View clinical trials related to Child Development.
Filter by:Probiotics is suggested to play several roles in promoting health, including alleviating disease symptoms, protection against atopic disease, and modulating the immune system by improving the beneficial gut microbiota colonization. The discovery of the gut microbiota-brain axis suggested that there is a reciprocal influence between the brain and the gut through a constant communication. This bi-directional axis enables signals to be transferred from brain to influence sensory, motor, and secretory modalities of the GI tract, also permits signal from the gut to influence brain function. The establishment of intestinal microbiota during early neurodevelopmental period suggests the colonization and maturation of gut microbiota may influence brain development. Several studies have shown there is an association between shifts in the gut microbiota composition in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This study aims to investigate how maternal probiotic + LC-PUFA supported with government program supplements, healthy eating, and psychosocial stimulation could affect fetal brain development and later child brain functions and cognitive development. Intervention would be delivered to pregnant women for 9 months, starting at the end of second trimester of gestational period.
The PKUBC-T is a prospective cohort study carried out in Tongzhou district of Beijing, China. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of pre-pregnant and prenatal exposure on maternal and child health. Data are collected regarding environmental, nutritional and lifestyle exposures as well as short-term and long-term health outcomes of mothers and their children from birth to 6 years old. Biological samples including blood and tissue samples are also collected from mothers and their children.
Recent advances in developmental neuroscience suggest that experiences early in life have profound and enduring influences on the developing brain. Family economic resources shape the nature of many of these experiences, yet the extent to which they affect children's development is unknown. Our team of neuroscientists, economists and developmental psychologists proposes to fill important gaps in scientific knowledge about the role of economic resources in early development by evaluating the first randomized controlled trial to determine whether unconditional cash gift payments have a causal effect on the cognitive, socio-emotional and brain development of infants and toddlers in low-income U.S. families. Specifically, 1,000 mothers of infants with incomes below the federal poverty line from four diverse U.S. communities will receive monthly cash gift payments by debit card for the first 76 months of the child's life. Parents in the experimental group will receive $333 per month ($4,000 per year), whereas parents in the active comparator group will receive a nominal monthly payment of $20. In order to understand the impacts of the added income on children's cognitive and behavioral development, the investigators will assess experimental/active comparator group differences at age 4 (this lab assessment was postponed from age 3 to age 4 due to Covid-19), age 6, and age 8, and, for a subset of measures - ages 1, 2 and 3 via maternal survey - on measures of cognitive, language, self-regulation and socio-emotional development. Brain circuitry may be sensitive to the effects of early experience even before early behavioral differences can be detected. In order to understand the impacts of added income on children's brain functioning at age 4, 6, and 8, the investigators will assess, during a lab visit, experimental/active comparator group differences in measures of brain activity (electroencephalography [EEG]). To understand how family economic behavior, parenting, and parent stress and well-being change in response to income enhancement, the investigators will assess experimental/active comparator differences in family expenditures, food insecurity, housing and neighborhood quality, family routines and time use, parent stress, mental health and cognition, parenting practices, and child care and preschool arrangements. We add school readiness and school outcomes at ages 6 and 8. This study will thus provide the first definitive understanding of the extent to which income plays a causal role in determining early child cognitive, socio-emotional and brain development among low-income families.
The proposed studies are aimed to measure Tau and P-Tau levels in pre- and postoperative blood, urine, feces and saliva, as well as to assess pre- and postoperative neurocognitive function in children (3 to 5 years old) who will have surgery under general anesthesia (single versus multiple exposures). The studies will establish a system to study biomarkers of the anesthesia/surgery-associated neurocognitive impairment in children and generate hypothesis that Tau or P-Tau serves as the biomarker of such neurocognitive impairment in children.
The Ma'anshan Birth Cohort (MABC) is a population-based prospective pregnancy and birth cohort study that aims to explore the early environmental and genetic determinants of maternal and child health, with a focus on health outcomes including maternal health, children's cognitive and behavioral development, growth and physical development, video-screen behaviors, and asthma and allergic diseases. MABC was officially launched in May 2013 at the Ma'anshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Anhui Province, and a total of 3,474 families were recruited as of September 2014 to continuously track the health status of mother-child pairs during pregnancy, delivery, and childhood, including basic family demographics, maternal pregnancy and birth history and past history, history of exposure to hazardous factors during pregnancy, children's diets and lifestyles, and children's physical and cognitive-behavioral development, MABC quantifies the attributional relationship between environmental chemicals, diet and nutrition, drug safety, psychological stress, lifestyle, biorhythm, endocrine metabolism and adverse birth outcomes, birth defects, neurodevelopmental disorders, developmental disabilities, etc., and identifies environmental, behavioral and genetic causative factors for birth defects and common developmental disorders, and identifies early warning signs and symptoms for early detection of birth defects. genetic causative factors, identify clinical biomarkers with early predictive effects, integrate and form a precise risk evaluation and early warning model, carry out regional comprehensive prevention and treatment applications, and promote the improvement of the quality of the birth population. Currently, MABC is conducting its 20th school-age follow-up visit.
