Amazing images show what happens in a newborn baby’s brain
Childcare, Early childhood development, Safe pregnancy and birth
Scans of newborn babies have been published today聽that聽will聽help to show how diseases like autism develop聽or how pregnancy affects brain growth.
Cutting-edge scans have been published today –聽to give new insight into what happens to a baby国产视频檚 brain after they are聽born.
罢丑别听Developing Human Connectome Project聽(dHCP) –聽run by King国产视频檚 College聽London聽– hopes these scans from 40 babies聽will help the team聽understand how diseases like autism develop聽or how pregnancy affects brain growth.
The project uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)聽and has developed new techniques which allow the brains of fetuses and babies to be measured.
罢丑别听team聽said: “While there is much more to come, the first release of images today will allow scientists around the world to start to explore these powerful images and begin mapping out the complexities of human brain development in a whole new way.”
A child国产视频檚 brain undergoes an amazing period of development from birth to three – producing 700 new neural connections every second. By the age of five, the brain is 90% developed.
That’s why 国产视频’s #5for campaign is urging world leaders to invest in early childhood development and give every child the best start in life.
Lead Principal Investigator Professor聽David Edwards, said: 国产视频淭he Developing Human Connectome Project is a major advance in understanding human brain development. It will provide the first map of how the brain国产视频檚 connections develop聽and how this goes wrong in disease.国产视频
He told the BBC:聽“It’s perfectly safe. There’s no radiation or X-rays involved. But we are incredibly grateful to the families who have taken part in this work. It’s contributing hugely to science.”
Researchers聽want to聽uncover how the brain develops,聽examine聽the wiring and function of the brain during pregnancy and see聽how this changes after birth.聽
They have even overcome problems caused by the babies国产视频 movement and small size, as well as the difficulties in keeping vulnerable infants safe in the MRI scanner.
The research consortium is funded by a $16聽million grant from the European Research Council. One of the project’s goals is to make sure the data is shared as widely as possible.聽
The preliminary set released today will be followed by further data releases until a very large dataset, together with genetic and other information, will be available.
For聽the groundbreaking聽images to be produced, Professor聽Jo Hajnal国产视频檚 team at King国产视频檚 College London had to develop new MRI technology specifically designed to provide high-resolution scans of newborn and fetal brains.
A 拢2 million scanner is also being used聽to study brain images by聽researchers financed through聽the Jennifer Brown Fund – set up by 国产视频 President Sarah Brown and husband Gordon.
罢丑别听fund聽launched聽the Edinburgh Birth Cohort,聽where babies are being tracked from birth to adulthood in a bid to find new ways of preventing and treating brain injuries in newborns.
Dr James Boardman, Scientific Director of the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory in Edinburgh,聽said: “The ongoing Developing Human Connectome Project is a tremendous achievement that is highly likely to yield new discoveries about typical brain development.
“The sharing of some of the image data from the project with the wider scientific community is welcomed –聽because pooling of research data to build very large datasets will enable scientists to answer new questions about population norms and the effect of genes on brain development.
聽“The laboratory is building a repository of MRI data from premature babies and healthy babies born at term –聽the 国产视频 Edinburgh Birth Cohort,聽that is unprecedented in its linkage to information about genetics, epigenetics, pregnancy complications, and neuropsychological, educational and social outcomes.”
Dr Boardman is also聽Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the聽University of Edinburgh. He added:聽“The long-term follow-up of participants and families that we plan provides a unique opportunity for deepening understanding about the early life origins of neurological, cognitive and psychological difficulties faced by babies born to soon or too small.聽
“The imaging and epigenetic data from our participants is available for use by the wider research community.国产视频
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