Neurobehavioral Correlates of Early Deprivation

描述(由申请人提供)：这项合作的R01涉及威斯康星大学和明尼苏达大学的平行研究。这项工作探索了早期经历过忽视/匮乏的儿童在注意力/执行功能、感觉整合和情绪/压力调节方面出现问题的神经生物学基础。这个项目的动机是重新引起人们对早期剥夺/忽视对发育的影响的兴趣，这是由于过去十年国际收养的增加所促成的。此外，它反映了对大脑发育和神经可塑性的担忧，以及对早期经验的重要性和关于敏感期的问题的持续争议。领养所经历的生活环境的显著变化允许以合理的方式估计经历剥夺的持续时间和年龄。到目前为止，对这些儿童的研究采用了难以映射到特定神经系统的全球测量方法。这个项目的总体目标是在现有研究的基础上，研究特定的认知和情感系统。具体的目标是确定(A)与认知过程和自我调节行为的发展有关的神经回路的方面，以及(B)可能受到早期剥夺/忽视影响的后来发育的神经系统。 《特定目的1》研究了前额调节系统，据信这些系统构成了注意力、抑制控制和工作记忆的基础。 具体目标2检查感觉-运动加工，包括感觉整合、习得和练习。 具体目标3根据早期忽视的动物文献探索系统思想：参与应激反应和调节的皮质-边缘-下丘脑-脑干系统。总而言之，这些研究将提供一个相对全面和更具体的图景，说明早期剥夺人类儿童可能导致的神经损害，并突出显示大脑行为发育中似乎没有受到影响的那些方面。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This collaborative R01 involves parallel studies at the Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The work explores the neurobiological bases of problems in attention/executive functions, sensory integration, and emotion/stress regulation exhibited by children who have experienced neglect/privation early in life. This project is motivated by renewed interest the effects of early deprivation/neglect on development, precipitated by the last decade's increase in international adoptions. In addition, it reflects concerns with brain development and neural plasticity coupled with continued controversies over the importance of early experiences and questions about sensitive periods. The marked change in living environments experienced with adoption allows a reasonable way to estimate both the duration and ages during which deprivation was experienced. To date, studies of these children have employed global measures that are difficult to map to specific neural systems. The General Aim of this project is to build upon extant studies and examine specific cognitive and affective systems. The specific aims identify (a) aspects of neural circuitry that are linked to the development of cognitive processes and self-regulatory behaviors and (b) later-developing neural systems that are likely to be affected by early deprivation/neglect. Specific Aim 1 examines frontally mediated systems believed to underlie aspects of attention, inhibitory control, and working memory. Specific Aim 2 examines sensory-motor processing including sensory integration, acquisition, and praxis. Specific Aim 3 explores systems thoughts to be compromised based upon the animal literature on early neglect: cortico-limbic-hypothalamic-brainstem systems that are involved in stress reactivity and regulation. Together, these studies will provide a relatively comprehensive and more specific picture of the potential neural compromises resulting from early deprivation in human children as well as highlighting those aspects of brain-behavior development that appear to be spared.