"A PhD is just going to somehow break you": A qualitative study exploring the role of peer support for doctoral students.

Doctoral (PhD) students experience high rates of mental health challenges, including high rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and isolation. While universities offer mental health services, these may not fully address the specific needs of doctoral students. Peer support has emerged as a promising adjunct to existing service provision, drawing on shared experiences to provide emotional and practical guidance.

Visual experience affects neural correlates of audio-haptic integration: A case study of non-sighted individuals.

The ability to reduce sensory uncertainty by integrating information across different senses develops late in humans and depends on cross-modal, sensory experience during childhood and adolescence. While the dependence of audio-haptic integration on vision suggests cross-modal neural reorganization, evidence for such changes is lacking. Furthermore, little is known about the neural processes underlying audio-haptic integration even in sighted adults.

A Longitudinal Study of Preterm Infants at 12 and 30 Months: Links Among Object Interactions, Joint Engagement, and Cognitive Development.

Development takes place when change in one domain cascades into change in another domain. Preterm infants exhibit disruptions to their object play and the maintenance of a joint focus of attention with another person. Likewise, they tend to experience cognitive delays throughout childhood.

The impact of gestational age on executive function in infancy and early-to-middle childhood following preterm birth: a systematic review.

Lower gestational age (GA) is a risk factor for cognitive and developmental concerns following preterm birth. However, its impact on executive function (EF) is unclear based on conflicting conclusions across the literature. Moreover, as children below 4 years have largely been neglected from previous reviews, the impact of GA on EF within this early developmental period remains unclear.

Cognitive control in infancy: Attentional predictors using a tablet-based measure.

Cognitive control is a predictor of later-life outcomes and may underpin higher order executive processes. The present study examines the development of early cognitive control during the first 24-month. We evaluated a tablet-based assessment of cognitive control among infants aged 18- and 24-month.

Cognitive outcome and its neural correlates after cardiorespiratory arrest in childhood.

Hypoxia-ischaemia (HI) can result in structural brain abnormalities, which in turn can lead to behavioural deficits in various cognitive and motor domains, in both adult and paediatric populations. Cardiorespiratory arrest (CA) is a major cause of hypoxia-ischaemia in adults, but it is relatively rare in infants and children. While the effects of adult CA on brain and cognition have been widely studied, to date, there are no studies examining the neurodevelopmental outcome of children who suffered CA early in life.

Longitudinal fNIRS and EEG metrics of habituation and novelty detection are correlated in 1-18-month-old infants.

Introduction: Habituation and novelty detection are two fundamental and widely studied neurocognitive processes. Whilst neural responses to repetitive and novel sensory input have been well-documented across a range of neuroimaging modalities, it is not yet fully understood how well these different modalities are able to describe consistent neural response patterns. This is particularly true for infants and young children, as different assessment modalities might show differential sensitivity to underlying neural processes across age.

Neuroimaging and Cognitive Function in Sickle Cell Disease: A Systematic Review.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited single-gene disease. Complications include chronic anaemia, reduced oxygen-carrying capability, and cerebral vasculopathy, resulting in silent cerebral infarction, stroke, and cognitive dysfunction with impairments in measures of executive function, attention, reasoning, language, memory, and IQ. This systematic review aims to investigate the association between neuroimaging findings and cognition in children with SCD.

Validation of a touchscreen assessment tool to screen for cognitive delay at 24 months.

Aim: To validate a touchscreen assessment as a screening tool for mild cognitive delay in typically developing children aged 24 months.

Method: Secondary analysis of data was completed from an observational birth cohort study (The Cork Nutrition & Microbiome Maternal-Infant Cohort Study [COMBINE]), with children born between 2015 and 2017. Outcome data were collected at 24 months of age, at the INFANT Research Centre, Ireland.

Neural Marker of Habituation at 5 Months of Age Associated with Deferred Imitation Performance at 12 Months: A Longitudinal Study in the UK and The Gambia.

Across cultures, imitation provides a crucial route to learning during infancy. However, neural predictors which would enable early identification of infants at risk of suboptimal developmental outcomes are still rare. In this paper, we examine associations between ERP markers of habituation and novelty detection measured at 1 and 5 months of infant age in the UK ( = 61) and rural Gambia ( = 214) and infants' responses on a deferred imitation task at 8 and 12 months.

Study of montelukast in children with sickle cell disease (SMILES): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Young children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) often have slowed processing speed associated with reduced brain white matter integrity, low oxygen saturation, and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), related in part to enlarged adenoids and tonsils. Common treatments for SDB include adenotonsillectomy and nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), but adenotonsillectomy is an invasive surgical procedure, and CPAP is rarely well-tolerated. Further, there is no current consensus on the ability of these treatments to improve cognitive function.

Concurrent validity of a touchscreen application to detect early cognitive delay.

Objective: To explore the ability of an interactive screening tool to identify cognitive delay in children aged 18 to 24 months.

Design: Children were assessed using the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development-third edition (BSID-III) and a touchscreen measure of problem-solving (Babyscreen V.1.

Mother-infant interactions with infants with congenital visual impairment and associations with longitudinal outcomes in cognition and language.

Background: This study investigated mother-infant interactions, including maternal maintaining of infant attentional focus and sensitivity, with infants with congenital severe and profound visual impairment (VI) and the association with developmental trajectories from one to three years.

Method: Fifty-five infants and mothers were video-recorded playing together with a standard set of toys at Time 1 (T1) mean age 12.95 months (8.

