NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF POSTURAL FUNCTION IN INFANTS

描述(由申请人提供)：主要目标是准备候选人进行生物医学研究，作为儿童运动发育和临床儿科研究对象群体的独立研究员。应聘者有生物力学和数学的背景，特别是非线性动力学。他是一位以研究为导向的定量科学家，计划将自己的分析能力应用于临床、生物医学和行为问题的研究。应聘者将接受与儿科人群相关的重点课程和研究培训。他将通过接受两个核心领域的课程来加强他的教育：1)儿童发展和神经生理学，2)负责任的研究工作。杰弗里·弗伦奇博士和布拉德利·谢弗博士将指导候选人的研究发展，并指导他进行儿童运动发育研究的强化研究培训，特别是婴儿姿势控制。这项研究的主要目的是通过研究婴儿时期坐姿的发展来增加对姿势控制的理解。尽管进行了相当大的治疗努力，但早期姿势控制的发展仍然知之甚少。有发育问题的婴儿在获得坐姿方面表现出一些最初的延迟，随后出现了适当的姿势和运动控制问题。在婴儿生命的早期阶段，识别延迟、确定问题的性质并快速评估治疗的有效性是至关重要的，因为这是可塑性最强的时期。从非线性动力学的方法，越来越多地被用来检查生物节律，在这项研究中，将被用来分析和量化在坐着时根据压力中心(COP)数据发展的姿势控制。PI假设，非线性工具将足够灵敏，以量化正常姿势控制随时间的演变，无论是典型发育中的婴儿还是患有良性先天性低眼压的婴儿。这项研究将进一步了解早期姿势控制的发展，并为评估旨在改善姿势控制的治疗提供更好的方法。这些信息将为未来研究治疗姿势和运动障碍的婴儿和儿童的疗效奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary objective is to prepare the candidate to perform biomedical research as an independent investigator in child motor development and with clinical pediatric subject populations. The candidate has backgrounds in biomechanics and mathematics, specifically nonlinear dynamics. He is a research-oriented quantitative scientist who plans to apply his analytical abilities to study clinical biomedical and behavioral questions. The candidate will receive focused coursework and research training related to pediatric populations. He will enhance his education by receiving coursework in two core areas: 1) child development and neurophysiology, and 2) responsible conduct of research. Dr. Jeffrey French and Dr. Bradley Schaefer will mentor the candidate's research development and guide him in intensive research training for the study of child motor development, specifically infant postural control. The primary objective of this research is to increase understanding of postural control by examining the development of sitting posture in infancy. The development of early posture control remains poorly understood despite considerable therapeutic effort. Infants with developmental problems show some of their first delays in the acquisition of sitting, with subsequent problems developing adequate posture and movement control. Identifying the delay, determining the nature of the problem, and evaluating the effectiveness of treatment quickly is vital in the early part of an infant's life, since this is the time of greatest plasticity. Methods from nonlinear dynamics, which are increasingly being used to examine biological rhythms, will be used in this study to analyze and quantify developing postural control from center of pressure (COP) data during sitting. The PIs hypothesize that nonlinear tools will be sensitive enough to quantify the evolution of normal postural control over time in both typically developing infants and infants with benign congenital hypotonia. The proposed research will further understanding of the development of early postural control and provide better methods for evaluating treatment aimed at improving postural control. This information will lay the groundwork for future studies into the efficacy of treatment for infants and children with disorders of posture and movement.