Understanding Brain Changes in Children with Type 1 Diabetes
Official title: Mapping Neurocognitive Complications of Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and Potential Risk and Protective Factors
Funded at Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill · NIH-11169695 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This research aims to understand how Type 1 Diabetes affects brain development and thinking skills in children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $559,306 |
| NIH project number | 5U01DK140764-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11169695 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research would be prepubertal children diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who do not have Type 1 Diabetes or are adults would not directly benefit from this specific pediatric research.
What this research studies
We want to learn why some children with Type 1 Diabetes experience changes in their thinking abilities. Our team of brain imaging experts and diabetes specialists will look at how Type 1 Diabetes impacts the developing brain. We believe that factors like high or low blood sugar, insulin resistance, and stress might play a role in these brain changes. By studying children over time, we hope to identify which children are most at risk and what factors contribute to these challenges.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help us prevent thinking difficulties in children with Type 1 Diabetes and identify those who need support the most.
How similar studies have gone: This project addresses a significant gap in our understanding, as there is a lack of long-term studies on how Type 1 Diabetes affects children's brains.
Where this research is happening
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Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Belger, Aysenil — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Belger, Aysenil
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Understanding brain changes in kids with new Type 1 diabetes
A multicenter study will follow young children with Type 1 diabetes and similar peers without diabetes to look for factors that influence brain development and thinking skills.
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Neurocognitive health in young kids with Type 1 diabetes and factors that help or hurt
A study following young children with Type 1 diabetes to understand how the condition affects thinking skills and behavior, and what factors might protect or worsen these effects.
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Brain Health in Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes
This project looks at how Type 1 Diabetes affects brain development and thinking skills in young children.
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Improving access to continuous glucose monitoring for children with type 1 diabetes.
This study is looking at how things like race and income affect whether kids with type 1 diabetes can use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), and it aims to find ways to make sure all children have better access to this helpful technology for managing their diabetes.
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Investigating how type 1 diabetes affects brain development in young children
This study is looking at how type 1 diabetes affects the brain and thinking skills in young kids, and it’s inviting children with diabetes and those without to help us learn more by doing some fun brain tests and scans over a couple of years.
-
Understanding how Type 1 Diabetes affects brain development in children
This study is looking at how Type 1 Diabetes affects the thinking skills of young kids, exploring how things like high blood sugar can impact their brain development, so we can better understand and support children who might struggle with attention, learning, and memory.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.