Our Research

Magnetic Source Imaging and the Re-Organization of Cognitive Functions in Children and Young Adults with Spina Bifida Cognitive and Neurobiological Variability

Principal Investigators

Overall Project Principal Investigator:
Jack Fletcher, University of Houston

Project Principal Investigator:
Project IV: Andrew Papanicolaou, University of Texas Health Science Center Houston

Funding Agency

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Description of the Project

The objective of this project is to identify genetic, central nervous system, and environmental sources of variability that explain the variations in neurobehavioral outcomes associated with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SB), the most common severely disabling birth defect in North America. Project 4 (Magnetic Source Imaging; Papanicolaou, PI) utilizes magnetic source imaging to evaluate the reorganization of motor, somatosensory, language, and cognitive skills in children with SB, representing one of the first functional neuroimaging studies of children with congenital brain injury.

This comprehensive program project will facilitate an integrated, multi-disciplinary understanding of SB and provides a model for other neurodevelopmental disorders with genetic heterogeneity, brain dysmorphologies, and variable neurobehavioral outcomes while utilizing magnetic source imaging (MSI) to evaluate the organization of brain functions in children with SB.

Site

University of Houston
University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center

For More Information

Amy Walker Hampson, Sr. Researcher-Project Coordinator
SANDI Project
The University of Houston
(832)842-2007
amwalke3@Central.uh.edu

or

Vanessa Fuller, B.S., Project Coordinator
University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston
713-797-7583
Susan.V.Fuller@uth.tmc.edu