Hands-On Exploration of Child and Adolescent Mental Health with the Healthy Brain Network
The Healthy Brain Network (HBN) is a large community initiative and open data project run by the Child Mind Institute (CMI). Its goal is to better understand mental health and learning in children and adolescents in New York City. Families can take part in the clinical and research study if they have concerns about their child’s mental health or learning to receive a free, comprehensive clinical evaluation. Over the past decade, the Healthy Brain Network has collected and openly shared anonymized data from more than 4,000 children and adolescents. This information includes behavioral, clinical, and brain-based data, and is made freely available to researchers, educators, and the public to support new discoveries in mental health and psychiatric research.
In this hands-on session, the CMI data team will introduce the openly accessible Healthy Brain Network (HBN) datasets with a focus on wristwatch actigraphy data, which consists of continuous measurements collected from a wearable device worn on the wrist, similar to a fitness tracker. These data provide insights into daily activity patterns and sleep over time.
Attendees will learn how to download, explore, visualize, and analyze actigraphy signals using wristpy, an open-source Python package developed by CMI. Through guided activities, attendees will discover how these data can be used to uncover patterns over time and generate insights into behavior and mental health. This virtual class/training aims to spark curiosity and empower individuals to explore and engage with HBN data.
