Dr Beyza Ustun-Elayan

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cambridge BabyLab, part of the Department of Psychology, and am currently involved in the PIPKIN Perinatal Imaging Partnership with Families study (more information at www.pipkinstudy.com). My PhD research focused on the effects of maternal diet on the chemosensory perception of fetuses and its subsequent impact on fetal flavor memory and infant food-related behaviours. This work has been featured in several forums including BBC, CNN, and The Guardian, and the core paper can be accessed here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976221105460.

Currently, my research explores the effects of auditory exposure during the last trimester of pregnancy and its impact on the social brain and language development post-birth. Additionally, I am interested in other maternal factors such as mental health, smoking, and caffeine consumption during pregnancy.

In my studies, I use 2D/4D ultrasound scans to measure fetal reactions to various stimuli (flavour, sound, light, etc.) and perform frame-by-frame coding using a scheme suitable for coding facial expressions on fetal, newborn, infant, and child faces.