Dorsal and ventral cortical stream function in normal development and in at-risk infants born prematurely

大脑网络解释来自眼睛的信息是最早发展起来的，所以我们可以用视力的测量来告诉我们一个婴儿？S的大脑是否发育正常。在大脑中有两个主要的视觉网络，腹侧流？用于识别图案、物体和面部，以及背部？流，它记录对象的移动和位置，以控制到达等操作。我们已经发现背流？在患有某些遗传性发育障碍的儿童，如威廉姆斯综合征、自闭症，以及遭受脑损伤的儿童中，尤其容易受到影响，这些儿童通常是由于出生前后的缺氧期。我们会设计出新的？脑电波？针对婴儿和儿童的测量，以及对儿童友好的计算机测试，以测量背侧和腹侧溪流相对发育的正常过程。我们将使用不同类型的运动(背部运动)，例如当我们向前移动时发生的向外运动，以及我们看到物体相对于其背景运动的相对运动。我们将把这些与儿童进行比较？S能够看到这些模式的类似但静态的版本，这些模式在腹侧流中进行处理。我们将应用这些测试来研究早产婴儿的发育，这些婴儿面临着终身问题的风险，从注意力缺陷(ADHD)到严重的脑瘫。随着特殊干预疗法在新生儿期的临床试验的引入，一个主要的困难是出生前后的干预之间存在很长的延迟，而这些孩子的S能力可以被测量的年龄要晚得多。我们将通过为出生后头几个月的婴儿设计安全、有效的测试来弥合这一差距，以测量背侧和腹侧视流的视觉处理。我们将把我们的测试结果与MRI大脑成像分析进行比较，以确定哪些大脑系统最容易受到损害，哪些可以恢复或替代，以及哪些婴儿测试是预测以后能力的最佳指标。我们的长期目标是设计和使用这些针对特定视力方面的敏感测试，以评估对以后出现问题的高风险儿童进行早期治疗的有效性，无论这些问题是由遗传疾病还是早期脑损伤引起的，以便尽早引入有效的治疗方法，以减少终生心理健康问题，并降低医疗和教育成本。

Brain networks to interpret information from the eyes are among the earliest to develop, and so we can use measures of vision to tell us whether an infant?s brain is developing normally. Within the brain there are two major visual networks, the ?ventral stream? for identifying patterns, objects and faces, and the ?dorsal? stream which registers the movements and positions of objects to control actions such as reaching. We have found that the ?dorsal stream? is particularly vulnerable in children with certain genetic developmental disorders e.g. Williams Syndrome, autism, and in children who have suffered brain damage, often due to periods of oxygen lack around birth. We will devise new ?brain wave? measures for infants and children alongside child-friendly computer tests to measure the normal course of relative development in dorsal and ventral streams. We will use different types of motion (dorsal) e.g. the outward movement that occurs when we move forwards, and the relative movement by which we see an object move against its background. We will compare these to children?s ability to see similar but static versions of these patterns, which are processed in the ventral stream. We will apply these tests to study development in infants born very prematurely, who are at risk of lifelong problems, ranging from attention deficits (ADHD) to severe cerebral palsy. As clinical trials of therapies in the newborn periodwith special intervention therapies are introduced, a major difficulty is the long delay between intervention around birth, and much later ages at which these children?s abilities can be measured. We will bridge this gap by designing safe, effective tests for babies in the first months of life, to measure visual processing in the dorsal and ventral streams. We will compare our test results with MRI brain imaging analyses carried out at birth) and with development up to 18 months, to identify which brain systems are most vulnerable to damage, which can recover or be substituted, and which infant tests are the best predictors of later abilities.Our longer term goal is to design and use these sensitive tests for specific aspects of vision to evaluate the effectiveness of early treatment in children at high risk of later problems, whether they arise from genetic disorders or early brain damage, so that effective therapies can be introduced as early as possible to reduce lifelong mental health problems and reduce healthcare and educational costs.