Role of early motor experience in infants with Down syndrome (DS)

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PROJECT SUMMARY This is a one-year administrative supplement to the parent award titled “Role of early motor experience in infants with Down syndrome (DS)”. Characterizing the process of motor and language development requires extensive data collection within a specific time window. Previous longitudinal studies have been hindered by logistic barriers of traveling to infants’ homes or bringing them to the lab for frequent data collections. Motor data are typically recorded using cameras and reflective markers, which requires expertise in marker placement on anatomical landmarks such as center of a joint. Emerging markerless motion capture and analysis may induce a paradigm shift in video recording of longitudinal motor data. The markerless technology has become more realistic due to recent advances in mobile technology (such as smartphone/tablet and cloud storage) and video analysis (such as computer vision and machine learning). Aim 1: Examine the reliability of markerless motor data compared to traditional marker-based motor data in infant treadmill stepping and reaching/grasping. We will utilize mobile technology (smartphone/tablet and cloud storage) to collect markerless data of treadmill stepping and reaching/grasping during our monthly home visits. We will use OpenPose (a computer vision/machine learning software) to quantify leg movement of treadmill stepping and arm movement of reaching/grasping. We will compare the markerless data with the marker-based data collected from the parent project. We hypothesize that the markerless motor data are comparable to the traditional marker-based motor data in infants with DS during treadmill stepping and reaching/grasping. When proven reliable, this new technology will allow parents in future studies to use their own devices to record their child’s motor data on a more frequent basis. This will generate a larger, real-world motor data during training and open the door for comprehensively studying the subjects’ daily motor activities beyond training. Aim 2: Promote the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) of the parent project by recruiting two underrepresented undergraduate and two doctoral students and providing them with comprehensive research mentoring and career development. We will use the framework of the NIH UNITE and NICHD STRIVE initiatives to diversify our research team and create an individualized mentoring plan. Georgia State University is one of the most diverse universities in the United States and has been known for its research innovation, DEIA initiatives, and student success. The PIs have successfully mentored underrepresented students and will continue their DEIA efforts. The mentoring plan will include, but not limited to, training on data collection and analysis, clinical experience in DS clinics and other clinical settings, attendance and participation in research seminars, weekly research meetings with PIs, presentations at scientific conferences, participation and promotion of DEIA events, and professional development. For doctoral students, mentoring will also include manuscript publication and grantsmanship.