C. Robert Almli, Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Occupational Therapy
Keywords: brain injury, development, learning/memory, MRI, sensory/motor, humans, rodents

The research in my laboratory is directed towards gaining an understanding of neural-behavioral interactions during normal motor and cognitive development of humans and other animals, as well as understanding the effects of perinatal nervous system injury or abnormality on subsequent motor and cognitive development. Research with human neonates is focusing on applying quantitative brain imaging technology (e.g., diffusion tensor imaging) to newly born infants to determine: (1) associations between quantitative measures of brain structure and motor-cognitive neurobehavioral development of normal children through five years of age and (2) associations between quantitative measures of brain injury or abnormality and disabilities within the motor and cognitive domains through five years of age. Research with infant rodents is developing animal models of human perinatal nervous system injury (e.g., hypoxia-ischemia, spinal cord injury), and determining: (1) relations between neonatal brain injury and deficits in motor and cognitive neurobehavioral development and (2) effects of potentially neuro-protective and behaviorally-protective agents on neonatal brain injury and motor-cognitive behavioral development.