13 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Fish can provide pregnant women with omega-3 fatty acids for fetal brain development but some fish contains high levels of mercury which is detrimental to fetal brain development. The hypothesis is that women who have previously consumed high mercury fish can reduce the mercury level in their bodies and improve their omega-3 levels in three months by eating fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in mercury.
The study will help investigators learn more about whether different delivery modes influence infant's brain development
This project will investigate whether adding nutritional supplements to the diet will have beneficial effects on the development of infant brain networks (assessed at 4 and 9 months of age). The nutritional supplement will contain lutein (typically found in leafy vegetables),docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; a fatty acid typically found in cold-water fish such as salmon or tuna), and of vitamin E.
Children exposed to HIV in-utero but uninfected (CHEUs) number 14.8 million globally. In Zambia, an estimated 56,000 CHEUs are born annually, a staggering fraction of the national birth cohort. Multiple studies establish that CHEUs are more neurodevelopmentally vulnerable than HIV-unexposed peers. In Zambia, there are existing effective early childhood developmental (ECD) interventions that target other vulnerable populations, but never trialed specifically for CHEUs. Scaling up ECD is now a priority of Zambia's national strategy, but CHEUs are not currently targeted. There is a need to better understand the scope and mechanism of CHEU-related neurodevelopmental differences and what interventions are most effective. This randomized clinical trial (RCT) is a true effectiveness trial as the intervention will deploy a home-based adaptation of the same curriculum that is currently used elsewhere in the country, named Scaling Up Early Childhood Development In Zambia (SUPERCDZ). The effectiveness of a scalable early childhood development (ECD) intervention for CHEUs will be evaluated using normalized Z-scores of neurodevelopmental testing at age 24 months. In this RCT the investigators will test the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: An ECD intervention delivered by community health workers via bi-weekly home visits will improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in CHEUs. Hypothesis 2: CHEUs have significantly worse neurodevelopmental outcomes than unexposed peers at 24 months, mediated by preterm birth, disease stage or antiretroviral (ARV) exposure. This RCT will build on an existent, actively recruiting cohort of 1500 pregnant women-infant dyads in a peri-urban hospital in Zambia, the Zambian Infant Cohort Study (ZICS), by extending the follow-up of a subsample of infants from 6 months to 2 years amongst the last 525 children enrolled (ZICS-BOOST- Brains Optimized to Survive and Thrive). The study will have three arms: Arm 1) CHEU + ECD intervention (n=175); Arm 2) CHEU without ECD intervention (n=175); Arm 3) HUU without intervention (n=175).
Research study on the role of early life nutrition on brain and cognitive development during infancy and early childhood. Two blends of myelin-relevant nutrients at different levels were compared and a breastfed group was considered as epidemiological reference.
Premature infants born between 28 and 33 weeks' gestation often have significant brain damage. Brain damage can be caused by the much greater stimulation the infant receives in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as compared to the mother's womb. This study will test the effectiveness of specialized and individualized NICU developmental care in preventing brain damage.
The purpose of this study is to identify neurocognitive functions and language processing of 8-year-old children who were fed either breast milk, milk-based formula or soy-based formula during the first year of life.
The goal of this observational study is to discover features of normal and disordered motor-voice profiles that are biobehavioral markers of physical disability in infants.. The main questions it aims to answer are: Identify voice factors among infants with newborn-detectable risk. Identify association between individual characteristics (Gestational age at birth, global function, motor-function) and voice factors. Examine unique features of voice production that are present in infants with high-risk for Cerebral Palsy (CP). Participants will be asked to upload a 3-minute videos of their child at term-age, 3.5-, and 9-months of age. At the 3.5-month and 9-month time point parents can choose to attend an optional in-person assessment with their child.
This study employs a randomized controlled trial of an established intervention, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) adapted for pregnancy, to examine effects on various aspects of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy (magnitude and trajectories of stress) and offspring brain systems integral to healthy and maladaptive emotion regulation. This study considers other potential influences on maternal stress and psychiatric symptomatology, and infant behavior and brain development. The study population is pregnant women aged 21-45, and their infants.
The purpose of this study is to see how full-term and pre-term infants' brains relate to their movement and development throughout the first two years of life. All infants who participate in this study will have a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain prior to discharge from the hospital. Infants will then have follow-up appointments every 3-6 months at home or at the Infant Motor Behavior Laboratory at the University of Delaware. The follow-up sessions will test how infants change their movements to respond to interesting objects or sounds in their environment. It is hoped that the results of this study will assist clinicians in developing better testing and treatment methods for those infants at risk for developmental problems.
The purpose of this study is to characterize physical growth, body composition, dietary intake, neurobehavioral development, and brain function of infants and children fed mostly breast-milk, milk-based formula or soy-based formula during their first year of life. Children are followed from age 2 months to age 6 years.
This study will explore the development of visual perception and the brain activity that underlies it. It will examine electrical activity in the brain while people are processing characteristics of the visual environment, and how that processing might change with development. Infants who are within 2 weeks on either side of their 4-month birthday may be eligible for this study. A parent of the child also participates. Parents who join the study are asked basic questions about their family, such as its size and ethnic make-up, their infant's birth date, complications of pregnancy or delivery, and any health problems of the infant, such as congenital developmental disorders or visual abnormalities. Each family is seen at the clinic one time for a 45-minute visit. The infant is outfitted with an elastic net containing many small sensors that make contact with the scalp. He or she is then shown pictures on a computer screen. The sensors in the head net are connected to a computer that records the infant's brain activity while the infant watches the pictures on the screen. The head net is moistened with warm water before being applied, and is not uncomfortable to wear. Towels are available throughout the session to dry any excess moisture from the net.
Babies with single ventricle congenital heart disease (SVCHD) are often diagnosed during pregnancy. While prenatal diagnosis has important clinical benefits, it is often stressful and overwhelming for parents, and many express a need for psychological support. HeartGPS is a psychological intervention for parents who receive their baby's diagnosis of SVCHD during pregnancy. It includes 8 sessions with a psychologist, coupled with tailored educational resources, and a personalized care plan. The intervention focuses on fostering parent psychological adjustment and wellbeing, and supporting parents to bond with their baby in ways that feel right for them. Through this study, the investigators will learn if HeartGPS is useful and effective for parents and their babies when it is offered in addition to usual fetal cardiac care. The investigators will examine the effects of the HeartGPS intervention on parental anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress; fetal and infant brain development; parent-infant bonding; and infant neurobehavioral and neurodevelopmental outcomes. The investigators will also explore mechanisms associated with stress biology during pregnancy, infant brain development and neurodevelopmental outcomes, and parent and infant intervention effects.