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Brain & cognition
Caregiving & environment
Perinatal mental health
Methods & tools

2025 & in press

Unpredictable Caregiving is Associated with Disrupted Neurophysiological Measures of Attention and Autonomic Function in Three-Month-Old Infants. ‍

Werchan, D. M., Aitken, A., Giménez, L., Braren, S., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Maternal Milk Allopregnanolone May Buffer Negative Associations Between Maternal Postpartum Psychological Distress and Infant Regulatory Capacity

Werchan, D. M., Suskind, B., Howell, B., Brito, N. H., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Developmental Psychiobiology

COVID-19 Infection During Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopment

Thomason, M. E., Werchan, D. M., Ji, L., Hendrix, C. L., Susskind, B., Duffy, M., Brito, N. H., & McCormack, C.
Pediatric Research

From Focus to Function: Longitudinal Insights into Infant Attention and Emerging Executive Functions via Remote Webcam Eye Tracking

Werchan, D. M., Hume, A. M., Zhang, M., Vo, T., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Psychology

2024

Maternal Heart Rate Variability at 3-Months Postpartum is Associated with Maternal Mental Health and Infant Neurophysiology

Brandes-Aitken, A., Hume, A., Braren, S., Werchan, D. M., Zhang, M., & Brito, N. H.
‍Nature Scientific Reports

Naturalistic Patterns of Sustained Attention Across Early Childhood: Developmental Profiles and Longitudinal Associations with Executive Functions

Werchan, D. M., Aitken, A. B., Ku, S., & Blair, C.
‍Developmental Psychology

Trajectories of Maternal Depressive Symptoms from Infancy Through Early Childhood: The Roles of Perceived Financial Strain, Social Support, and Intimate Partner Violence

Ku, S., Werchan, D. M., Feng, X., & Blair, C.
‍Development & Psychopathology

2023

Effects of Prenatal Psychosocial Stress and COVID-19 Infection on Infant Attention and Socioemotional Development

Werchan, D. M., Hendrix, C. L., Hume, A., Zhang, M., Thomason, M. E., & Brito, N. H.
‍Pediatric Research

2022

OWLET: An Automated, Open-Source Method for Infant Gaze Tracking using Smartphone and Webcam Recordings

Werchan, D. M., Thomason, M. E., & Brito, N. H.
‍Behavior Research Methods

Signal in the Noise: Dimensions of Predictability in the Home Auditory Environment are Associated with Neurobehavioral Measures of Early Infant Sustained Attention

Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Psychobiology

Fetal Frontolimbic Connectivity Prospectively Associates with Aggression in Toddlers

Hendrix, C. L., Ji, L., Werchan, D. M., Majbri, A., Trentacosta, C. J., Burt, A., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science

Geotemporal Analysis of Perinatal Care Changes and Maternal Mental Health: An Example from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hendrix, C. L., Werchan, D. M., et al., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Archives of Women's Mental Health

Sensitive Caregiving and Reward Responsivity: A Novel Mechanism Linking Parenting and Executive Functions Development in Early Childhood

Werchan, D. M., Ku, S., Berry, D., & Blair, C.
‍Developmental Science

Perceived Discrimination as a Modifier of Health, Disease, and Medicine: Empirical Data from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thomason, M. E., Hendrix, C. L., Werchan, D. M., & Brito, N. H.
Translational Psychiatry

Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age

Brito, N. H., Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., Greaves, A., & Zhang, M.
Child Development

Behavioral Coping Phenotypes and Psychosocial Outcomes in a National US Sample of Pregnant and Postpartum Women During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Werchan, D. M., Hendrix, C. L., et al., & Brito, N. H.
Nature Scientific Reports

COVID-19 Patient Accounts of Illness Severity, Treatments and Lasting Symptoms

Thomason, M. E., Werchan, D. M., & Hendrix, C. L.
Nature Scientific Data

2021

Miswiring the Brain: Human Prenatal Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Use Associated with Altered Fetal Hippocampal Brain Network Connectivity

Thomason, M. E., Palopoli, A. C., Jariwala, N. N., Werchan, D. M., et al., & Trentacosta, C. J.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

