Browsing by Subject "neurodevelopment"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Editorial: Genetics and epigenetics of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
    (2015-04) Mason, Stephen; Zhou, Feng C; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, IU School of Medicine
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    Effects of biscuit-type feeding supplementation on the neurocognitive outcomes of HIV-affected school-age children: a randomized, double-blind, controlled intervention trial in Kenya
    (Compuscript, 2017-12-01) Khee Loo, Kek; Rizzo, Shemra; Chen, Qiaolin; Weiss, Robert E.; Sugar, Catherine A.; Ettyang, Grace; Ernst, Judith; Samari, Goleen; Neumann, Charlotte G.; Health Sciences, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
    Objective: To determine if meat or soy protein dietary supplementation will enhance the neurocognitive performance of HIV-affected children at-risk of malnutrition and food insecurity. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, controlled intervention trial evaluated the effect of nutritional supplementation on the neurocognitive outcomes of 49 HIV-affected school-age children in western Kenya. The intervention consisted in providing the mother, target child, and siblings with one of three isocaloric biscuit-type supplements – soy, wheat, or beef – on 5 days per week for 18 months. Neurocognitive outcomes of the target children were assessed by a battery of eight measures and followed up longitudinally for up to 24 months. Results: Mixed effects modeling demonstrated significant differences in the rates of increase over time among all three groups (F test degrees of freedom of 2, P<0.05) for Raven’s progressive matrices performance, but not for verbal meaning, arithmetic, digit span backward, forward, and total, embedded figure test, and Beery visual–motor integration scores. Conclusion: HIV-affected school-age children provided with soy protein supplementation showed greater improvement in nonverbal cognitive (fluid intelligence) performance compared with peers who received isocaloric beef or wheat biscuits. Soy nutrients may have an enhancing effect on neurocognitive skills in HIV-affected school-age children
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    Endocannabinoids Regulate Cerebellar Granule Cell Differentiation
    (2017-09) Essex, Amanda; Black, Kylie; Baygani, Shawyon; Mier, Tristan; Martinez, Ricardo; Mackie, Ken; Kalinovsky, Anna
    The cerebellum plays a crucial role in learning and execution of complex automated behaviors, including fine motor skills, language, and emotional regulation. Cerebellar development continues throughout an extended postnatal period. The most numerous neurons in the cerebellum, as well as the entire brain, are the cerebellar granule cells (GCs), which are generated in a dedicated secondary proliferative zone, the external granule cell layer (EGL), during the first three postnatal weeks in mice, and over a year in humans. The robust expansion of granule cells during early development is responsible for the majority of cerebellar expansion. Morphological and molecular changes that drive GC proliferation and differentiation have been extensively characterized, starting from the developmental studies by Santiago Ramón y Cajal. GC progenitors (GCPs) proliferate in the outer EGL (oEGL). As they are pushed into the inner EGL (iEGL) by the newly generated GCPs, they exit the cell cycle and begin differentiation, first extending bipolar neurites, followed by tangential migration, and eventually radial migration to the inner granule cell layer (IGL), their target territory. Deregulation of GCPs expansion, proliferation to differentiation switch, or the rate of migration could contribute to abnormal cerebellar size and compartmentalization and disrupt cerebellar circuits’ wiring and function. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) have been identified as key players regulating neuron proliferation and migration in the fore- and mid-brain development, however their role in cerebellar development has not yet been explored in detail. Our preliminary results show robust expression of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) in iEGL GCs, concomitant with expression diacylglycerol lipase α (DGLα) a major enzyme required for the synthesis of eCB 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), in PCs. Furthermore, our preliminary results show that cerebellar size is reduced in CB1 KOs. In this study we investigate the mechanisms through which eCB signaling may regulate GC proliferation and differentiation, focusing on the GCPs cycle length, rate of differentiation and migration.
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    Exploring Occupational Therapy’s Role in Optimizing Positive Sensory Experiences in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
    (2024) Gibbons, Molly; Nguyen, Elizabeth; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; Bushur, Stephanie
    Admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a psychologically and physically distressing experience for infants and their families (Givrad et al., 2021). Prolonged exposure to increased stress and overstimulation among preterm infants can have negative short- and long-term effects on health status, growth, and development (Sathish et al., 2019). This capstone project was completed at a level III NICU in central Indiana, with the purpose of increasing awareness and education related to the sensory experiences that preterm infants are exposed to in the NICU. In collaboration with the site, the capstone student aimed to address an existing gap through the creation of evidence-based educational materials and a comprehensive assessment of the sound environment within the NICU. NICU nursing staff were engaged in an educational in-service to discuss the findings of the capstone project and ways to support the creation of a healing environment as it relates to noise levels in the NICU. Through project evaluation, results indicated a positive trend in nursing staff’s knowledge and understanding as it relates to the sensory environment and ways to incorporate positive sensory experiences. Overall, the project had a positive impact on the capstone site as all participants agreed that the information provided was valuable and pertinent to the care of infants in the NICU.
