By gaining a better understanding of the role of altered astrocyte development and function in white matter brain injury after chronic hypoxia (HX), the study findings will help develop new cell-specific therapeutic approaches for brain injuries seen in premature infants with cerebral palsy and help to decrease neurological morbidity associated with cerebral palsy in very low birth weight infants (VLBW, <1500g).


Most treatments for cerebral palsy (CP) are initially directed toward children. What is not clearly established is the long- term effects of such treatments. Many appear helpful in the short term but prove to be disadvantageous in the long run. Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is a permanent, irreversible neurosurgical procedure for reducing spasticity in cerebral palsy. Parents contemplating SDR for their child would like assurance that that there will not be harmful complications from it as the child ages into adolescence and adulthood. We now have new evidence...







