Quantifying toddler exploration in different postures with powered mobility.

Access to powered mobility can support play and development for toddlers with disabilities. Using powered mobility in a standing posture has been theorized to support development of muscle coordination, balance, head and trunk stability, and transition to ambulation. The purpose of this study was to quantify and characterize joystick control, bodyweight support, and muscle activity while using the Permobil Explorer Mini in seated and supported standing postures.

Exploring the Efficacy of a Dynamic Harness System on Gross Motor Development and Motivation for Infants With Down Syndrome: A Pilot Study.

Purpose: To explore the benefits of a Partial Body Weight Support (PBWS) harness system within a play enriched environment on gross motor development and mastery motivation of infants with Down Syndrome (DS).

Methods: A randomized crossover study with 17 pre-walking infants with DS in two conditions-play with or without the harness engaged-each for 3×/week over 3 weeks with a 1-week washout. Assessments took place at baseline, crossover, and completion.

Off to the park: a geospatial investigation of adapted ride-on car usage.

Purpose: Adapted ride-on cars (ROC) are an affordable, power mobility training tool for young children with disabilities. Previous qualitative research has identified environmental factors, such as weather and adequate drive space, as barriers to families' adoption of their ROC. However, we do not currently know the relationship between the built environment and ROC usage.

Systematic cortical thickness and curvature patterns in primates.

Humans are known to have significant and consistent differences in thickness throughout the cortex, with thick outer gyral folds and thin inner sulcal folds. Our previous work has suggested a mechanical basis for this thickness pattern, with the forces generated during cortical folding leading to thick gyri and thin sulci, and shown that cortical thickness varies along a gyral-sulcal spectrum in humans. While other primate species are expected to exhibit similar patterns of cortical thickness, it is currently unknown how these patterns scale across different sizes, forms, and foldedness.

Computational models of cortical folding: A review of common approaches.

The process of gyrification, by which the brain develops the intricate pattern of gyral hills and sulcal valleys, is the result of interactions between biological and mechanical processes during brain development. Researchers have developed a vast array of computational models in order to investigate cortical folding. This review aims to summarize these studies, focusing on five essential elements of the brain that affect development and gyrification and how they are represented in computational models: (i) the constraints of skull, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid; (ii) heterogeneity of cortical layers and regions; (iii) anisotropic behavior of subcortical fiber tracts; (iv) material properties of brain tissue; and (v) the complex geometry of the brain.