Probing Deeper Into the Diaphragm in Children

Diaphragm thickness and function can be assessed in healthy individuals and critically ill patients using point-of-care ultrasound. This technique offers an accurate, reproducible, feasible, and well-tolerated method for evaluating diaphragm structure and function.

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles—University of Louisville
How does a person learn about the world around them? One way is through direct observation and exploration. However, not every piece of information can be observed firsthand. Instead, a person must often rely on other people as information sources. This is particularly true for children who have so many questions about the world around them, yet have limited means of accessing the answers. Thus, children...

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles—University of Louisville
Imagine a young child hears an adult say, “I want to watch the news,” then watches the adult press a button on the remote control. A moment later, the television screen turns on. The next day, the child wants to turn on the television screen to watch cartoons. How does the child know what to do? Is it enough to say, “I want to watch cartoons,” or is pushing the button on the...

Working memory predicts a significant amount of variance for a variety of cognitive tasks, including speaking, reading, and writing. However, few tools are available to assess working memory in children. We present an innovative, computer-based battery that comprehensively assesses different components of working memory in school-age...

Compound muscle action potential recording quantitatively assesses functional diaphragm innervation by phrenic motor neurons. Whole-mount diaphragm immunohistochemistry assesses morphological innervation at individual neuromuscular junctions. The goal of this protocol is to demonstrate how these two powerful methodologies can be used in various rodent models of spinal cord disease.

Diagnostic ultrasound imaging has proven to be effective in diagnosing various respiratory diseases in human and animal subjects. We demonstrate a comprehensive ultrasound protocol utilized by Dr. Zuo's lab to analyze diaphragm kinetics specifically in mouse models. This is also a non-invasive research technique which can provide quantitative information on mouse respiratory muscle...