All Contexts Are Not Created Equal: Social Stimuli Win the Competition for Organizing Reinforcement Learning in 9-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Science

A Daytime Nap Combined with Nighttime Sleep Promotes Learning in Toddlers

Werchan, D. M., Kim, J., & Gómez, R. L.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

2020

Top-Down Knowledge Rapidly Acquired Through PFC-Dependent Rule Learning Biases Visual Attention in 9-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Adaptive Rule Learning of Event Sequences During the A‐not‐B Task in 9‐Month‐Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso., D.
‍Developmental Psychobiology

2019

The Emergence of Object-Based Visual Attention in Infancy: A Role for Family Socioeconomic Status and Competing Visual Features

Werchan, D. M., Lynn, A., Baumgartner, H., Kirkham, N. Z., & Amso, D.
Infancy

2018

The Origins of Cortical Multisensory Dynamics: Evidence from Human Infants

Werchan, D. M., Baumgartner, H., Lewkowicz, D., & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

2017

A Novel Ecological Model of Prefrontal Cortex Functional Development

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
Psychological Review

2016

Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Learning and Generalizing Hierarchical Rules in 8-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M., Collins, A. G. E., Frank, M. J., & Amso, D.
‍The Journal Of Neuroscience

Sleep Confers a Benefit for Retention of Statistical Language Learning in 6.5-Month-Olds

Simon, K. N. S., Werchan, D. M., Goldstein, M., Sweeney, L., Bootzin, R. R., Nadel, L., & Gómez, R. L.
‍Brain & Language

2015

Eight-Month-Old Infants Spontaneously Learn and Generalize Hierarchical Rules

Werchan, D. M., Collins, A. G. E., Frank, M. J., & Amso, D.
Psychological Science

2014

Wakefulness (Not Sleep) Promotes Generalization of Word Learning in 2.5-Year-Old Children

Werchan, D. M.& Gómez, R. L.
‍Child Development

2013

Generalizing Memories Over Time: Reinforcement and Sleep Facilitate Transitive Inference

Werchan, D. M.& Gómez, R. L.
‍Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Software & Open Data

OWLET — Online Webcam-Linked Eye Tracker

An automated, open-source tool that measures infant gaze behavior from videos recorded on personal computers or mobile devices at home. Applies computer vision and machine learning to quantify infant looking behavior without specialized hardware.

www.github.com/denisemw/owlet

Infant Eye Tracking Video Preprocessing

A companion open-source package for preprocessing raw infant eye-tracking video data, designed to work alongside OWLET for scalable remote developmental assessments.

www.github.com/denisemw/owlet-preprocessing

Novel Coronavirus Illness Patient Report (NCIPR) Dataset

Complete survey responses from 1,592 confirmed COVID-19 patients ages 18–98. Covers symptoms, medical complications, home and hospital treatments, lasting effects, anxiety about illness, employment impacts, quarantine behaviors, vaccine-related behaviors, and illness of household members.

https://osf.io/82rkj/overview

2025 & in press

Unpredictable Caregiving is Associated with Disrupted Neurophysiological Measures of Attention and Autonomic Function in Three-Month-Old Infants. ‍

Werchan, D. M., Aitken, A., Giménez, L., Braren, S., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

COVID-19 Infection During Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopment

Thomason, M. E., Werchan, D. M., Ji, L., Hendrix, C. L., Susskind, B., Duffy, M., Brito, N. H., & McCormack, C.
Pediatric Research

From Focus to Function: Longitudinal Insights into Infant Attention and Emerging Executive Functions via Remote Webcam Eye Tracking

Werchan, D. M., Hume, A. M., Zhang, M., Vo, T., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Psychology

2024

Naturalistic Patterns of Sustained Attention Across Early Childhood: Developmental Profiles and Longitudinal Associations with Executive Functions

Werchan, D. M., Aitken, A. B., Ku, S., & Blair, C.
‍Developmental Psychology

2023

Effects of Prenatal Psychosocial Stress and COVID-19 Infection on Infant Attention and Socioemotional Development

