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Queens College Researchers Find That Prenatal Exposure to More Than One Climate Event Affects Child Brain Development
—Study focuses on New York children who were in utero during Superstorm Sandy—
Flushing, NY, June 11, 2025—A new study by Queens College researchers finds that prenatal exposure to extreme events related to climate change leads to long-term, negative impacts on children’s brain development—an outcome amplified by exposure to more than one type of environmental stress. Donato DeIngeniis,* a second-year doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center and research assistant in psychology at QC, is lead author of the study while Yoko Nomura,* professor of psychology at QC and the CUNY Graduate Center, serves as corresponding author. Their findings, as part of the longitudinal Stress in Pregnancy (SIP) Study, are described in their article, “Prenatal exposure to extreme ambient heat may amplify the adverse impact of Superstorm Sandy on basal ganglia volume among school-aged children,” published by the respected British journal PLOS One. The link to the article will go live upon publication.
“This research shows that climate change and human health are linked in ways that are profoundly consequential,” says Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “The stresses of climate change affect not only mothers, but also children conceived and reared in a warming world—a finding that is meaningful to all of us and certainly a call to action.”
It is already well established that maternal stress during pregnancy contributes to developmental psychopathologies in early childhood. In 2022, SIP authors—including Nomura—expanded the scope of stressors to include the environment and demonstrated that behavioral developmental impacts, having sex-specific patterns, could be attributed to prenatal climate stress. The study comprised a group of three-year-olds from the five boroughs (especially Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens) who had been in utero during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
With the aid of MRI technology, implemented from 2019 to 2022, the current study re-examined those same children at age eight, exploring their brain development in detail. Among the children exposed to Superstorm Sandy in the womb, neuroimaging revealed enlarged basal ganglia regions deep inside the brain.
The marked increase in children’s brain volume could potentially portend further behavioral disorders. According to DeIngeniis, “The basal ganglia are critical brain regions that help regulate not just movement but also emotions and behaviors. Changes in these brain regions may be linked to emotional and behavioral challenges in children.”
The study also assessed whether “multiple climate-related stressors might work together”—especially the prenatal effects of extreme heat (meaning at least one day above 95°F). As Nomura explains, “We looked at exposure to Sandy and extreme heat individually and together. We saw significant changes in brain volume among children born to mothers exposed to both Superstorm Sandy and extreme heat during pregnancy.” While extreme heat alone did not have significant impacts on brain development, it amplified the effects of Superstorm Sandy exposure when both occurred during pregnancy.
DeIngeniis, who holds an MA in behavioral neuroscience from Queens College and is pursuing a doctorate in clinical neuropsychology, plans to continue this study. Brain scans are underway for the children, who have reached the prepubescent stage of development. Additional neuroimaging assessments are planned for when they hit pubescence. “No prior studies have examined how multiple climate-related stressors might work together to impact children’s developing brains,” he says. “Our work helps fill this important knowledge gap.” He hopes it will lead to greater awareness and improved health-and-safety measures for protection from extreme climate events during pregnancy, such as prenatal screening for heightened environmental stressors.
As we experience increasingly common natural disasters and extreme heat, Nomura believes it is essential to address in utero climate-change impacts on children. “Studying this age group is critically important because the brain undergoes rapid development during this period,” she says. “Identifying connections between risk factors allows researchers to develop more targeted interventions. This understanding leads to more effective preventative measures that can have lasting impacts when implemented during key developmental windows.”
This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Professional Staff Congress–City University of New York.
*Researchers Donato DeIngeniis and Yoko Nomura are available to speak with the media directly.
Donato Deingeniis: Donato.Deingeniis@qc.cuny.edu
Yoko Nomura: Yoko.Nomura@qc.cuny.edu
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