Education and Research Background
Education
Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology (2022) New York University
B.S. in Psychology with Honors, Minor in Statistics (2014) California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Academic Research Experience
Postdoctoral Researcher (2022- ) New York University
Adjunct Assistant Professor (2022- ) Brooklyn College
Adjunct Assistant Lecturer (2021-2022) Brooklyn College
NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2017-2022) New York University
Research Coordinator (2014-2017) University of California, San Francisco
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Pino, N., Brito, N. Maternal Hair Cortisol Predicts Periodic and Aperiodic Infant Frontal EEG Activity Longitudinally Across Infancy (2023). Developmental Psychobiology.
Brandes-Aitken, A., Metser, M., Braren, S., Vogel, S., & Brito, N.H. Neurophysiology of sustained attention in early infancy: Investigating longitudinal relations with recognition memory outcomes. (2023). Infant Behavior and Development. DOI:10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101807
Brandes-Aitken, A.N, Gerdes, M., Hattangadi, N., Shapiro, K., Marco, E. An Observational Study of Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) on Behavioral Regulation in a Mixed Clinical Cohort. Under review at Journal of Integrative Neuroscience. https://psyarxiv.com/q5z4t/ (Pre-Print)
Brandes-Aitken, A.N, DiMarino, E., Marco, E. J., Hattangadi, N., Goh, S., & Shapiro, K. (2022, August 16). Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Comprehensive, Personalized, Medically Based Care Model on Adaptive Behavior Outcomes in Autism. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/56px3 (Pre-Print)
Brito, N., Werchan, D., Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Yoshikawa, H., Greaves, A., Zhang, M. Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age. (2022). Developmental Psychology.
Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Braren, S., Vogel, S., Perry, R., Brito, N., Blair, C. Within-Person Changes in Basal Cortisol and Caregiving Modulate Executive Attention across Infancy. (2022) Development and Psychopathology.
Braren, S., Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Perry,R., Williams,K., Lyons, K., Rowe-Harriott, S., Blair, C., Baseline Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis and Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity Interact to Predict Executive Functions in Low-Income Children. (2021). Mind, Brain, and Education.
Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Braren, S., Gandhi, J., Rowe-Harriott, S., Perry, R., Blair, C., Joint attention partially mediates the longitudinal relation between attuned caregiving and executive functions for low-income children (2020). Developmental Psychology.
Braren, S., Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Ribner, A., Perry, R., Blair, C. (2019). Psychoneuroendocrinology. Maternal Psychological Stress Moderates Diurnal Cortisol Linkage in Expectant Fathers and Mothers during Late Pregnancy.
Brandes-Aitken, A.N., Braren, S., Swingler, M., Voegtline, K., Blair, C., Sustained Attention in Infancy: A Foundation for the Development of Self-Regulation in Children from Low-SES Backgrounds (2019). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Brandes-Aitken, A. N., Anguera,J.A., Chang, Y.S., Demopoulos, C., Owen, J.P., Mukherjee, P., Gazzaley, A., Marco, E (2018). White Matter Microstructure Associations of Cognitive and Visuomotor Control in Children: A Sensory Processing Perspective. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience.
Brandes-Aitken, A. N., Anguera,J.A,. Rolle, C.E., Desai, S. S., Skinner, S.S., Gazzaley, A., Marco, E. (2018). Characterizing cognitive & visuomotor control in children with sensory processing dysfunction & autism. Neuropsychology. 32(2); 148-160.
Anguera,J.A., Brandes-Aitken, A. N. (co-first authored), Antovich, A. D. Rolle, C.E., Desai, S. S., Marco, E. J. (2017). A pilot study to determine the feasibility of enhancing cognitive abilities in children with sensory processing dysfunction. PLoS One. 12(4); 1-19.
Demopoulos, C., Brandes-Aitken, A. N., Desai, S. S., Hill, S. S., Antovich, A. D., Harris, J., & Marco, E. J. (2015). Shared and Divergent Auditory and Tactile Processing in Children with Autism and Children with Sensory Processing Dysfunction Relative to Typically Developing Peers. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 21(06), 444-454.
Talks and Invited Lectures
Society for Developmental Psychobiology. San Diego, CA (2022) Neurophysiology of sustained attention in early infancy: Investigating longitudinal relations with recognition memory outcomes.
FLUX Society Congress. Paris, France (2022). Caregiver Hair Cortisol Predicts Differential Patterns of Longitudinal EEG Activity Across Infancy.
Society for Developmental Psychobiology. Chicago, IL (2021). Caregiver Hair Cortisol Predicts Differential Patterns of Longitudinal EEG Activity Across Infancy.
New York University School of Medicine. New York, NY (2021). Introduction to EEG Methods in Clinical Research.
Society for Research in Child Development, Virtual Conference (2021). Parent Cortisol and the Neural Underpinnings of Attention and Emotion Regulation in Infancy.
International Congress of Infant Studies, Virtual Conference (2020). Contributions of Cumulative Parent Cortisol to the Neural Underpinnings of Infant Attention and Emotion Regulation.
New York University School of Medicine. New York, NY (2020). Introduction to EEG Methods in Clinical Research.
Bezos Family Foundation Research Summit, Scottsdale, AZ (2019). Associations of Early Cognitive Control in Infancy.
Society for Research in Child Development. Baltimore, MD (2019). Influences of Poverty-Related Risk and Physiological Stress on Childhood Self-Regulation: Mediation through Infant Attention.
Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY (2019). Examining Longitudinal Associations of Socioeconomic Risk, Infant Attention and Early Childhood Self-Regulation.
AWARDS
2023 University-Wide Outstanding Dissertation Award, New York University
2022 Flux Travel Award, Paris, France
2022 Dissertation Finishing Award, New York University ($10,000)
2021-2022 INTERN Grant, National Science Foundation ($20,000)
2021 Felix M. Warburg Memorial Steinhardt Scholarship, New York University ($4,000) 2020 Linda & Arthur Carter Steinhardt Scholarship, New York University ($4,000) 2019 Travel Award, Society for Improving Psych. Science, Rotterdam, NL
2017-2020 Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation
Relevant Graduate Coursework Completed
Developmental Science: Theory of Change, Research in Infancy, Research Methods, Language Development, Cognitive Neuroscience
Statistical Methods: Longitudinal Modeling, Structural Equation Modeling, Network Theory, Causal Inference
Technical Skills
Statistics: 10 years of experience with advanced descriptive and inferential statistics. I have specific expertise in longitudinal modeling, missing data treatments, multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, network theory, causal inference, latent profile analysis, applied machine learning
Programming: 8 years of experience in R; 6 years of experience in Python, and Matlab
Biometrics: 6-8 years experience in the collection and processing of EEG, eye-tracking, ECG