A new study involving 11 clinical centers across the United States aims to uncover the impact of type 1 diabetes (T1D) on brain health and cognitive function in children.

Led by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, the five-year study received millions of dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which will be divided among each clinical center.

Participating centers include institutions such as Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of California Davis, Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University, Barbara Davis Center at University of Colorado Denver, University of Florida, Indiana University, NYU, University of Washington, University of North Carolina. and Nemours Children’s Hospital in Florida.

The study will explore unclear and critical questions about how environmental, lifestyle, social and clinical factors affect brain development during childhood – a crucial time for cognitive growth.

Together, the above centers will recruit more than 1,000 children newly diagnosed with T1D, ensuring a diverse participant group that reflects racial, ethnic, and income demographics often underrepresented in prior studies, according to a release from Keck School of Medicine Press.

T1D is an autoimmune disease that prevents the body from producing insulin, a hormone essential for regulating blood sugar levels. Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, causing long-term damage to organs, including the brain.

“Diabetes is a diagnosis that can easily go unnoticed because the early symptoms are so subtle,” said Nicole Glaser, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at UC Davis Health.

According to CDC Researchcases of T1D in children are increasing. If the trend continues, diagnostics could increase by 65% ​​by 2060.

Currently, a estimated 352,000 Americans under the age of 20 live with diabetes, and approximately 18,200 new cases of T1D are diagnosed each year.

This increasing prevalence highlights the importance of understanding the effects of T1D during childhood, a time when the brain is developing rapidly.

However, there is little long-term research on how T1D affects cognitive functions like memory, attention, and executive skills during this critical period of children’s lives.

About half of adults with T1D face significant cognitive impairment, including problems with working memory and basic functions that affect daily thinking, according to Sarah Jaser, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt.

“Children with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk for neurocognitive complications, and the skills most affected include the ability to plan, working memory and the ability to perform mental calculations,” Jaser said. “These cognitive functions are essential to the management of diabetes. If these skills are affected, it could be difficult to manage diabetes.

She added that researchers want to intervene or find ways to combat neurocognitive problems at an earlier age so they can potentially prevent problems managing diabetes in adolescence and adulthood.

To better understand how T1D affects children’s brains, researchers in the upcoming study will gather data on academic performance, memory, attention and behavioral outcomes like anxiety.

The study will also include a control group of non-diabetic children to determine how T1D-related factors influence neurocognitive development.

According to a statement shared by Vanderbilt, the university hopes to recruit patients by 2025.

By understanding these influences, researchers hope to develop interventions that promote healthier brain development and better outcomes in diabetes management.

The diversity of participants will mark a significant shift in diabetes research, which has historically focused on white children, according to the release.

This inclusive approach aims to provide a more complete picture of how T1D affects the brain development of children from all backgrounds and how these effects can be treated.

According to releases from a number of participating centers, they are optimistic about the study’s potential to generate meaningful change, as they collaborate to finalize study protocols and begin recruitment.