The Impact of Brain Injury Timing on Motor and Language

In the publication of PLOS ONE, it is stated that pediatrics, neurology and radiology researchers in University of California- San Francisco used MRI to observe the brain of two sets of newborns: one group was born with congenital heart defects (CHD), whereas the other was born with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), also known as birth asphyxia.

HIE kids experience brain injury and oxygen deprivation within days to hours after birth, but CHD babies are deprived of oxygen for extended periods of time in utero, frequently months. Both groups are at greater risk for neurodevelopmental problems as they become older, which can affect everything from motor skills to attention to behavioral disorders.

The largest imaging difference between the CHD and HIE brains was in a category called 'global efficiency,' which examines how easy it is to make a link from one part of the brain to another. According to McQuillen, an effective brain is similar to a traffic system with a perfect blend of motorways and local roads that get a driver where she wants to go promptly.

The researchers will continue to follow the newborns in the study, and have just received funding from The Children's Heart Foundation to undertake additional brain imaging and testing of the children as they get older. Researchers hope that by better understanding how brain connections work and how they relate to developmental outcomes, they will be able to more rapidly link children with brain damage to early intervention. Children's therapy may one day be personalized to their specific form of brain injury.

McQuillen replied, "We're not quite there yet." "We're still characterizing what's different and applying those patterns to generate predictions about what will happen. However, I am optimistic about the future."

Works Cited:

Alice Ramirez, Shabnam Peyvandi, Stephany Cox, Dawn Gano, Duan Xu, Olga Tymofiyeva, Patrick S. McQuillen. Neonatal brain injury influences structural connectivity and childhood functional outcomes. PLOS ONE, 2022; 17 (1): e0262310 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262310