be mediated to promote growth and learning. Anna also hopes to explore how culture and language affects development and impacts mental health. She is very excited to be a part of ISLAND lab as she broadens her knowledge of developmental psychology and research this summer!
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