The research proposal is designed to explore the relation between fetal brain and behavior profiles and emotional responsivity before and after birth in three ethnic groups, African-American, Caucasian-American, and Chinese Hong Kong, advancing knowledge in the areas of behavioral perinatology and natal neuroscience. The fetus is studied to address questions of the inborn nature of emotional responsivity and the biological basis is investigated with concurrent measurement of the autonomic bus system, neurobehavioral organization, and measures of brain growth and functioning (e.g., fetal cerebral blood flow velocity). PerinataI behavior is sampled under baseline conditions and after the presentation of environmental stimuli (e.g., vibratory stimulation, heelstick, and administration of assessments): emotional responsivity is the behavioral and physiological response to these changes in the environment. The study is longitudinal in design with subjects tested repeatedly during the perinatal period. The goals of the proposal are to document norms of emotional responsivity for each ethnic group to investigate the physiological and neurobehavioral correlates of emotional responsivity both pre- and postnatally, and to specify the degree of stability in emotional responsivity from the fetal period to 3 months, and the degree of predictability from prenatal brain and behavior profiles.
