Publications

For an up-to-date list of publications, please visit Dr. Kelsey’s Google Scholar Page

Symbols: ⁺⁼ Authors contributed equally; ^~* Undergraduate or graduate student mentee author

2026

Kelsey, C., Sacks, D., Abron, A., Vartany, P., Mulligan, K., Bosquet Enlow, M., Nelson, C. (in press). The development of EEG microstates from infancy into middle childhood and their associations with behavior. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002183

Kelsey, C., Moulder, R., Yancey, H.^~, Prescott, S., McCulloch, J., Trinchieri, G., Dreisbach, C., Alhusen, J., & Grossmann, T. (2026). The bidirectional relations between the maternal and infant gut microbiome and behavior during the first year of postnatal life. Pediatric Research, 99, 2335–2344. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-025-04630-9 

Kelsey, C. (2026). Caroline Kelsey: Early Career Investigator (ECI) Biocommentary. Pediatric Research, 99, 2078. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-026-05023-2

2025

Allison, O., Kelsey, C., Grossmann, T. (2025). Social smiling and laughter are linked to enhanced functional brain connectivity in young infants’ default mode network. Developmental Psychobiology, 67, e70088. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.70088

Yücel, M., Luke, R., Mesquita, R., von Lühmann, A., … Kelsey, C., … (2025). FRESH: fNIRS reproducibility study hub. Communications Biology, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08412-1

Portlock, T. ⁺, Shama, T. ⁺, Kakon, S.H.⁺, Hartjen, B. ⁺, Pook, C. ⁺, Wilson, B.C.⁺, Ho, D., Shennon, I., Engelstad, A.M., Di Lorenzo, R., Greaves, G., Rahman, N., Kelsey, C., Gluckman, P.D., O’Sullivan, J.M., Haque, R., Forrester, T., & Nelson, C.A. (2025). Interconnected pathways link faecal microbiota plasma lipids and brain activity to childhood malnutrition related cognition. Nature Communications, 16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55798-3

Freitag, E. ^*, Kelsey, C., de Mendonça Filho, E. J., Pokhvisneva, I., Patel, S., Silveira, P. P., Bosquet Enlow, M. ⁺, & Nelson, C.A. ⁺ (2025). The association between temperament and polygenic score for psychopathology from infancy to middle childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14140

Kelsey, C., Kamenetskiy, A., Mulligan, K., Tiras, C. ^*, Kent, M. ^*, Bayet, L., Richards, J., Bosquet Enlow, M. ⁺, & Nelson, C.A.⁺ (2025). Forming connections: Functional brain connectivity is associated with executive functioning abilities in early childhood. Developmental Science, e13604. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13604

Sacks, D.D., Wang, Y. Abron, A., Mulligan, K., Kelsey, C., Xie, W., Nelson, C.A., Bosquet Enlow, M. (2025). EEG frontal alpha asymmetry mediates the association between maternal and child internalizing symptoms in early childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14129

2024

Stern, J. A., Kelsey, C. M., Yancey, H. ^*, & Grossmann, T. (2024). Love on the developing brain: Maternal sensitivity and infants’ neural responses to emotion in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Developmental Science, e13497. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13497

Thomas, S.^*, Kelsey, C., & Vaish, A. (2024). “No one is going to recess”: How children evaluate collective and targeted punishment. Social Development, e12730. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12730

2023

Kelsey, C., Fasman, A., Quigley, K., Dickerson, K., Bosquet Enlow, M. ⁺, & Nelson, C. A. ⁺ (2023). Context-dependent approach and avoidance behavioral profiles as indicators of psychopathology. Developmental Science, e13469. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13469

Kelsey, C., Taylor, J., Pirazzoli, L., Di Lorenzo, R., Sullivan, E., & Nelson, C. (2023). Shedding light on functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy and open science practices. Neurophotonics, 10(2), 023520. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.2.023520

Marlow, C.^*+, Kelsey, C.⁺, & Vaish, A. (2023). Children’s judgments of advantageous versus disadvantageous rule-breaking. Cognitive Development, 66, 101328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2023.101328

Dela Cruz, K., Kelsey, C., & Grossmann, T. (2023). Infant and maternal responses to emotional facial expressions: A longitudinal study. Infant Behavior and Development, 71, 101818.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101818.

