Development of Amygdalo-Prefrontal Connections in Adolescent Macaques

项目总结/摘要 该项目结合了亚利桑那大学Katalin Gothard博士和安娜W. 罗在浙江大学[中国]。这个项目的目的是了解大脑的变化， 在青春期出现社会和情绪调节。青春期是一个加速社交的时期， 和认知能力的发展，同时也是焦虑和冲动控制障碍的脆弱性增强的时期， 这会增加继发性精神障碍的终身风险。在此期间，前额叶皮层 经历成熟，但很少有人知道它的成熟与杏仁核的关系，认为 大脑中情绪处理的中心在人类和非人类灵长类动物中，杏仁核的成熟期较长 青春期前;在青春期早期，由杏仁核控制的情感过程和唤醒占主导地位 情感和社会行为。随着前额叶皮层的成熟和对杏仁核影响的增加 功能，情绪行为变得更加规范。我们假设情绪的发展 青春期的调节是由于杏仁核-前额叶网络的变化。这项提案的目的是 纵向监测，在同一个人，重组之间的功能连接， 杏仁核和PFC。这将通过激光功能磁共振成像功能束追踪的多模式方法来实现， 以及杏仁核和前额皮质的神经生理记录。平行，点状给药 将提供冲动性和社交性纵向变化的测量。功能磁共振成像， 神经生理学和行为测量将在匹配的时间点相关，从而实现 多尺度（细胞到电路水平到行为）理解青少年发展。这一发现 这项研究将对我们理解正常的青少年大脑发育以及 社会适应不良和精神疾病出现的可能危险因素。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This project combines the expertise of Dr. Katalin Gothard at The University of Arizona [US] and Dr. Anna W. Roe at Zhejiang University [China]. The aim of this project is to understand changes in the brain underlying the emergence of social and emotional regulation during adolescence. Adolescence is a period of accelerated social and cognitive development, and also a time of enhanced vulnerability for anxiety and impulse-control disorders, which elevate the lifelong risk for secondary psychiatric disorders. During this period, the prefrontal cortex undergoes maturation, but little is known about the maturation of its relationship with the amygdala, considered a hub of emotional processing in the brain. In humans and nonhuman primates, the amygdala matures long before puberty; in early adolescence, emotional processes and arousal governed by the amygdala dominate emotional and social behavior. As the prefrontal cortex matures and increases its influence on amygdalar function, emotional behavior becomes more regulated. We hypothesize that the development of emotional regulation during adolescence is due to changes in amygdala-prefrontal networks. The goal of this proposal is to monitor longitudinally, in the same individuals, the reorganization of functional connections between the amygdala and the PFC. This will be accomplished by a multimodal approach of laser-fMRI functional tract tracing, and neurophysiological recordings in the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. In parallel, punctate administration of behavioral tasks will provide a measure of longitudinal changes in impulsivity and sociability. The fMRI, neurophysiological, and behavioral measures will be correlated at matched timepoints, thereby achieving a multiscale (cellular to circuit level to behavior) understanding of adolescent development. The findings from this study will have significant bearing on our understanding of normal adolescent brain development and also of the possible risk factors for the emergence of social misadjustment and mental disease.