Parental influences on recovery after early brain injury

大脑损伤与一系列行为后遗症有关，这些后遗症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。脑损伤可能在一生中的任何时候发生，但生命的某些阶段比其他阶段造成更大的损伤风险。特别容易遭受脑损伤的时间是在怀孕和早期婴儿的某些时期。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一个重要的理由。此外，通过记录脑损伤后的功能缺陷和由此导致的形态，我们可以深入了解发生在大脑中的正常个体发育过程的性质，以及它们如何支持行为。拟议的研究包括并检查产前母方和父方的经历如何影响发育中的大脑，并调节围产期脑损伤后的结局。此外，我建议研究出生后环境的影响如何改变出生前设定的发展轨迹。总而言之，这项拟议的研究的重点是父母的经历(无论是产前还是怀孕前)对后代的大脑发育和可塑性的作用。我们的目标是进一步了解产前经历对发育中的大脑的连接产生的影响，以及最终它如何从围产期皮质损伤中恢复。这项研究应该能更深入地理解早期经历是如何塑造大脑对后来经历的反应的。

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.