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    Identifying Children With Medical Complexity for Care Coordination in Primary Care Settings
    (Sage, 2023-07) Burrell, Mikayla; Ciccarelli, Mary; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Characteristics of a cohort of 98 children with medical complexity (CMC) insured by Medicaid were identified within an urban/rural pediatric practice for embedded nurse care coordination. Ninety percent of enrolled children fit the predefined requirements of requiring 3 or more subspecialists for their care. Neurology, orthopedic surgery, endocrinology, and gastroenterology were the most frequent subspecialists engaged in longitudinal care. The expected neurodevelopmental disabilities (cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, and other complex syndromes) were found in 64% of the patients. By applying a secondary definition to include children with complex neurodevelopmental or genetic syndromes, 98% of the patients were considered to be medically complex. The use of reliable and adequate criteria to identify medical complexity is important to determine which patients would most benefit from care coordination services, and our method was deemed successful.
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    Neurodevelopment: The Impact of Nutrition and Inflammation During Early to Middle Childhood in Low-Resource Settings
    (AAP, 2017-04) John, Chandy C.; Black, Maureen M.; Nelson, Charles A., III; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    The early to middle childhood years are a critical period for child neurodevelopment. Nutritional deficiencies, infection, and inflammation are major contributors to impaired child neurodevelopment in these years, particularly in low-resource settings. This review identifies global research priorities relating to nutrition, infection, and inflammation in early to middle childhood neurodevelopment. The research priority areas identified include: (1) assessment of how nutrition, infection, or inflammation in the preconception, prenatal, and infancy periods (or interventions in these periods) affect function in early to middle childhood; (2) assessment of whether effects of nutritional interventions vary by poverty or inflammation; (3) determination of the feasibility of preschool- and school-based integrated nutritional interventions; (4) improved assessment of the epidemiology of infection- and inflammation-related neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI); (5) identification of mechanisms through which infection causes NDI; (6) identification of noninfectious causes of inflammation-related NDI and interventions for causes already identified (eg, environmental factors); and (7) studies on the effects of interactions between nutritional, infectious, and inflammatory factors on neurodevelopment in early to middle childhood. Areas of emerging importance that require additional study include the effects of maternal Zika virus infection, childhood environmental enteropathy, and alterations in the child’s microbiome on neurodevelopment in early to middle childhood. Research in these key areas will be critical to the development of interventions to optimize the neurodevelopmental potential of children worldwide in the early to middle childhood years.
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    Pharmacological Inhibition of ERK Signaling Rescues Pathophysiology and Behavioral Phenotype Associated with 16p11.2 Chromosomal Deletion in Mice
    (Society for Neuroscience, 2018-07-25) Pucilowska, Joanna; Vithayathil, Joseph; Pagani, Marco; Kelly, Caitlin; Karlo, J. Colleen; Robol, Camilla; Morella, Ilaria; Gozzi, Alessandro; Brambilla, Riccardo; Landreth, Gary E.; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    The human 16p11.2 microdeletion is one of the most common gene copy number variations linked to autism, but the pathophysiology associated with this chromosomal abnormality is largely unknown. The 593 kb deletion contains the ERK1 gene and other genes that converge onto the ERK/MAP kinase pathway. Perturbations in ERK signaling are linked to a group of related neurodevelopmental disorders hallmarked by intellectual disability, including autism. We report that mice harboring the 16p11.2 deletion exhibit a paradoxical elevation of ERK activity, cortical cytoarchitecture abnormalities and behavioral deficits. Importantly, we show that treatment with a novel ERK pathway inhibitor during a critical period of brain development rescues the molecular, anatomical and behavioral deficits in the 16p11.2 deletion mice. The ERK inhibitor treatment administered to adult mice ameliorates a subset of these behavioral deficits. Our findings provide evidence for potential targeted therapeutic intervention in 16p11.2 deletion carriers. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ERK/MAPK pathway is genetically linked to autism spectrum disorders and other syndromes typified by intellectual disability. We provide direct evidence connecting the ERK/MAP kinases to the developmental abnormalities in neurogenesis and cortical cytoarchitecture associated with the 16p11.2 chromosomal deletion. Most importantly, we demonstrate that treatment with a novel ERK-specific inhibitor during development rescues aberrant cortical cytoarchitecture and restores normal levels of cell-cycle regulators during cortical neurogenesis. These treatments partially reverse the behavioral deficits observed in the 16p11.2del mouse model, including hyperactivity, memory as well as olfaction, and maternal behavior. We also report a rescue of a subset of these deficits upon treatment of adult 16p11.2del mice. These data provide a strong rationale for therapeutic approaches to this disorder.