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生挑战，影响学习和工作表现、社会关系和 生活满足感。注意力问题通常在很小的时候就开始了，有注意力问题的孩子很挣扎 在学校里。理想情况下，注意力缺陷应该在孩子入学前就被识别出来。中的一个主要限制 这一领域是我们对幼儿注意力神经信号的有限了解。患有产前疾病的儿童 酒精暴露(PAE)与诊断为与PAE相关的胎儿酒精谱系障碍(FASD)的儿童 患有持续性注意力缺陷，PAE在出生时就存在。因此，研究患有AND的儿童 没有PAE为我们提供了一个机会来检查注意的神经信号在年轻的时候 这是一组注意力缺陷高危儿童。在较低的社会经济家庭长大的孩子也是 在更大的关注问题的风险下，由于新墨西哥州的高贫困率，我们处于有利地位 研究它在患有和不患有PAE的儿童注意力中的作用。对成年人的研究表明，阿尔法 振荡在引导注意力方面起着关键作用，但目前尚不清楚阿尔法振荡与 注意发展的早期阶段。在休息期间很容易引发阿尔法振荡，在任务期间很容易修改，以及 在整个发展过程中是可衡量的。这项研究建立在(1)先前的研究表明丘脑驱动一些 大脑皮层α振荡，而其他则由大脑皮层-大脑皮层连接或局部网络动力学驱动 以及(2)临床前PAE模型的研究和对PAE儿童的研究表明皮质-PAE受损。 伴有PAE的丘脑和皮质束。目标1将确定阿尔法振荡和皮质- 通过测量休息和任务时的阿尔法振荡来测量注意中丘脑或皮质-皮质的连接性 脑磁图(MEG)和脑白质完整性(WMI)弥散张量成像(DTI) 通常是4-7岁的发育中的儿童。目标2将评估阿尔法振荡和WMI的变化 它们与PAE儿童的注意力缺陷的关系，相对于典型的发育儿童。目标3将 研究阿尔法振荡和WMI的发展轨迹及其在注意力中的作用 同样的孩子在纵向上一直到7岁。我们假设阿尔法振荡与wmi直接相关。 以及对典型发育中的儿童的关注。此外，阿尔法振荡将减少儿童与 PAE，而这些减少将与WMI和注意力缺陷的中断有关。我们预计会有这些影响 在典型的发育中儿童和患有PAE的儿童中都以贫困为中介。我们将测试我们的 通过使用脑磁图测量在3个稳健地操纵阿尔法的任务中的阿尔法振荡的假设 顶叶皮质、躯体运动区和额顶网络的振荡 振荡与WMI和注意力有关。这项研究将提供有关阿尔法角色的基础知识 幼儿注意力的振荡，并可能指示潜在的生物标记物来改善早期诊断和 干预FASD，让我们对注意力缺陷有更广泛的理解。

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.