Parental influences on recovery after early brain injury

大脑损伤与广泛的行为后遗症有关，可能严重损害个人的认知和运动能力，导致生活质量显著下降。脑损伤可以在生命的任何时候发生，但生命的某些阶段比其他阶段造成更大的损害风险。特别容易遭受脑损伤的时间是在妊娠和婴儿早期的某些时期。 因此，大脑对围产期损伤的敏感性为研究可能影响婴儿大脑损伤结果的因素提供了重要原因。 此外，通过记录脑损伤后的功能缺陷和由此产生的形态，我们可以深入了解大脑内发生的正常个体发育过程的性质以及它们如何支持行为。 这项研究包括检查母亲和父亲在产前的经历如何影响大脑发育和调节围产期脑损伤后的结果。 此外，我建议研究如何在出生后的环境影响，可以改变在产前时期设置的发展轨迹。 总之，拟议的研究重点是父母的经验（产前或怀孕前）对后代大脑发育和可塑性的作用。 我们的目标是进一步了解出生前的经验对大脑发育的影响，以及最终如何从围产期皮质损伤中恢复。 这项研究应该提供一个更深入的了解如何非常早期的经验塑造大脑的反应，后来的经验。

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.