Dynamic functional connectivity in neonates during active and quiet sleep

Functional MRI (fMRI) tells us how different areas of the brain function together. The brain moves through different states, and this dynamic functional connectivity (FC) is key to understanding how the brain works in health, and in neurodevelopmental conditions like autism. However, dynamic FC has only ever been examined in adults. Because how the brain matures in early childhood impacts upon later development; and because neurodevelopmental conditions start early in life; we must look at infants. We aim to identify active and quiet sleep states in neonates using breathing patterns and map dynamic FC during sleep states in more than 600 fMRI datasets already acquired from sleeping newborns. We can then compare dynamic FC from a test sample of babies who are at a higher likelihood of developing conditions, like autism, against this reference. If we are successful with this pilot, future studies will examine i) what alters the maturation of dFC (informing prevention); and ii) whether newborn dynamic FC predicts childhood outcomes (informing intervention).

This project is funded by a Wellcome Trust Seed Award in Science.

PhD projects available as part of the MRC DTP (Theme 2) and the EPSRC CDT