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Biomarkers Study in Infants With Prior Neonatal Brain Injury

Early Biomarkers Study for Prediction of Executive Dysfunction and Cognitive Outcomes Among Infants With Prior Neonatal Brain Injury

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07413900
Enrollment
100
Registered
2026-02-17
Start date
2023-03-13
Completion date
2030-03-15
Last updated
2026-02-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy Participants, HIE - Hypoxic - Ischemic Encephalopathy, Perinatal Anoxic-ischemic Brain Injury, Premature Birth

Brief summary

This research focuses on the long-term cognitive development of children, including healthy infants and those who had a perinatal brain injury. As part of this research study, children complete in-person games and assessments at UW-Madison University Hospital. Children will also take part in an EEG assessment. Parents will be asked to fill out questionnaires about their child's behavior and stress in the home.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

University of Wisconsin, Madison
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Months to 24 Months
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Child-parent dyads will be recruited to the study. * Children 3-24 months with and without a history of a perinatal brain injury (PBI) will be included in this study. * Children with PBIs will include: * Children diagnosed during the neonatal period with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, * Children born at a premature gestational age (born at less than 32 weeks gestational age). * Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy * Healthy control participants meeting inclusion criteria will include: * healthy infants with no prior neurological (brain disorder) history * For all parents: the only research inclusion criteria is to be the parent or legal guardian of a newborn with perinatal brain injury or healthy control participant.

Exclusion criteria

* Healthy infants to be included in the control group will not have: * a prior history of brain injury * a diagnosis of cerebral palsy * a history of a neurological disorder * prior admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) * Children with chromosomal abnormalities, genetic syndromes and major congenital malformations will be excluded from both the patient groups and the control group. * Parents will have no exclusionary criteria.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Infant Attention Task (IAT) measured in secondsAssessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time-pointsA behavioral measure used with infants to assess attentional control and processing. Infants are presented with visual puppet stimuli four distinct "looks", and researchers record looking time, shifts in attention, or habituation patterns. More sustained attention in the early looks followed by habituation to the stimuli in the later looks often indicates better early attentional capacity. Total accumulated looking time to a stimulus in visual preference-type tasks commonly ranges from roughly 15-30+ seconds per trial, depending on the infant's age and the stimulus.
A not B TaskAssessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time pointsThe A-not-B task is a developmental measure of object permanence, working memory, and inhibitory control in infants, requiring them to search for a hidden object after its location is changed. Performance is typically reported as the percentage of correct searches on B trials, with infants 8-9 months averaging 20-40% correct (range 0-100%), 10-11 months averaging 50-70%, and 12-month-olds reaching 75-90%, often near the maximum. Scores vary with delay length and task difficulty.
EEG Power in Delta and Theta BandsAssessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time pointsEEG data will be utilized to examine whether neural activity patterns are associated with later executive functioning outcomes. Specific EEG indices will be analyzed as predictors of executive functioning, with lower/higher executive functioning defined by performance on behavioral measures.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reilly Role Overload QuestionnaireAssessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time pointsIn the Reilly Role Overload questionnaire, parents of child participants rate the frequency of feeling overwhelmed by role demands; item responses are summed to create a total role overload score. Total scores range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating greater perceived role overload due to excessive demands relative to time and energy.
Confusion, Hubbub and Order Scale (CHAOS)Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time pointsParents and/or Caregivers rate items describing household noise, crowding, and routine; responses are summed to create a total CHAOS score. The CHAOS total score ranges from 15 to 60, with higher scores indicating a more chaotic, noisy, and disorganized home environment; scores below 25 typically reflect lower chaos, whereas scores above 35 suggest high household chaos.
Parenting Daily Hassle (PDH) Scales: Intensity ScoreAssessed at the 6, 12 and 18 month time pointsA parent-report measure assessing the frequency and intensity of everyday parenting stressors (e.g., child demands, disruptions to routines); item ratings are summed or averaged to yield frequency and intensity scores. On the PDH Scale, intensity scores range from 0 to 100 with higher totals indicating more frequent and/or more stressful everyday parenting hassles.
Parenting Daily Hassle (PDH) Scales: Frequency ScoreAssessed at the 6, 12 and 18 month time pointsA parent-report measure assessing the frequency and intensity of everyday parenting stressors (e.g., child demands, disruptions to routines); item ratings are summed or averaged to yield frequency and intensity scores. On the PDH Scale, frequency scores range from 0 to 80 with higher totals indicating more frequent and/or more stressful everyday parenting hassles.
Parental Stress ScaleAssessed at the 6, 12 and 18 month time pointsA questionnaire which measures stress and satisfaction associated with parenting; items are summed to create a total parental stress score. On the Parental Stress Scale, total scores range from 18 to 90, with higher scores indicating greater levels of parental stress and lower scores reflecting lower stress and more satisfaction in the parenting role.
Early Executive Function Questionnaire: EEFQAssessed at the 6, 12 and 18 month time pointsA questionnaire is given to parents that assesses what executive functions children are exhibiting. More functions exhibited means further along in executive function development. The (EEFQ uses parent ratings on a 7-point scale for 31 items, with subscale and composite scores averaging between 1 and 7 - higher scores indicate stronger emerging executive function behaviors in infants and toddlers
Bayley AssessmentAssessed at the 6, 12 and 18 month time pointsThe Bayley is a cognitive and motor assessment conducted by an interventionalist to assess a child's development in these domains. The highest possible score on a subtest or subdomain is 19, and the lowest score is 1. Scores from 8-12 are considered average.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTMelisa Carrasco McCaul, MD, PhD
carrascomccaul@neurology.wisc.edu608-577-2415
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMelisa Carrasco McCaul, MD, PhD

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 18, 2026