NEOnatal PREcursors of NEurodevelopment – NEOPRENE

The project uses non-invasive brain imaging techniques (high-resolution electroencephalography and functional near infrared spectroscopy) to measure early precursors of cognitive functions in premature neonates: the ability to discriminate, habituate and predict tactile stimuli. It proposes to compare these functional measures with cerebral substrates of somatosensory perception and attention (measured using magnetic resonance imaging), and to explore the relevance of these precursors as early determinants of neurodevelopmental outcome at age 2 (using cognitive and behavioral evaluations). We focus on premature neonates, a population at high risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder.

The project is ongoing, there are no results available at this stage.

There is currently no reliable early marker of neurodevelopmental risk, and the approach we present here has never been explored. Finding a set of lower-level processes that are sensitive to neurodevelopmental vulnerability would be in itself tremendously beneficial and provide critical information on how children develop these pathologies. In addition to the fundamental knowledge to be gained, the possibility of neonatal cognitive testing opens much needed perspectives for clinicians to develop effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.

The project is ongoing, there are no productions available at this stage.

The NEOPRENE project responds to the ANR strategic priority "Autism within neurodevelopmental disorders".
Despite dedicated research efforts for decades, we are still far from understanding how neurodevelopmental disorders emerge. For effective therapy, neonatal screening is necessary but risk factors, from genetic to psychosocial, are countless and not disorder-specific. Current research on early behavioural and cognitive markers mostly focuses on syndrome-specific impairments, aiming at detecting in neonates the same deficits that will be used later for diagnosis. This approach neglects developmental transformations in infancy and evidence that neurodevelopmental disorders have common organic substrates; it is insufficient to explain the clinical heterogeneity, symptoms overlap and frequent comorbidity of disorders.
The NEOPRENE project proposes a novel approach of the issue by bringing together recent advances in the characterization of neonatal perceptive and attentive abilities and neurocognitive development. Specifically, it states that tactile perception and attention are the first foundations of cognitive development and that atypical touch processing at birth exerts a pervasive detrimental influence leading to syndrome-relevant, not syndrome-specific, impairments. Touch is the first sensory input a foetus receives, and it shapes prenatal brain activity before distal senses build upon it. However, little is known about the links between tactile perception and development. We argue that tactile processing is the key to understanding the origins of cognitive development and finding early markers of neurodevelopmental vulnerability.
The project uses state-of-the-art neonatal brain imaging techniques to measure early precursors of cognitive functions: the ability to discriminate, habituate and predict tactile stimuli. It proposes to compare these functional measures with cerebral substrates of somatosensory perception and attention, and to explore the relevance of these precursors as early determinants of neurodevelopmental outcome at age 2. We focus on premature neonates, a population at high risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder.
There is currently no reliable early marker of neurodevelopmental risk, and the approach we present here has never been explored. Finding a set of lower-level processes that are sensitive to neurodevelopmental vulnerability would be in itself tremendously beneficial and provide critical information on how children develop these pathologies. In addition to the fundamental knowledge to be gained, the possibility of neonatal cognitive testing opens much needed perspectives for clinicians to develop effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Preliminary works from our group provide evidence that there are no technical or methodological impediments to the project, our inclusion goals are based on previous inclusions in the unit for similar measurements, and over the years we have assembled a team of collaborators who are experts in their respective fields and will allow us to tackle this challenge with the best chance of success.