image: Neuroimaging research lead prepares MRI scanner for child brain imaging study.
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Credit: Credit: Rebecca M. Lee and Abid Fahim
NEW YORK, June 11, 2025 — Climate disasters may be leaving invisible imprints on developing brains before birth, according to new groundbreaking research from The City University of New York Graduate Center (CUNY Graduate Center) and Queens College. Scientists discovered that children whose mothers experienced Superstorm Sandy during pregnancy showed distinct brain differences that could affect their emotional development for years to come.
The study, published in PLOS One, reveals that prenatal exposure to extreme climate events, particularly when combined with extreme heat, appears to rewrite critical emotion regulation centers in the developing brain.
“We’re seeing how climate change may be reshaping the next generation’s brains before they even take their first breath,” said lead author Donato DeIngeniis, a CUNY Graduate Center Psychology Ph.D. student. “These children’s brains bear invisible scars from climate disasters they never personally experienced.”
Climate Change in the Womb
The research team analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 8-year-old children whose mothers were pregnant during Superstorm Sandy, which devastated parts of New York and other coastal regions in 2012. The scans revealed that children exposed to the storm in utero had significantly larger volumes in the basal ganglia, deep brain structures involved in emotion regulation.
“The combination of storm stress and extreme heat created a perfect neurological storm in developing brains,” explained Professor Yoko Nomura, principal investigator of the Stress in Pregnancy (SIP) Study and Psychology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College. “We found that while extreme heat alone didn’t significantly alter brain volume, when combined with the stress of living through a major storm during pregnancy, it amplified the effects dramatically.”
The research involved MRI scans of 34 children, comparing those exposed to the storm and/or extreme heat (defined as at least one day above 95°F during pregnancy) to those who were not. The findings could have profound implications for children growing up in regions increasingly affected by climate change.
Lifelong Effects
“As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, we need to consider the invisible toll on future generations,” DeIngeniis noted. “Our findings suggest we must develop targeted interventions to support pregnant women during climate disasters and strengthen climate resilience in vulnerable communities.”
Duke Shereen, Ph.D., director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging facility at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center and a co-author of the study, emphasized the long-term implications of the findings: “These imaging techniques allow us to visualize how environmental stressors can cascade through maternal experience to alter the architecture of the developing brain. What we are seeing is compelling evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is potentially a neurological one with consequence for future generations who will inherit our planet.”
About the Graduate Center of The City University of New York The CUNY Graduate Center is a leader in public graduate education devoted to enhancing the public good through pioneering research, serious learning, and reasoned debate. The Graduate Center offers ambitious students nearly 50 doctoral and master’s programs of the highest caliber, taught by top faculty from throughout CUNY — the nation’s largest urban public university. Through its nearly 40 centers, institutes, initiatives, and the Advanced Science Research Center, the Graduate Center influences public policy and discourse and shapes innovation. The Graduate Center’s extensive public programs make it a home for culture and conversation.
Journal
PLOS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0324150
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Prenatal exposure to extreme ambient heat may amplify the adverse impact of Superstorm Sandy on basal ganglia volume among school-aged children
Article Publication Date
11-Jun-2025
Media Contact
Shawn Rhea
Advanced Science Research Center, GC/CUNY
Office: 212-817-7180
Journal
PLOS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0324150
Journal
PLOS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0324150
Method of Research
Experimental study
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ADVERTISEMENT Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Prenatal exposure to extreme ambient heat may amplify the adverse impact of Superstorm Sandy on basal ganglia volume among school-aged children
Article Publication Date
11-Jun-2025
Keywords
/Life sciences/Developmental biology/Developmental neuroscience
/Physical sciences/Earth sciences/Climatology/Climate change/Climate change effects
/Social sciences/Psychological science/Clinical psychology/Cognitive disorders
/Social sciences/Psychological science/Clinical psychology/Mental health
/Social sciences/Psychological science/Neuropsychology
/Life sciences/Neuroscience/Behavioral neuroscience
/Life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience
bu içeriği en az 2000 kelime olacak şekilde ve alt başlıklar ve madde içermiyecek şekilde ünlü bir science magazine için İngilizce olarak yeniden yaz. Teknik açıklamalar içersin ve viral olacak şekilde İngilizce yaz. Haber dışında başka bir şey içermesin. Haber içerisinde en az 12 paragraf ve her bir paragrafta da en az 50 kelime olsun. Cevapta sadece haber olsun. Ayrıca haberi yazdıktan sonra içerikten yararlanarak aşağıdaki başlıkların bilgisi var ise haberin altında doldur. Eğer yoksa bilgisi ilgili kısmı yazma.:
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Tags: brain differences in children from climate eventschild brain development researchclimate change and prenatal health impactscumulative effects of climate exposureemotional development and climate eventsextreme climate events and pregnancyimpact of climate disasters on childrenmaternal health and environmental factorsneuroimaging studies in childrenPLOS One climate researchprenatal exposure to climate changeSuperstorm Sandy effects on pregnancy