Late- but not early-onset blindness impairs the development of audio-haptic multisensory integration.

Integrating different senses to reduce sensory uncertainty and increase perceptual precision can have an important compensatory function for individuals with visual impairment and blindness. However, how visual impairment and blindness impact the development of optimal multisensory integration in the remaining senses is currently unknown. Here we first examined how audio-haptic integration develops and changes across the life span in 92 sighted (blindfolded) individuals between 7 and 70 years of age.

Developmental trajectories of infants born at less than 30 weeks' gestation on the Bayley-III Scales.

Objective: To describe the cognitive, language and motor developmental trajectories of children born very preterm and to identify perinatal factors that predict the trajectories.

Design: Data from a cohort of 1142 infants born at <30 weeks' gestation who were prospectively assessed on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition (Bayley-III) at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months corrected age, were analysed using the Super Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) growth curve analysis model.

Main Outcome Measures: Developmental trajectory SITAR models for Bayley-III cognitive, language (receptive and expressive communication subscales) and motor (fine and gross motor subscales) scores.

ERP markers are associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in 1-5 month old infants in rural Africa and the UK.

Introduction: Infants and children in low- and middle-income countries are frequently exposed to a range of poverty-related risk factors, increasing their likelihood of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. There is a need for culturally objective markers, which can be used to study infants from birth, thereby enabling early identification and ultimately intervention during a critical time of neurodevelopment.

Method: In this paper, we investigate developmental changes in auditory event related potentials (ERP) associated with habituation and novelty detection in infants between 1 and 5 months living in the United Kingdom and The Gambia, West Africa.

Implementing neuroimaging and eye tracking methods to assess neurocognitive development of young infants in low- and middle-income countries.

Infants and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are frequently exposed to a range of environmental risk factors which may negatively affect their neurocognitive development. The mechanisms by which factors such as undernutrition and poverty impact development and cognitive outcomes in early childhood are poorly understood. This lack of knowledge is due in part to a paucity of objective assessment tools which can be implemented across different cultural settings and in very young infants.

Understanding the development of face and emotion processing under a predictive processing framework.

In the present work, we explore the development of processing of emotional facial configurations under a predictive processing (or predictive coding) framework. Predictive processing provides a new approach to brain function that has been used to explain a wide range of processes, from perception to socioemotional processing. The explanatory power of this framework for adult brain function is widely recognized, but it has yet to be systematically applied to understanding the developing brain.

The Role of Family Functioning in the Development of Executive Functions in Preschool Children with Sickle Cell Anemia.

Executive functions are compromised in children with sickle cell anemia. There is limited research on the development of executive functions in preschool children with sickle cell anemia and the factors that contribute to executive dysfunction. We looked at the relation between biomedical and environmental factors, including family functioning and socioeconomic status, and executive functions in 22 preschool children with sickle cell anemia.

Active touch facilitates object size perception in children but not adults: A multisensory event related potential study.

In order to increase perceptual precision the adult brain dynamically combines redundant information from different senses depending on their reliability. During object size estimation, for example, visual, auditory and haptic information can be integrated to increase the precision of the final size estimate. Young children, however, do not integrate sensory information optimally and instead rely on active touch.

Brain structure in children with congenital visual disorders and visual impairment.

Aim: To examine if congenital visual impairment is associated with differences in brain anatomy in children.

Method: Ten children (8-12y) with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system with severe visual impairment (SVI; >0.8 logMAR) or mild-to-moderate visual impairment (MVI; 0.

Intelligence and memory outcomes within 10 years of childhood convulsive status epilepticus.

Long-term intelligence and memory outcomes of children post convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) have not been systematically investigated despite evidence of short-term impairments in CSE. The present study aimed to describe intelligence and memory outcomes in children within 10 years of CSE and identify potential risk factors for adverse outcomes. In this cohort study, children originally identified by the population-based North London Convulsive Status Epilepticus in Childhood Surveillance Study (NLSTEPSS) were prospectively recruited between July 2009 and February 2013 and invited for neuropsychological assessments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Temperament in preschool children with sickle cell anaemia.

Aims: Few studies have investigated the potential impact of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) on temperament. The aim of the current study was to investigate temperament in preschool children with SCA and to establish the reliability of the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) in this population.

Methods: The CBQ, a parent-report measure of temperament, was completed by parents of 21 preschool children with SCA and a control group of parents of typically developing children, matched for age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Adaptive behaviour and quality of life in school-age children with congenital visual disorders and different levels of visual impairment.

Background: Adaptive behaviours are vital skills that allow individuals to function independently and are potentially amenable to behavioural interventions. Previous research indicated that adaptive behaviours are reduced in children and adolescents with severe to profound VI, but it was unclear if this was also the case for children with mild to moderate VI.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess differences in adaptive behaviour in children with congenital visual disorders and different levels of visual impairment and their influence on quality of life and everyday strengths and difficulties.

Home-based early intervention in infants and young children with visual impairment using the Developmental Journal: longitudinal cohort study.

Aim: To investigate the effects of home-based early intervention in children with severe visual impairment (SVI) using the Developmental Journal for babies and young children with visual impairment (DJVI).

Method: A longitudinal observational study was undertaken with a national cohort (OPTIMUM) of infants with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system (CDPVS) and profound-SVI; and followed up after 12 months and 24 months. Intervention was categorized according to the practitioner diary records of their usual practice over 12 months from baseline comparing those receiving the DJVI and those receiving 'Other Support'.