Parental influences on recovery after early brain injury

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Injury to the brain is associated with a wide range of behavioural sequelae that may severely compromise the cognitive and motor capacities of the individual, leading to a significant decrement in the quality of life. Brain injury can occur at anytime during the lifespan but some stages of life pose a greater risk for damage than others. Particularly vulnerable times to experience brain injury are during certain periods of gestation and early infancy. The sensitivity of the brain to perinatal injury therefore provides an important reason for studying factors that might influence outcomes from damage to the infant brain. Furthermore, by documenting the functional deficits and resulting morphology following brain injury, we can gain insight into the nature of the normal ontogenetic processes that occur within the brain and how they support behaviour. The research proposed includes and examination of how maternal and paternal experience in the prenatal period influences the developing brain and modulates outcome after perinatal brain injury. In addition, I propose to study how environmental influences in the postnatal period can alter developmental trajectories set in the prenatal period. In summary, the focus of the proposed research is on the role of parental experience (either prenatal or preconception) on brain development and plasticity in offspring. The goal is to further understand the impact that pre-birth experience has on the wiring of the developing brain and ultimately how it recovers from a perinatal cortical injury. This research should provide a deeper understanding of how very early experiences shape brain responses to later experiences.