Development of brain activity and motor control in early human life

人类早期大脑活动和运动控制的发展

• 批准号: MR/P008712/1
• 负责人: Tomoki Arichi
• 金额: $ 140.82万
• 依托单位: King's College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FP008712%2F1
• 关键词: Development; brain; activity; motor; control

An injury to the brain during the crucial stages of early life in the womb and around the time of birth can lead to life-long difficulties with brain function. Damage to the specific areas of the brain which control how the body moves at this time can result in cerebral palsy, which can consist of permanent limb paralysis or uncontrolled movements. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, perhaps due to a fundamental lack of knowledge about how the brain and its activity actually develops control over how the body moves in the earliest stages of life. Furthermore, current medical tests cannot accurately identify which babies will develop cerebral palsy later in childhood, which means that doctors cannot start early treatment and leaving families with several months of stressful uncertainty. Right from the earliest stages of pregnancy, babies can be seen and felt to be moving inside the womb. After birth, they continue to move in a seemingly random way until 6 months of age when they begin to make clearer controlled and purposeful movements. Previous studies suggest that even at this early stage, the brain can alter how it controls movement through simple learning. In this early period of life, the human brain is undergoing more dramatic changes in size, shape, and structure than at any other time, and therefore there must also be enormous changes in how its activity evolves to allow these new patterns of movement. I therefore plan to use specialist techniques to precisely measure how babies move (both inside and outside the womb) and then identify and locate the accompanying brain activity. I will study how this changes as a baby grows during their first 6 months, and explore how the relationship is affected by early brain injury. Finally I will try to understand how brain activity and movements can be altered by stimulation through learning. The results of these studies will provide new and important insights about how the brain matures through and then controls movements in the first year. This fundamental knowledge will help doctors and scientists understand how to try and ensure healthy brain development and movements in early life. It will also help them to diagnose, potentially prevent and treat conditions like cerebral palsy which affect the control of movement in children.

在子宫早期生命的关键阶段和出生前后对大脑的损伤可能导致终身的大脑功能障碍。大脑中控制身体如何运动的特定区域的损伤可能导致脑瘫，这可能包括永久性肢体瘫痪或不受控制的运动。目前还没有治愈脑瘫的方法，也许是由于对大脑及其活动如何在生命的最早阶段实际控制身体运动的基本知识缺乏。此外，目前的医学测试无法准确识别哪些婴儿在童年后期会患上脑瘫，这意味着医生无法开始早期治疗，并使家庭面临数月的压力和不确定性。从怀孕的最初阶段开始，就可以看到和感觉到婴儿在子宫内移动。出生后，他们继续以看似随机的方式移动，直到6个月大时，他们开始做出更清晰的控制和有目的的运动。以前的研究表明，即使在这个早期阶段，大脑也可以通过简单的学习来改变它控制运动的方式。在生命的早期阶段，人类大脑在大小、形状和结构上发生的变化比其他任何时候都要大，因此，大脑的活动也必须发生巨大的变化，才能产生这些新的运动模式。因此，我计划使用专业技术来精确测量婴儿如何移动（包括子宫内外），然后识别和定位伴随的大脑活动。我将研究婴儿在前6个月的成长过程中这种关系是如何变化的，并探索这种关系如何受到早期脑损伤的影响。最后，我将试图了解大脑活动和运动如何通过学习刺激来改变。这些研究的结果将为大脑如何在第一年成熟并控制运动提供新的重要见解。这些基本知识将帮助医生和科学家了解如何尝试并确保早期生命中健康的大脑发育和运动。它还将帮助他们诊断，潜在地预防和治疗影响儿童运动控制的脑瘫等疾病。

项目成果

The developing brain structural and functional connectome fingerprint.

• DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101117
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
• 影响因子: 4.7
• 作者: Ciarrusta, Judit;Christiaens, Daan;Fitzgibbon, Sean P.;Dimitrova, Ralica;Hutter, Jana;Hughes, Emer;Duff, Eugene;Price, Anthony N.;Cordero-Grande, Lucilio;Tournier, J. -Donald;Rueckert, Daniel;V. Hajnal, Joseph;Arichi, Tomoki;McAlonan, Grainne;Edwards, David;Batalle, Dafnis
• 通讯作者: Batalle, Dafnis