Our Projects
Want to participate in a study? Go to the next page to check out the projects for which we are currently recruiting.
Want to participate in a study? Go to the next page to check out the projects for which we are currently recruiting.
THE SYNCHRO PROJECT: EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN TODDLERS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE
Congenital heart disease (CHD) affects about 1% of newborns. Approximately half of them present developmental delays, including executive function disabilities. Executive functions include the ability to plan and organize, control impulses, and mentally manipulate information, crucial for academic and social success. These functions remain very poorly explored in young children with CHD. In fact, no study has investigated executive functions in children with CHD before school age.
The development of executive functions is closely linked to social development and parent-child relationships. In the context of CHD, these can be affected, notably due to the life-threatening condition and long hospitalizations, but very little is known about the associations between these concepts and the underlying brain mechanisms. This project aims to characterize executive functioning, the quality of the parent-child relationship and associations between of executive functions and the parent-child relationship in 3-years-old toddlers with CHD compared to healthy toddlers. Executive functions will be assessed using age-appropriate simple tasks. The quality of the parent-child relationship will be assessed through a validated scoring system used during parent-child interactions. To identify executive and social brain mechanisms, we will simultaneously record the brain activity of both the child and the parent during these tasks. A better understanding of the emergence of executive and social problems and their brain correlates will enable targeted and early interventions for optimal development in young children with CHD.
To date, very few interventions aimed at addressing neurodevelopmental difficulties have been tested in children with CHD. Recently, yoga has gained popularity in treating psychological disorders and improving executive and motor function in both healthy and clinical populations. The benefits of yoga in reducing anxiety symptoms are also well documented.
The first phase of this project aims to assess the effects of an 8-week parent-child yoga program on the cognitive and motor function of school-aged children with CHD compared to their healthy peers. Two neuropsychological assessments will be conducted before and after the intervention. We expect the intervention to have a positive impact on the executive and motor function of children with CHD. The second phase of this project aims to evaluate the effect of the yoga intervention on parental stress levels. We expect stress levels to decrease following the intervention.
This project is innovative as it is the first to utilize yoga with the pediatric population affected by CHD. The results from the project could lead to the implementation of a non-invasive intervention at the Neurocardiac Investigation Clinic (CINC) at CHU Sainte-Justine, with tangible clinical implications for children with CHD and their parents. Should the intervention prove effective, we aim for eventual implementation in other hospital centers and types of facilities, thereby maximizing accessibility.
This project is funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRQS), the Fondation des étoiles for pediatric research, and the Cardiometabolic Health, Diabetes, and Obesity Research Network (CMDO).
Recruitment for this project is conducted through CHU Sainte-Justine and McGill University Health Centre.
Since its opening in 2013, the Neuro-Cardiac Investigation Clinic (CINC) at CHU Sainte-Justine has been conducting multidisciplinary follow-up and evaluations during the first years of life of children who have undergone cardiac surgery. Our goal is to reduce the neurodevelopmental delays that usually accompany CHD through early interventions provided by health professionals.
The objective of this project is to assess the effects of early clinical interventions on motor and cognitive development. To do so, we compare, at three and a half years of age, the motor and cognitive skills of children with CHD who have and who have not benefited from this type of intervention as part of multidisciplinary follow-up at the CINC from 4 months of age onward.
This project will determine the impact of these systematic early follow-ups on the development of children with CHD and will also improve knowledge about neurodevelopment and possible treatments.
This project is funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
Recruitment for this project is handled by CHU Sainte-Justine.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly in newborns and is often accompanied by neurodevelopmental delays. The presence of neurological damage also appears to be more frequent and is associated with impaired development of brain connections.
The objective of this project is to study the brain connections in infants with CHD and their associations with cognitive development. To do so, we conduct NIRS recordings in infants with CHD and healthy infants at 4, 24 and 42 months of age. We then compare the two groups in terms of brain connections and determine whether the 4-month connections can predict cognitive and language development in early childhood.
This project may lead to early identification of children at risk of developing cognitive deficits, which would allow for the refinement of early intervention strategies for children with CHD.