A Wellcome Discovery Award has been awarded to Cardiff University to lead a cutting edge new research project, together with Cambridge University and the Donders Institute in The Netherlands. The award of €7,015,996 will fund research that aims to understand how the development of the brain at the microscopic level between the ages of 8 and 18 years is linked to cognitive and social-emotional development.
The researchers are also examining brain development in children and young adults with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. Professor Derek Jones of Cardiff University leads the research and states, "The funding enables us to use advanced imaging techniques to study the developing brain at the cellular level and the connections between them." Professor Marianne van den Bree (Cardiff University) further elaborates on the importance of the study: "Late childhood and adolescence are crucial periods in life where vulnerability to mental health problems manifests." Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, University of Cambridge, adds, "This study will allow us to link brain development to how children and adolescents develop in terms of their cognitive abilities, social and emotional processes, and mental health."
Professor Rogier Kievit at the Donders Institute, added: “We increasingly realize that to truly understand the development of the brain and challenges that might arise, we must study how the brains and behaviours of people change over time. This project will allow us a unique combination of spatial precision across a period of years to see how brain changes emerge and unfold“
The team of investigators hopes that the findings of their study will be applied in the future to facilitate early detection of mental health risk and provide an evidence base for longer-term interventions.