PROJECT: JTC2024 - Brain-Body: BIO-PREPA

Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is a significant contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality globally. Even brief periods of hypoxia during birth can lead to subtle cognitive impairments and developmental delays, with consequences including difficulties in attention, memory, language, social, and motor skills and increased risks of conditions such as ADHD and learning disabilities. Early identification of preclinical cases of PA is crucial for timely intervention to minimize long-term neurological deficits. This proposal aims to develop non-invasive diagnostic approaches and identify neuroimaging and metabolic biomarkers to improve individual outcomes. We propose lactate or lactylated proteins as potential metabolic biomarkers linked to hypoxia-induced changes in brain functioning, with implications for metabolic status and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Our objectives include characterizing preclinical cases, identifying biomarkers, assessing development, and optimizing diagnostic criteria to improve early detection of PA. Our approach integrates behavioral tasks, questionnaires, EEG brain activity, eye-tracking, and motion capture to understand the role of rhythm processing and synchronization in infant development and PA outcomes. We aim to refine diagnostic criteria to improve outcomes for infants with PA by investigating novel metabolic biomarkers and neurodevelopmental outcomes in a longitudinal study.