Werchan, D. M., Hendrix, C. L., Hume, A., Zhang, M., Thomason, M. E., & Brito, N. H.
‍Pediatric Research

2022

Signal in the Noise: Dimensions of Predictability in the Home Auditory Environment are Associated with Neurobehavioral Measures of Early Infant Sustained Attention

Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Psychobiology

Fetal Frontolimbic Connectivity Prospectively Associates with Aggression in Toddlers

Hendrix, C. L., Ji, L., Werchan, D. M., Majbri, A., Trentacosta, C. J., Burt, A., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science

Sensitive Caregiving and Reward Responsivity: A Novel Mechanism Linking Parenting and Executive Functions Development in Early Childhood

Werchan, D. M., Ku, S., Berry, D., & Blair, C.
‍Developmental Science

Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age

Brito, N. H., Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., Greaves, A., & Zhang, M.
Child Development

2021

Miswiring the Brain: Human Prenatal Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Use Associated with Altered Fetal Hippocampal Brain Network Connectivity

Thomason, M. E., Palopoli, A. C., Jariwala, N. N., Werchan, D. M., et al., & Trentacosta, C. J.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

All Contexts Are Not Created Equal: Social Stimuli Win the Competition for Organizing Reinforcement Learning in 9-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Science

A Daytime Nap Combined with Nighttime Sleep Promotes Learning in Toddlers

Werchan, D. M., Kim, J., & Gómez, R. L.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

2020

Top-Down Knowledge Rapidly Acquired Through PFC-Dependent Rule Learning Biases Visual Attention in 9-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Adaptive Rule Learning of Event Sequences During the A‐not‐B Task in 9‐Month‐Old Infants

Werchan, D. M. & Amso., D.
‍Developmental Psychobiology

2019

The Emergence of Object-Based Visual Attention in Infancy: A Role for Family Socioeconomic Status and Competing Visual Features

Werchan, D. M., Lynn, A., Baumgartner, H., Kirkham, N. Z., & Amso, D.
Infancy

2018

The Origins of Cortical Multisensory Dynamics: Evidence from Human Infants

Werchan, D. M., Baumgartner, H., Lewkowicz, D., & Amso, D.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

2017

A Novel Ecological Model of Prefrontal Cortex Functional Development

Werchan, D. M. & Amso, D.
Psychological Review

2016

Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Learning and Generalizing Hierarchical Rules in 8-Month-Old Infants

Werchan, D. M., Collins, A. G. E., Frank, M. J., & Amso, D.
‍The Journal Of Neuroscience

Sleep Confers a Benefit for Retention of Statistical Language Learning in 6.5-Month-Olds

Simon, K. N. S., Werchan, D. M., Goldstein, M., Sweeney, L., Bootzin, R. R., Nadel, L., & Gómez, R. L.
‍Brain & Language

2015

Eight-Month-Old Infants Spontaneously Learn and Generalize Hierarchical Rules

Werchan, D. M., Collins, A. G. E., Frank, M. J., & Amso, D.
Psychological Science

2014

Wakefulness (Not Sleep) Promotes Generalization of Word Learning in 2.5-Year-Old Children

Werchan, D. M.& Gómez, R. L.
‍Child Development

2013

Generalizing Memories Over Time: Reinforcement and Sleep Facilitate Transitive Inference

Werchan, D. M.& Gómez, R. L.
‍Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

2025 & in press

Unpredictable Caregiving is Associated with Disrupted Neurophysiological Measures of Attention and Autonomic Function in Three-Month-Old Infants. ‍

Werchan, D. M., Aitken, A., Giménez, L., Braren, S., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

2022

Signal in the Noise: Dimensions of Predictability in the Home Auditory Environment are Associated with Neurobehavioral Measures of Early Infant Sustained Attention

Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., & Brito, N. H.
‍Developmental Psychobiology

Sensitive Caregiving and Reward Responsivity: A Novel Mechanism Linking Parenting and Executive Functions Development in Early Childhood

