Development of brain activity and motor control in early human life

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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.