Sangath: A Scalable Approach to Measuring Neurodevelopment in Early Childhood

A Collaboration between REACH Network and Yasha Jain

India is home to the largest population of children in the world, yet early childhood brain development remains difficult to assess at scale. While physical growth is easily monitored through weight and height, neurodevelopmental milestones—such as cognitive and emotional development—are far more challenging to measure, especially outside clinical settings.

Currently, such assessments require highly trained professionals, such as pediatricians or child psychologists, using time-intensive and costly tools. These limitations make early diagnosis of cognitive delays or developmental disorders inaccessible to millions of children, particularly in under-resourced settings.

Project Overview

In collaboration with the REACH Network, this project aims to democratize access to early childhood cognitive assessment by creating a tablet-based, scalable neurodevelopmental tool for children aged 3–5 years.

The goal: to empower community health workers—not just clinicians—to assess children's cognitive development in their own homes, using intuitive, game-like tasks.

How It Works

The tool is delivered via an Android-based app that features a suite of interactive games specifically designed to test key cognitive skills:

• Attention

• Inhibitory control

• Working memory

• Visual reasoning

• Integration and pattern recognition

Each task has been tailored to suit children from a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds, drawing on insights gathered from extensive fieldwork in schools across India. The games are designed to be playful and engaging, while still providing meaningful metrics on developmental milestones.

The full assessment pipeline will eventually combine these tablet-based tasks with low-cost EEG recordings, offering a powerful composite picture of neurodevelopment.

Yasha Jain led the design and development of the core assessment app and data pipeline. Key contributions include:

• Game Design & Cognitive Mapping:

  • Created games that aligned behavioral mechanics with neuroscientific markers of child development.

  • Conducted field visits to local schools to test prototypes and understand which game mechanics most engage young children.

• Data Infrastructure & Analysis Tools:

  • Built an internal system to log gameplay data, allowing for detailed insights into children's performance over time.

  • Designed tools for teachers and healthcare workers to view usage patterns and cognitive trends.

• Scalability Focus:

  • Developed the app for low-cost Android tablets, ensuring that it could run offline and in rural environments.

  • Focused on intuitive UI/UX for non-specialist users (community health workers and schoolteachers).

Impact & Future Direction

By removing the dependency on expensive tools and clinical settings, this tool is a step toward more equitable, early detection of developmental delays. As the project moves forward, it aims to be validated across diverse populations and eventually implemented as a nationwide early childhood assessment standard.

Future versions will include:

• Integration with EEG analysis for neurophysiological validation

• Expanded age range and task types

• Multilingual support and localized content

• AI-assisted flagging of potential developmental risk patterns

Sangath represents a critical shift in how we think about measuring and supporting early brain development—not just in India, but in any context where access to traditional mental health resources is limited.