Attending to all children: Examining the role of alpha oscillations in attention in young children with and without prenatal alcohol exposure (AsCENd)

摘要 注意力缺陷会导致终身的挑战，影响学业和工作表现，社会关系， 生活满意度注意力问题通常开始在幼年和儿童的注意力问题的斗争 在学校理想情况下，注意力缺陷将在孩子入学前被发现。一个主要的限制， 我们对幼儿注意力的神经信号的了解有限。产前有 酒精暴露（PAE）和与PAE相关的胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）诊断儿童 患有持续性注意力缺陷，并且出生时就存在PAE。因此，研究儿童与 没有PAE，我们就有机会在年轻时检查注意力的神经信号， 注意力缺陷的高危儿童群体。在社会经济地位较低的家庭中长大的儿童也 注意力问题的风险更大，由于新墨西哥州的贫困率很高，我们有能力 检查它在有和没有PAE的儿童中的注意力作用。对成年人的研究表明， 振荡在引导注意力方面起着关键作用，但目前尚不清楚α振荡与 注意早期发展。阿尔法振荡很容易在休息时引起，在任务中修改， 可衡量的发展。这项研究建立在（1）先前的研究表明丘脑驱动一些 皮质α振荡，而其他振荡由皮质-皮质连接或局部网络动力学驱动 和（2）临床前PAE模型研究和儿童PAE研究表明皮质- 丘脑和皮质-皮质束与PAE。目的1将建立α振荡和皮质的作用， 通过测量休息和任务期间的α振荡来研究注意力中的丘脑或皮质-皮质连接 脑磁图（MEG）和白色物质完整性（EEG）使用扩散张量成像（DTI）， 通常是4 - 7岁的儿童。目标2将评估α振荡和α振荡的变化， 他们与PAE儿童的注意力缺陷的关系，相对于正常发育的儿童。目标3将 检查阿尔法振荡的发展轨迹，并通过以下的注意力， 同样的孩子纵向直到7岁。我们假设α振荡与α振荡直接相关， 和注意力。此外，阿尔法振荡将减少儿童与 PAE，这些减少将与干扰和注意力缺陷有关。我们预计这些影响 在发育正常的儿童和患有PAE的儿童中，贫困是介导因素。我们将测试我们的 通过在3个任务中使用MEG测量α振荡来假设， 振荡顶叶皮层，躯体运动区和额顶叶网络，并检查这些 振荡与注意力和注意力有关。这项研究将提供有关阿尔法的作用的基础知识， 幼儿注意力的波动，可能表明潜在的生物标志物，以改善早期诊断， FASD的干预，以告知我们对注意力缺陷的广泛理解。

Abstract Attention deficits cause life-long challenges affecting academic and job performance, social relationships, and life satisfaction. Attention problems typically begin at an early age and children with attention problems struggle in school. Ideally, attention deficits would be identified before a child enters school. A primary limitation in the field is our limited knowledge of the neural signatures of attention in young children. Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and children with a diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) related to PAE experience persistent attention deficits, and PAE is present at birth. Therefore, studying children with and without PAE provides us with an opportunity to examine neural signatures of attention at a young age in a group of children at high risk of attention deficits. Children raised in lower socioeconomic households are also at greater risk of attention problems, and due to high rates of poverty in New Mexico, we are well-positioned to examine its role in attention in children with and without PAE. Research in adults indicates that alpha oscillations play a key role in directing attention, but it is unknown how alpha oscillations are related to attention early in development. Alpha oscillations are easily elicited during rest, modified during tasks, and measurable across development. This study builds on (1) prior research demonstrating thalamus drives some cortical alpha oscillations whereas others are driven by cortico-cortical connections or local network dynamics and (2) studies in preclinical PAE models and research in children with PAE indicating disrupted cortico- thalamic and cortico-cortical tracts with PAE. Aim 1 will establish the role of alpha oscillations and cortico- thalamic or cortico-cortical connectivity in attention by measuring alpha oscillations during rest and task using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and white matter integrity (WMI) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in typically developing children aged 4-7 years. Aim 2 will assess alterations in alpha oscillations and WMI and their relation to attention deficits in children with PAE, relative to typically developing children. Aim 3 will examine the developmental trajectory of alpha oscillations and WMI and their role in attention by following the same children longitudinally until age seven. We hypothesize that alpha oscillations are directly related to WMI and attention in typically developing children. Furthermore, alpha oscillations will be reduced in children with PAE, and these reductions will be related to disruptions in WMI and attention deficits. We expect these effects to be mediated by poverty in both typically developing children and children with PAE. We will test our hypotheses by measuring alpha oscillations using MEG during 3 tasks that robustly manipulate alpha oscillations in parietal cortex, somatomotor regions and the fronto-parietal network and examining how these oscillations relate to WMI and attention. This study will provide foundational knowledge about the role of alpha oscillations in attention in young children and may indicate potential biomarkers to improve early diagnosis and intervention for FASD to inform our understanding of attention deficits broadly.