UF researchers are recruiting about 400 children for a study about youth brain development and health.
The study, called Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, or ABCD, aims to see how childhood experiences affect social skills, behavior, academic success and health through adolescence and into early adulthood, said Sarah Reaves, UF’s research site coordinator. More than 10,000 9- and 10-year-olds nationally will take part in the research.
The National Institutes of Health gave UF a $3.76 million grant for its part of the research, focusing on children in North Central Florida, she said.
Florida International University was the only other school in the state chosen to help conduct the study, she said. The 19 institutions conducting research will try to get elementary schoolers representative of national demographics.
Reaves said UF has the facilities needed to conduct cognitive and mental tests the children will take.
“The University of Florida was very poised to have those resources and capabilities to run something this ambitious,” she said.
UF professor Sara Jo Nixon said the project will be the first long-term study to follow young children as they age. She wanted UF to help collect data for Florida because it’s one of the fastest growing states.
“It’s a landmark study in terms of both its depth and breadth,” said Nixon, a coprincipal investigator at the UF Health site.