Werchan, D. M., Ku, S., Berry, D., & Blair, C.
‍Developmental Science

Perceived Discrimination as a Modifier of Health, Disease, and Medicine: Empirical Data from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thomason, M. E., Hendrix, C. L., Werchan, D. M., & Brito, N. H.
Translational Psychiatry

Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age

Brito, N. H., Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., Greaves, A., & Zhang, M.
Child Development

2019

The Emergence of Object-Based Visual Attention in Infancy: A Role for Family Socioeconomic Status and Competing Visual Features

Werchan, D. M., Lynn, A., Baumgartner, H., Kirkham, N. Z., & Amso, D.
Infancy

2025 & in press

Maternal Milk Allopregnanolone May Buffer Negative Associations Between Maternal Postpartum Psychological Distress and Infant Regulatory Capacity

Werchan, D. M., Suskind, B., Howell, B., Brito, N. H., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Developmental Psychiobiology

COVID-19 Infection During Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopment

Thomason, M. E., Werchan, D. M., Ji, L., Hendrix, C. L., Susskind, B., Duffy, M., Brito, N. H., & McCormack, C.
Pediatric Research

2024

Maternal Heart Rate Variability at 3-Months Postpartum is Associated with Maternal Mental Health and Infant Neurophysiology

Brandes-Aitken, A., Hume, A., Braren, S., Werchan, D. M., Zhang, M., & Brito, N. H.
‍Nature Scientific Reports

Trajectories of Maternal Depressive Symptoms from Infancy Through Early Childhood: The Roles of Perceived Financial Strain, Social Support, and Intimate Partner Violence

Ku, S., Werchan, D. M., Feng, X., & Blair, C.
‍Development & Psychopathology

2023

Effects of Prenatal Psychosocial Stress and COVID-19 Infection on Infant Attention and Socioemotional Development

Werchan, D. M., Hendrix, C. L., Hume, A., Zhang, M., Thomason, M. E., & Brito, N. H.
‍Pediatric Research

2022

Geotemporal Analysis of Perinatal Care Changes and Maternal Mental Health: An Example from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hendrix, C. L., Werchan, D. M., et al., & Thomason, M. E.
‍Archives of Women's Mental Health

Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age

Brito, N. H., Werchan, D. M., Brandes-Aitken, A., Greaves, A., & Zhang, M.
Child Development

Behavioral Coping Phenotypes and Psychosocial Outcomes in a National US Sample of Pregnant and Postpartum Women During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Werchan, D. M., Hendrix, C. L., et al., & Brito, N. H.
Nature Scientific Reports

2021

Miswiring the Brain: Human Prenatal Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Use Associated with Altered Fetal Hippocampal Brain Network Connectivity

Thomason, M. E., Palopoli, A. C., Jariwala, N. N., Werchan, D. M., et al., & Trentacosta, C. J.
‍Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

2022

OWLET: An Automated, Open-Source Method for Infant Gaze Tracking using Smartphone and Webcam Recordings

Werchan, D. M., Thomason, M. E., & Brito, N. H.
‍Behavior Research Methods

COVID-19 Patient Accounts of Illness Severity, Treatments and Lasting Symptoms

Thomason, M. E., Werchan, D. M., & Hendrix, C. L.
Nature Scientific Data

Software & Open Data

OWLET — Online Webcam-Linked Eye Tracker

An automated, open-source tool that measures infant gaze behavior from videos recorded on personal computers or mobile devices at home. Applies computer vision and machine learning to quantify infant looking behavior without specialized hardware.

www.github.com/denisemw/owlet

Infant Eye Tracking Video Preprocessing

A companion open-source package for preprocessing raw infant eye-tracking video data, designed to work alongside OWLET for scalable remote developmental assessments.

www.github.com/denisemw/owlet-preprocessing

Novel Coronavirus Illness Patient Report (NCIPR) Dataset

Complete survey responses from 1,592 confirmed COVID-19 patients ages 18–98. Covers symptoms, medical complications, home and hospital treatments, lasting effects, anxiety about illness, employment impacts, quarantine behaviors, vaccine-related behaviors, and illness of household members.

https://osf.io/82rkj/overview