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Dissertation Defense: Understanding Brain Activity and Neuromotor Function in Infants at Low and High Risk for Neuromotor Impairment

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Megan Evans
Dissertation Defense

Understanding Brain Activity and Neuromotor Function in Infants at Low and High Risk for Neuromotor Impairment

Megan Evans

Graduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
Graduate Research Assistant, DeLuca and Howell labs, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
May 1, at 10 a.m.
Room R3012, 2 Riverside Circle
Visit the DeLuca Lab
Visit the Howell Lab

About this Dissertation

Neuromotor impairments (NMIs) encompass a range of conditions that disrupt movement, posture, and tone due to abnormalities in the developing brain. Brain activity that supports early motor development has yet to be elucidated in infants with NMIs, representing a major knowledge gap. This is a two-group cohort design including infants at high risk for neuromotor impairment (n=12) and those with no known risk factors (n=14). Infants were considered high-risk if they had at least one of the following risk factors: low birth weight, premature birth, multiple gestations, maternal infections or complications, and/or postnatal injury.
First, Evans, mentored by Stephanie DeLuca and Brittany Howell, used optically pumped magnetometer magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG) to examine differences in beta power over the sensorimotor cortex during an awake, naturalistic movement paradigm, which is also a validated assessment of movement quality. Neither beta power nor modulation differed across groups and movement/rest sessions. These findings suggest that beta oscillatory activity is more reflective of ongoing maturation and variability in sensorimotor organization; therefore, its sensitivity to detect differences in early infancy may be limited.
Second, Evans used resting-state functional MRI to assess the relationship between motor network connectivity involving sensorimotor cortex (SMN), basal ganglia (BG), and thalamus with neuromotor function, as measured by the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE). There were no group differences in HINE scores, total and regional brain volumes, or in functional connectivity (FC) analyses of the sensorimotor or basal-ganglia-thalamocortical networks; however, a trend-level association was identified between the SMN and the thalamus. These findings suggest that FC in thalamocortical networks may serve as a more sensitive marker of early motor function during periods likely characterized by rapid developmental changes. Combined, the findings support the emergence of brain-behavior relationships as it relates to motor development.

More About the Candidate and Project

Education

Virginia Tech, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Ph.D. Candidate

Christopher Newport University, B.S., Neuroscience

Training

Graduate Research Assistant, DeLuca and Howell labs, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Mentors

Stephanie DeLuca, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Co-director, Neuromotor Research Clinic, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Brittany Howell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Committee Members

Publications

Evans, M. E., Carreno, C. A., Stephen, J., DeLuca, S., & Howell, B. R. (2026).Characterizing Sensorimotor Activity During Naturalistic Movement in Infants Using Wearable OPM-MEG. Manuscript in preparation.

Evans, M. E., Carreno, C. A., Gregg, C, Lockhart, B. K., DeLuca, S., & Howell, B. R. (2026). Early Structural and Functional Organization of Motor Networks in Infants at Risk for Neuromotor Impairment. Manuscript in preparation.

Evans, M. E., Carreno, C. A., Holt, J., McDermott, M., Lockhart, B. K., King, C., Stephen, J., & Howell, B. R. (2026). Establishing the feasibility of wearable OPM-MEG for infant use. Manuscript under review.

Nelson, P. M., Sacks, D. D., Korom, M., Remec, N., Perkins, G. A., Cook, K. M., Stoyell, S. M., Evans, M. E., Moser, J., Capparini, C., Inala, S., Huszar, I. N., Zieff, M. R., Vernetti, A., Norton, E. S., Wilkinson, C. L., & Arichi, T. (2026). Bridging the gap: Translating fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging insights into clinical practice. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 79(101696), 101696.

Edgar, J.C., Wilson, T.W., Taulu, S., Nugent, A.C., Ahlfors, S.P., Kenet, T., Chen, Y., Bosseler, A.N., Green, H.L., Heinrichs-Graham, E., Gaetz, W., Larson, E., Candelaria-Cook, F.T., Bell, N.M., Davenport, E.M., Howell, B., Evans, M., Ahtam, B., Huang, M.X.,Ward, T.W., Share, B., Mody, M., Son, J.J., Cellier, D., Peatfield, N.A., Bardouille, T., Bailey, L.M., Grewal, S., Pratt, K., Knappe, S., Alem, O., Miller, G.A., Stephen, J. (Under review). Revolutionizing pediatric neurophysiology with magnetoencephalography.