Dreisbach, C., Prescott, S., Siega-Riz, A., McCulloch, J., Habermeyer, L., Dudley, D., Trinchieri, G., Kelsey, C., & Alhusen, J. (2023). Composition of the maternal gastrointestinal microbiome as a predictor of neonatal birth weight. Pediatric Research. 94(3), 1158–1165. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02584-4

McElroy, C. ^*, Kelsey, C., Oostenbroek, J., & Vaish, A. (2023). Beyond accidents: Young children’s forgiveness of third-party intentional transgressors. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 228, 105607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105607

Freitag, E. ^* & Kelsey, C. (2023). Taking a lifespan approach to polygenic scores. Behavioral and Brain Sciences [commentary], 46, E215. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X2200245X

Kelsey, C., Modico, M., Richards, J., Bosquet Enlow, M.⁺, & Nelson, C. A.⁺ (2023). Frontal asymmetry assessed in infancy using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy is associated with emotional and behavioral problems in early childhood. Child Development, 94, 563-578. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13877

Kelsey, C. (2023). A novel(ty) perspective of fear bias. Behavioral and Brain Sciences [commentary], 46, E66. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22001856

2022

Farris, K. ⁺, Kelsey, C. ⁺, Krol, K.M., Thiele, M., Hepach, R., Haun, D. B., & Grossmann, T. (2022). Processing third-party social interactions in the human infant brain. Infant and Behavioral Development, 68(101727), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101727

Chajes, J., Stern, J., Kelsey, C., & Grossmann, T. (2022). Examining the role of socioeconomic status and maternal sensitivity on functional brain network connectivity in 5-month-old infants. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16(892482), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.892482

Stern, J., Kelsey, C., Krol, K., & Grossmann, T. (2022). Maternal recognition of positive emotion predicts sensitive parenting in infancy. Emotion. 23(5), 1506–1512. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001125

2021

Kelsey, C., Farris, K., & Grossmann, T. (2021). Variability in functional brain network connectivity is associated with differences in newborn infants’ affect and behavior. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12(685754), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.685754

Haynes, K.^{* +}, Kelsey, C. ⁺, & Grossmann, T. (2021). Probing infants’ sensitivity to pupil size when viewing eyes. Infancy, 26(2), 291-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12388

Kelsey, C., Prescott, S., Valladares, T., McCulloch, J., Trinchieri, G., Dreisbach, C., Alhusen, J., & Grossmann, T. (2021). Gut microbiota composition is associated with newborn functional brain connectivity and behavioral temperament. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 91, 472-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.11.003

Highsmith, S., Blasco, T., White, K., Kelsey, C., & Melin, M. (2021). Building & Enhancing Bonding & Attachment (BEBA) clinic retrospective study. Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, 35(5), 1-35.

2020

Kelsey, C.⁺, Thompson, M.⁺, & Dallaire, D. (2020). Community-based service requests and utilization among pregnant women incarcerated in jail. Psychological Services, 17(4), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000314

2019

Kelsey, C., Krol, K., Kret, M., & Grossmann, T. (2019). Infants’ brain responses to pupillary changes in others are affected by race. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-10.

Kelsey, C. & Grossmann, T. (2019). A call for mapping the development of the microbiota-gut-brain axis during human infancy. Behavioral and Brain Sciences [commentary], 42, E74, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X18002923

Kelsey, C. ⁺, Dreisbach, C. ⁺, Alhusen, J., & Grossmann, T. (2019). A primer on investigating the role of the microbiome in brain and cognitive development. Developmental Psychobiology, 61(3), 341-349. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21778

2018

Dallaire, D., Woodards, A., & Kelsey, C. (2018). Impact of parental incarceration on neonatal outcomes and newborn home environments: A case control study. Public Health, 165, 82-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2018.08.008

Kelsey, C., Vaish, A., & Grossmann, T. (2018). Eyes, more than other facial features, enhance real-world donation behavior. Human Nature, 29(4), 390-401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-018-9327-1

Kelsey, C., Grossmann, T., & Vaish, A. (2018). Early reputation management: Three-year-old children are more generous following exposure to eyes. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(698). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00698

2017

Vaish, A., Kelsey, C., Tripathi, A. ^*, & Grossmann, T. (2017). Attentiveness to eyes predicts generosity in a reputation-relevant context. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(6) 729-733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.07.004

Dallaire, D., Forestell, C., Kelsey, C., Ptachick, B. S. & MacDonnell, K. (2017). A nutrition-based program for pregnant incarcerated women. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 56(4), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2017.1306008

Kelsey, C., Medel, N. ^*, Mullins, C. ^*, Dallaire, D., & Forestell, C. (2017). An examination of care practices of pregnant women incarcerated in jail facilities in the United States. Maternal and Child Health, 6(21), 1260-1266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2224-5

Kelsey, C., Zeman, J., & Dallaire, D. (2017). Emotion correlates of bullies, victims, and bully-victims in African American children. The Journal of Black Psychology, 43(7),688-713. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798416680719