Principal Investigators //

Dr. Candelaria-Cook’s research focuses on the neurodevelopmental consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure, with an emphasis on understanding how fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) affect brain systems supporting learning and memory. Her work integrates behavioral paradigms with advanced neuroimaging to characterize neural network development and spatial memory function. She has extensive experience using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study resting-state brain connectivity in clinical and nonclinical populations and is advancing task-based investigations of spatial navigation memory using a virtual Morris water task. Current projects employ multimodal neuroimaging approaches, including fMRI, to better understand how prenatal alcohol exposure alters hippocampal circuits and theta oscillations. The long-term goal of her research is to identify clinically meaningful neural markers that can inform early detection and guide the development of targeted interventions to improve outcomes for individuals with FASD.

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