Carreno, C. A., Evans, M. E., Lockhart, B. K., Chinaka, O., Katz, B., Bell, M. A., & Howell, B. R. (2025). Optimizing infant neuroimaging methods to understand the neurodevelopmental impacts of early nutrition and feeding. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 71, 101481.

Khurana, S., Evans, M. E., Kelly, C. E., Thompson, D. K., Burnsed, J. C., Harper, A. D., Hendricks-Muñoz, K. D., Shall, M. S., Stevenson, R. D., Inamdar, K., Vorona, G., & Dusing, S. C. (2021). Longitudinal Changes in the Sensorimotor Pathways of Very Preterm Infants During the First Year of Life With and Without Intervention: A Pilot Study. Developmental neurorehabilitation, 1–8.

Stuyvenberg, C. L., Brown, S. E., Inamdar, K., Evans, M., Hsu, L. Y., Rolin, O., Harbourne, R. T., Westcott McCoy, S., Lobo, M. A., Koziol, N. A., & Dusing, S. C. (2021). Targeted Physical Therapy Combined with Spasticity Management Changes Motor DevelopmentTrajectory for a 2-Year-Old with Cerebral Palsy. Journal of personalized medicine, 11(3), 163.

Rollins, L., Olsen, A., & Evans, M. (2020). Social categorization modulates own-age bias in face recognition and ERP correlates of face processing. Neuropsychologia, 141, 107417.

Presentations

“Feasibility of Using OPM-MEG in Infants.” Megan Evans. Pediatric MEG Thinktank Retreat; March 2026. Invited presentation.

“Exploring the relationship between brain morphology and early motor development in infants at risk for neuromotor impairment.” Megan Evans, Brittany Howell, & Stephanie DeLuca. American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine; October 2025. Oral Presentation. 

“Feasibility of using OPM-MEG to assess early movements among infants with low and high risk for neuromotor impairment.” Megan Evans, Claudia Carreno, & Brittany Howell. Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group; September 2025. Poster presentation.

“Getting Started with OPM-MEG for FIT Research.” Megan Evans, Chiara Capparini, and Christine Embury. Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group; June 2025. Invited presentation.

“Little Brains, Big Challenges: The Realities of Infant OPM.” Megan Evans. Pediatric MEG Thinktank Retreat; April 2025. Invited presentation.

“Multimodal Neuroimaging Approach to Understanding Neuromotor Impairments in Infants.” Megan Evans. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Research in Progress Seminar. November 2024. Presentation.

“Optimizing wearable OPM-MEG to explore mother-infant interactions.” Megan Evans, Claudia Carreno, Paul Sands, and Brittany Howell. Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group; September 2024. Poster presentation.

“Developing wearable OPM-MEG to assess brain function in mother-infant dyads during social interaction.” Megan Evans, Claudia Carreno, Jamie Holt, Mateo McDermott, and Brittany Howell. Society for Neuroscience; November 2023. Poster presentation.

“Applying optically pumped magnetoencephalography to better understand cerebral palsy in children.” Megan Evans, Stephanie DeLuca, and Brittany Howell. American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine; September 2023. Demonstration poster.

“Adapting OPM-MEG to assess infant brain function during naturalistic social interactions.” Claudia Carreno, Megan Evans, Brittany Howell. Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group; September 2023. Poster presentation.

  • Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (VA-LEND) Fellow 2024-2025
  • Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group Poster Award 2024
  • Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Student of the Year Community Engagement 2024
  • American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Student Travel Award 2023
  • President, Student Outreach Program, Virginia Tech Carilion (2021–2025)
  • Organizer, Flipped Science Fair (2022–2025)
  • Invited Presenter, Roanoke College and Hollin University (2023 & 2025)
  • Invited Presenter, Brain Awareness Week (2022 & 2023)
  • Panelist, Pathways to Graduate Education Event (2022)