Projects – Cycle I

Challenge While Canadian scientists are leaders in Cerebral Palsy research, effective communication and geography are barriers to creating connections that could lead to meaningful scientific discoveries. Additionally, knowledge of the root causes of CP is at an early stage. The lack of uptake of new evidence-based medical treatments highlights the need for better knowledge dissemination [...]

Challenge Approximately 1 in 100 children per year are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. These estimates translate to thousands of affected infants born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Individuals with FASD can suffer from neuropsychological deficits, particularly in executive function (EF), which result in poor performance in school or at work, and in day [...]

Challenge Children are usually school-aged by the time they receive a diagnosis for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. However, evidence indicates that early intervention is beneficial. Having reliable biomarkers to detect changes related to prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) could allow clinicians to identify FASD in children at a younger age and therefore provide earlier access to [...]

Challenge When studying Fetal Alchol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), it’s challenging to discern the exact timing and the severity of alcohol exposure that a fetus experienced during pregnancy. This challenge makes it difficult for researchers to determine the exact relationship between these two factors and the likelihood of a child being born with FASD. Using animal [...]

Challenge Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) exhibit a wide variety of brain abnormalities. These abnormalities include a small head and brain relative to body size, an underdeveloped cerebellum, and thinning of the corpus callosum. However, children with FASD display have such a wide range of brain anomalies that the exact relationship between structural [...]

Challenge Prenatal alcohol exposure is a major cause of behavioural and cognitive deficits in children. Despite extensive research, a unique neurobehavioral profile for children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure has yet to be identified. This research project addressed how genetic and environmental factors interact with prenatal alcohol exposure to produce neurobehavioural and neurobiological deficits in [...]

Challenge The assessment of children for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) requires testing many different types of brain function to determine if they are impaired. However, children with FASD usually have to wait a long time for this formal diagnostic assessment, which often prevents them from accessing supports early on in life. Project Summary Measuring [...]

Challenge People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) tend to struggle with executive functioning—a set of cognitive processes that include working memory, flexible thinking, and planning. To help improve this skill set, a “serious game” is in development. Project Summary Previously called Cognitive Carnival, Caribbean Quest is a computer game that was rooted in neuroscience, [...]

Challenge When children with cerebral palsy (CP) become teenagers, their physical fitness decreases. This decrease in physical fitness is common due to a combination of factors. Unfortunately, it may also lead to increased social isolation, which in turn impacts well-being/ quality of life. Project Summary The use of exercise video games (termed exergames) provides a [...]

Challenge While the past several years have seen a growing awareness of the role of genetic risk factors in cerebral palsy, studies regarding the role gene variants play, their severity, and resulting co-morbidities of cerebral palsy have only just begun. Many new techniques in molecular genetics have emerged over the past few years, allowing for [...]