An international team of scientists will study Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a lifelong neurological disorder, using thousands of brain MRI scans collected from research groups around the world.
The study, which will be carried out by researchers from the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) in collaboration with colleagues in Australia and the United States, will allow researchers to track changes in the brain structure of children and young people with NF1 over time.
The research, funded by a £2.2 million grant from the Ministry of Defence, is the largest investigation to date of brain development in NF1. The team will use advanced machine learning techniques to analyse brain structure from more than 10,000 MRI scans and compare it with that of healthy people of the same age.
Doing so will shed light on how specific genetic changes affect the brain and whether changes in brain structure might predict learning disabilities.
The Combined NF1 Service, run by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Murdoch Institute in Melbourne and the Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, part of MFT, a world-leading centre for NF1 clinical care and research, have committed to participating in the project.
NF1 affects approximately 1 in 2,500 children. Although the severity of symptoms varies from person to person, about half of children with the condition may also have a learning disability, autism, or ADHD.
Dr Shruti Garg, Senior Lecturer and Capacity Development Lead for Mental Health at the University of Manchester and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), is leading the international study.
Dr Garg, who is also honorary consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry at Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital, part of MFT, said: “The learning and behavioural challenges of NF1 can have a significant impact on the quality of life of affected children and young people. “This funding provides a significant opportunity for researchers to gain a greater understanding of how changes in the NF1 gene affect brain development.
“Just as ‘growth curves’ are widely used to track a child’s physical development, our study will enable us to create an NF1-specific ‘brain curve’ that will provide a reference for age-related changes in brain structure.”
“This project is a powerful demonstration of global collaboration and we are incredibly excited about what it can achieve,” said Dr Nils Muhlert, senior lecturer in psychology and neurosurgery at the University of Manchester.
Karen Cockburn, charity director at Neuro-Oncology UK, said: “We fully support this vital global project and the work of Dr Shruti Garg, who also sits on the charity’s medical advisory board. This research and its potential insights will be of great benefit to the NF1 community.”
“We are incredibly grateful for this unique opportunity to collaborate on cutting-edge research into the evolving brain map in NF1, which will in future improve clinical care for children and young people with NF1,” said Dr Grace Vassallo, Paediatric Neurologist at St Mary’s Hospital Manchester Genomics Centre and Clinical Lead for the Complex NF1 Service.
sauce:
University of Manchester
