Development of brain activity and motor control in early human life

在子宫早期生命的关键阶段和出生前后对大脑的伤害可能导致终身的大脑功能障碍。此时控制身体运动的大脑特定区域受到损伤可能导致脑瘫，包括永久性肢体瘫痪或无法控制运动。脑瘫是无法治愈的，可能是由于对大脑及其活动如何在生命的最初阶段控制身体运动的基本知识缺乏了解。此外，目前的医学测试不能准确地确定哪些婴儿会在儿童期后期患上脑瘫，这意味着医生不能开始早期治疗，给家庭留下几个月的压力和不确定性。从怀孕的最初阶段开始，婴儿就可以被看到和感觉到在子宫内运动。出生后，他们继续以一种看似随机的方式移动，直到6个月大时，他们开始做出更清晰的控制和有目的的动作。先前的研究表明，即使在这个早期阶段，大脑也可以通过简单的学习来改变控制运动的方式。在生命的早期阶段，人类的大脑在大小、形状和结构上经历了比以往任何时候都更剧烈的变化，因此，它的活动进化方式也必然发生了巨大的变化，以允许这些新的运动模式。因此，我计划使用专业技术来精确测量婴儿（子宫内外）的运动方式，然后识别和定位伴随的大脑活动。我将研究婴儿在头6个月的成长过程中这种关系是如何变化的，并探索早期脑损伤是如何影响这种关系的。最后，我将尝试理解大脑活动和运动是如何通过学习的刺激而改变的。这些研究的结果将提供新的和重要的见解，关于大脑如何成熟，然后在第一年控制运动。这一基础知识将帮助医生和科学家了解如何在生命早期尝试并确保健康的大脑发育和运动。它还将帮助他们诊断、潜在地预防和治疗影响儿童运动控制的脑瘫等疾病。

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.