There is considerable evidence that most general anaesthetics modulate brain development in animal studies. The impact is greater with longer durations of exposure and in younger animals. There is great controversy over whether or not these animal data are relevant to human clinical scenarios. The changes seen in preclinical studies are greatest with GABA agonists and NMDA antagonists such as volatile anaesthetics (eg sevoflurane), propofol, midazolam, ketamine, and nitrous oxide. There is less evidence for an effect with opioid (such as remifentanil) or with alpha 2 agonists (such as dexmedetomidine). Some, but not all, human cohort studies show an association between exposure to anaesthesia in infancy or early childhood and later changes in cognitive tests, school performance or risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders. The evidence is weak due to possible confounding. A recent well designed cohort study (the PANDA study) comparing young children that had hernia repair to their siblings found no evidence for a difference in a range of detailed neuropsychological tests. In that study most children were exposed to up to two hours of anaesthesia. The only trial (the GAS trial) has compared children having hernia repair under regional or general anesthesia and has found no evidence for a difference in neurodevelopment when tested at two years of age. The GAS and PANDA studies confirm the animal data that short exposure is unlikely to cause any neurodevelopmental impact. The impact of longer exposures is still unknown. In humans the strongest evidence for an association between surgery and poor neurodevelopmental outcome is in infants having major surgery. However, this is also the group where confounding is most likely. The aim of our study is to see if a new combination of anaesthetic drugs results in a better long-term developmental outcome than the current standard of care for children having anaesthesia expected to last 2 hours or longer. Children will be randomised to receive either a low dose sevoflurane/remifentanil/dexmedetomidine or standard dose sevoflurane anaesthetic. They will receive a neurodevelopmental assessment at 3 years of age to assess global cognitive function.
The goal is to determine if providing a nutritional supplement, phosphatidylcholine, to pregnant women improves early brain development with improved brain-related development during the first four years of life. Participating pregnant women will receive either phosphatidylcholine or a placebo from approximately 16 weeks gestation through birth. The primary outcome is the child's behavior at four years of age as reported by the primary caregiver. Secondary outcomes include motor development, socio-emotional development, language development, and cognitive development. Potential contributors beyond the supplement, including maternal stress and placental function will also be assessed.
Home visiting programs for pregnant women aiming to improve mother-infant relationship has received worldwide attention in the past 30 years. These programs are considered an important strategy to improve women's health during pregnancy, aside from improving child's birthing conditions and allowing parents access to tools which will nurture and properly stimulate their baby, thus promoting emotional and cognitive development. Objectives: The "Nurse home visitation program for pregnant youth" aims to promote infant´s healthy development, from pregnancy to the first months of life, in a high-risk population. Methods: Eighty young pregnant women aged between 14 and 20 years were randomly allocated to the intervention or to usual prenatal care program. The "Nurse home visitation program for pregnant youth" was developed based on Albert Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, on Urie Bronfenbrenner´s bioecological model, which recognizes the importance of individual and family inclusion in various contexts of social life, on John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth evolutionary theories of attachment, which involves the care practitioner addressing issues such as environmental health, life course and parenting, bond between mother and infant, and infant´s social and cognitive development. Neuropsychomotor development will be assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development. Brain development will be assessed via electroencephalography at 6 and 12 months.
Minipuberty is a term used to describe the transient activation of the pituitary-gonadal axis 2-3 months after birth in both boys and girls. It is, however, not known why infants reach adult levels of reproductive hormones in early life, nor is the exact timing of the peak known. Furthermore, what determines the timing of peaks and suppressions of reproductive hormones from infancy throughout childhood and into adolescence remains to be elucidated. The study aims to described and evaluate dynamic changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary- gonadal axis in early postnatal life.
The purpose of the study is to test whether nutritional supplementation during pregnancy is associated with 1) improved maternal health during pregnancy; 2) improved infant birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes, and 3) whether the association between nutritional supplementation during pregnancy and infant outcomes is partially mediated by reductions in maternal perceived stress and stress reactivity during pregnancy.