How does brain injury alter sensory processing in newborn infants?

Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain during the prenatal, intrapartum or postnatal period. It is one of the major causes of death and disability in term born infants. These infants require intensive care from birth and undergo 72 hours of therapeutic hypothermia treatment. Evaluating neurodevelopment in infants with a brain injury is particularly difficult as the impact of the brain injury has multiple contributing factors and different degrees of impairment are seen.

In this project we are interested in how sensory evoked brain activity is altered in infants born with HIE compared to healthy term born infants. Furthermore, little is known on the effects of hypothermia treatment on these responses. Better understanding of how brain injury and neuroprotective treatments such as hypothermia affect sensory processing at a functional level can support clinical staff and guide treatment in this cohort of infants.