Allergies, Asthma, and the Brain
“How does a mother’s immune system shape her baby’s brain for the rest of their life?”
Over the past three decades, we have seen increases in allergies, asthma, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Many have questioned whether there is a link between these rising diagnoses. Scientists have suggested that mothers who have asthma and allergies during pregnancy are more likely to have a child who is later diagnosed with a neurodevelopment disorder. However, these studies only show correlation, not causation. With all of this in mind, our lab explores maternal allergic asthma (MAA) as a potentially under-examined environmental factor influencing brain and behavior development.
We apply a range of behavioral tasks designed to measure discrete components of social behavior in order to define critical periods during pregnancy when maternal allergic asthma disrupts neurobehavioral processes. We then evaluate the role the immune system plays in disrupting offspring development.