Experience-based Brain and Biological Development Program

What if experiences of joy, sorrow, love, fear, and loneliness leave an imprint on the cells and nerves in an infant’s body? What if our early social interactions affect the way our genes express themselves? What if an emotionally nurturing environment is as important to physical development as good nutrition?
 
A mounting body of evidence suggests that our first experiences in the world play a much larger role than anyone thought in physical health and development. This evidence shifts the nature versus nurture debate, and provides a fertile area for CIFAR research. The working hypothesis of “biological embedding” informs the research of Experience-based Brain & Biological Development and delves into exactly how, when and under what circumstances early social experiences change neural, endocrine and immunological systems.
 
Researchers have long known that people with higher levels of income, education, and social status live longer and are healthier than those at lower levels. More recent studies have shown that socioeconomic status is also linked to coping skills, resiliency, neuroimmune responses, neural developments, mathematics achievement, and other learning skills and habits.
 
The CIFAR Experience-based Brain and Biological Development program explores the core question of how social experiences affect human biology and how the early trajectory for development and health is set. New non-invasive techniques for measuring physiological changes coupled with an explosion of information in genetics, epigenetics, genomics and  neuroimaging in human and animals models have converged to provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore these crucial issues.