Visual Plasticity in Schizophrenia:A Training Program

精神分裂症的视觉可塑性：培训计划

• 批准号: 6924516
• 负责人: MALLE ANNE TAGAMETS
• 金额: $ 14.68万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-08-23 至 2007-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6924516
• 关键词: brain; clinical research; cognition; functional magnetic resonance imaging; human subject; language; neural information processing; neuropsychology; reading; schizophrenia; semantics; training; vocabulary

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A wide range of abnormalities in thought processes characterizes schizophrenia. Loose associations a condition in which associations among cognitive elements do not follow the cohesive structure found in normal individuals, is one of the cardinal features of this syndrome. Functionally, abnormalities have been found in a number of different brain regions in schizophrenia. This suggests that associative thought disorder in schizophrenia might be understood in terms of the interactions among widespread brain regions that mediate associations. This study is aimed at characterizing interactions among brain regions during single-word reading, both in schizophrenia and in normal function. Reading is a task that is known to tap into a wide range of associations. More generally, strings of letters or symbols, depending on their content and arrangement, can have a variety of associations ranging from semantic, phonological and lexical familiarity associated with real words to the purely visual properties in strings of unfamiliar symbols. The goal of this study is to perform an in-depth investigation into how interactions among widespread regions of the brain mediate cognitive associations in schizophrenia by using reading tasks with four different types of strings that vary in their similarity to real words. The study includes 3 segments: 1) Identification of the networks that mediate the tasks in normal volunteers and in patients with schizophrenia; 2) Computation of the interactions among the components of this network and assessment of how they differ between the two groups; and 3) Examination of how associations are formed when subjects are familiarized with initially unfamiliar strings. This research will lead to a better understanding of language disorganization in schizophrenia. In conjunction with the research, the educational activities proposed will prepare me to begin independent clinical research using both behavioral and pharmacological manipulations. This combined research and educational approach may enhance drug development with respect to specific interacting elements of the brain, and may promote an improvement in schizophrenia treatment strategies.

描述（由申请人提供）：精神分裂症的特征是思维过程的广泛异常。松散联想是一种认知元素之间的联系不遵循正常个体的内聚结构的情况，是该综合征的主要特征之一。在功能上，在精神分裂症患者的许多不同的大脑区域都发现了异常。这表明，精神分裂症的联想思维障碍可能是根据广泛的大脑区域之间的相互作用来理解的。这项研究的目的是表征大脑区域之间的相互作用，在单字阅读，精神分裂症和正常功能。众所周知，阅读是一项涉及广泛联想的任务。更一般地说，字母或符号串，根据它们的内容和排列，可以有各种各样的联系，从与真实单词相关的语义、语音和词汇熟悉到与不熟悉的符号串中纯粹的视觉属性。本研究的目的是通过使用四种不同类型的与真实单词相似度不同的字符串进行阅读任务，深入研究大脑广泛区域之间的相互作用如何介导精神分裂症患者的认知关联。本研究包括三个部分：1)识别正常志愿者和精神分裂症患者的任务调节网络；2)计算该网络各组成部分之间的相互作用，并评估它们在两组之间的差异；3)当受试者熟悉最初不熟悉的字符串时，如何形成联想的检查。这项研究将有助于更好地理解精神分裂症的语言紊乱。与研究相结合，提出的教育活动将使我准备开始独立的临床研究，使用行为和药理学操作。这种研究和教育相结合的方法可能会加强药物开发，特别是大脑的特定相互作用元素，并可能促进精神分裂症治疗策略的改进。