High Speed Simulation and Prediction of the Effect of Brain Injury on Development

Significance and Potential Impact to Neurosciences Research: High-speed simulations of brain injury will allow prediction of disease progression and the future effects of treatments, and detailed understanding of the interaction between brain injury and resulting disorders of movement, perception, and behavior. In addition to disorders such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and neuro-degenerative diseases, the greatest potential impact will be for those studying developmental brain disorders due to cerebral palsy (CP), with over 150,000 children and 350,000 adults affected in the United States. CP is particularly relevant because it is caused by early brain injury, the disability persists and may worsen years after the injury, and the cause of the late worsening is unknown. If disease progression is predictable, treatment interventions can occur much earlier and include customization to each patient’s predicted disease course. With early intervention, it may be possible to attenuate or block the natural progression of their disease. With over 4.5% of the child and adult US population affected by developmental brain disorders, acquired brain injury, and progressive brain disease, the applicability and potential impact of an early intervention and disease prediction technique is significant.

Knowledge Gap