Dr. Wu has recently received an internal grant from the Neuroscience Institute Brains and Behavior seed grant program. The title of this project is Brain imaging biomarkers and neuromuscular dysfunction of children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 8-17 years. CP is the most common motor disability in childhood. It has been a challenge to appropriately identify the etiology of CP, perform the classification of CP, and consequently develop effective treatments. In this project, Dr. Wu will collaborate with Dr. Vince Calhoun, the founding director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), to investigate brain imaging biomarkers through structural and functional MRI. Furthermore, this project aims to explore the relationship between brain imaging biomarkers and neuromuscular response to a single session of whole-body vibration followed by treadmill training. This will help develop targeted intervention to accommodate substantial individual differences in neuromotor function of children with CP. This seed grant will help gather important preliminary data, particularly advanced analysis of MRI data, for the future large-scale, interdisciplinary clinical trials.
