NEURODEVELOPMENT AMONG INFANTS WITH DEFORMATIONAL PLAGIOCEPHALY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) refers to cranial asymmetry believed to be attributable to external forces molding the malleable infant skull. Suspected causal factors include pre-natal factors (e.g., intrauterine constraint), post-natal events (e.g., invariant positioning during sleep) and/or underlying neuropathology. Initial studies of the neurodevelopment of children with DP have found evidence for significant deficits, but methodological problems limit the interpretation of these studies; potential explanations for such findings are unclear. Further investigation is necessary to refine etiological hypotheses and to provide clinicians and parents with accurate information regarding the neurodevelopmental correlates of DP. Several factors indicate the need for rather immediate study of these issues: the rapidly increasing rate of DP (and/or increasing awareness of and parental worry about the condition), the proliferation of associated medical treatments (helmets and craniofacial surgery), the possibility of preventable developmental problems, and the implication of causal association with the American Academy of Pediatrics "Back to Sleep" campaign. In this 5-year, longitudinal, single-center study, we will investigate these issues by recruiting 250 infants with DP and 275 matched controls, following them from age 6 to 36 months. A subgroup of DP cases will be imaged using MRI (n= 46) and compared to controls by sharing data with another NIH-funded study of normal brain development.