Developmental change in visuospatial processes: RT-fMRI

描述（由申请人提供）：虽然已经有大量的工作记录在空间认知处理的行为变化，很少有人知道的神经系统的发展，介导这些功能。功能性磁共振成像的最新进展使我们有可能提出有关行为变化和相关脑系统变化之间关系的关键问题：说特定脑区介导或开始介导某些类型的处理是什么意思？神经承诺的模式是如何在发展中出现的？具体来说，神经系统的发展在多大程度上反映了行为数据中观察到的变化？本提案的主要目标集中在记录空间认知功能的基本方面的发展变化之间的关系，视觉模式处理，和大脑系统的变化，腹侧枕颞叶系统，介导这些功能。提出了三个系列的研究。第一个是集中在映射腹侧视觉系统的功能组织的发展变化，探索类别特异性信息的神经组织沿着颞叶腹侧表面。第二个是针对检查的变化模式的半球侧化的基本认知过程中涉及的空间模式分析，专注于可分离的过程的结构，或全球，和功能，或本地，水平处理。第三，检查跨大脑半球的信息交换的调节，着眼于与全球和地方层面的过程有关的信息交换。此外，由于所有这些研究都使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来解决儿科人群的大脑组织问题，因此本项目还将研究两个方法学问题：（1）BOLD反应是否随发育而变化。动脉自旋标记（ASL）的措施将被用来解决这个问题;（2）是否有年龄相关的变化，在脑形态，因为它涉及到解剖正常化？

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although there has been substantial work documenting behavioral change in spatial cognitive processing, little is known about the development of the neural systems that mediate these functions. Recent advances in fMRI now make it possible to ask critical questions concerning the relations between behavioral change and change in the associated brain systems: What does it mean to say that particular brain regions mediate, or to come to mediate, certain types of processing? How do patterns of neural commitment emerge in development? Specifically, to what extent does the development of the neural systems reflect the profiles of change observed in behavioral data? The major goals of this proposal focus on documenting the relationship between developmental change in a basic aspect of spatial cognitive functioning, visual pattern processing, and change in the brain system, the ventral occipital temporal lobe system, that mediates these functions. Three series of studies are proposed. The first is focuses on mapping developmental change in the functional organization of the ventral visual system, exploring the neural organization of category specific information along the ventral surface of the temporal lobe. The second is directed toward examining change in the patterns of hemispheric lateralization for the basic cognitive processes involved in spatial pattern analysis, focusing on the separable process of configural, or global, and featural, or local, level processing. Third examines regulation of information exchange across the cerebral hemispheres, looking at the exchange of information related to global and local level processes. In addition, because all of these studies use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to address questions of brain organization in pediatric populations, this project will also investigate two methodological questions: (1) Are there changes with development in the BOLD response. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) measures will be employed to address this question; (2) Are there age-related change in brain morphology as it relates to anatomical normalization?