Marrus, Natasha MD

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, yet progress has been very limited in understanding how early brain development in DS relates to long-term functional outcomes. In this project, the Infant Brain Imaging Study, a team with over 15 years’ of experience in infant neuroimaging, will collect comprehensive, state-of-the-art brain and behavioral data in infants with DS at ages 6, 12, and 24 months, with collection at five clinical sites across the U.S. These data will allow identification and tracking of early brain differences in DS and their relationships to behavior, which can help guide intervention research aimed at improving developmental outcomes.