Collaborative Research: The Role of Brain Connectivity in Reasoning Development

合作研究：大脑连接在推理发展中的作用

• 批准号: 1558585
• 负责人: Silvia Bunge
• 金额: $ 29.59万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-15 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1558585&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Role; Brain; Connectivity

AbstractCollaborative Research: The Role of Brain Connectivity in Reasoning DevelopmentUnderstanding the patterns of communication between brain regions, and how they develop across childhood, is critical for understanding the development of the neural mechanisms that implement complex cognitive operations such as reasoning. Functional connectivity, or correlations in patterns of brain activation (measured via fMRI), is thought to reflect this inter-regional communication. But communication between brain regions ultimately depends on structural connectivity: the white matter tracts that, either directly or indirectly, connect them. This proposal is aimed at resolving two open questions: 1) What are the dynamic relationships between structural and functional connectivity, for the key networks known to be involved in reasoning and other higher cognitive processes, as these develop together across childhood?, and 2) How do these dynamic relationships affect developmental improvements in reasoning ability? The answers that we obtain will provide both fundamental insight into the development of brain connectivity and mechanistic insight into the development of reasoning ability. This knowledge could impact future research both on educational and training programs designed to teach reasoning ability, and on interventions or medical programs designed to correct problems in reasoning. To address these questions, we will combine fMRI, DTI, and behavioral data from three longitudinal developmental datasets, collected at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Vanderbilt University. By combining datasets, we are able to examine longitudinal data from 400 children and young adults between the ages of 6 and 22. Our primary measures of interest include a) intrinsic functional connectivity between specific regions of interest; b) structural connectivity, measured via fractional anisotropy along tracts that connect these regions; and c) reasoning ability, measured via standard cognitive tests. Our main analyses will focus on connectivity within and between two brain networks, the fronto-parietal network and cingulo-opercular network, which are most closely associated with reasoning and other higher cognitive functions. Mixed-model regression analyses will be employed to examine concurrent relationships among structural and functional connectivity in these networks and reasoning ability. Multivariate latent difference score models will be employed to examine lead-lag relationships. The outcome of this research will be a model of interacting structural and functional connectivity development across childhood, and of how the co-development of these two indicators of neural communication relates to developmental improvements in reasoning ability.

AbstractCollaborative Research：大脑连接在推理发展中的作用了解大脑区域之间的通信模式，以及它们如何在童年时期发展，对于理解实现复杂认知操作（如推理）的神经机制的发展至关重要。功能连接，或大脑激活模式的相关性（通过功能磁共振成像测量），被认为反映了这种区域间的交流。但大脑区域之间的交流最终取决于结构连接：直接或间接连接它们的白色物质束。这个提议旨在解决两个悬而未决的问题：1）结构和功能连接之间的动态关系是什么，对于已知参与推理和其他高级认知过程的关键网络，因为这些网络在童年时期一起发展？这些动态关系如何影响推理能力的发展？ 我们获得的答案将提供对大脑连接发展的基本见解和对推理能力发展的机械见解。 这些知识可能会影响未来的研究，无论是教育和培训计划，旨在教推理能力，干预或医疗计划，旨在纠正推理问题。为了解决这些问题，我们将结合联合收割机fMRI，DTI和行为数据从三个纵向发展数据集，收集在加州大学伯克利分校，加州大学戴维斯分校和范德比尔特大学。通过组合数据集，我们能够检查400名6至22岁儿童和年轻人的纵向数据。我们感兴趣的主要指标包括a）特定感兴趣区域之间的内在功能连接; B）结构连接，通过沿连接这些区域的沿着道的分数各向异性测量;和c）推理能力，通过标准认知测试测量。我们的主要分析将集中在两个大脑网络，额顶叶网络和扣带-鳃盖网络，这是最密切相关的推理和其他更高的认知功能内部和之间的连接。混合模型回归分析将被用来研究这些网络中结构和功能连接之间的并发关系以及推理能力。将采用多变量潜在差异评分模型来检查领先-滞后关系。这项研究的结果将是一个模型的相互作用的结构和功能的连接发展在整个童年，以及如何共同发展的这两个指标的神经通信与发展的改善推理能力。