MAG. SOUR. IMAG. & THE RE-ORG. OF COGNIT. FUNCT. IN CHILDREN WITH SPINA BIFIDA

本建议的目的是利用磁源成像(MSI)来评估脊柱裂(SB)儿童的脑功能组织。患有SB的儿童在怀孕前三个月开始患有先天性脑损伤，导致脑积水，通常在出生时就进行治疗。众所周知，许多患有SB的儿童具有不同寻常的认知能力，在单词阅读、数学知识和基于对象的视觉方面具有优势 感知面对阅读理解、数学程序等诸多方面的困难，以行动为基础的视觉感知、注意力和运动功能。目前尚不清楚的是SB大脑如何调节这些功能，以及SB组内部的差异在多大程度上反映了大脑重组的差异。在这项建议中，我们建议系统地探索关键运动、躯体感觉、语言和认知技能的功能组织，以表征136名SB儿童、20名导水管狭窄(AS)儿童和60名对照儿童与SB相关的模式特征。提出了四个具体的目标，每个目标代表一个单独的实验。目标1(运动、躯体感觉和语言映射)试图确定大脑激活图谱，以指示神经机制，该神经机制调节上肢的基本躯体感觉和运动功能以及感受性 136名SB儿童和60名对照儿童的语言功能调查目标2(阅读和算术)解决了60名儿童阅读和数学技能的表征问题，这些儿童的阅读和数学技能存在差异。目标3(视觉注意)研究了40名儿童在线条平分任务中顶叶在调节视觉注意技能中的作用，其中SB根据他们在项目中的水平线平分任务中是否表现出向左的偏向进行了分组 3个，20个对照。目的4(韵律辨别)采用节奏知觉任务对20例以早期脑积水和先天性小脑畸形为特征的SB患儿和20例以早期脑积水为特征但无小脑畸形的SB患儿和20例正常儿童的小脑功能进行评估。这些结果应该有助于确定先天畸形的大脑是如何重组的，也有助于为神经学研究奠定基础。 这些功能在SB儿童中的调节机制。

The objective of this proposal is to utilize magnetic source imaging (MSI) to evaluate the organization of brain functions in children with spina bifida (SB). Children with SB sustain a congenital insult to the brain that begins in the first trimester and results in hydrocephalus that is usually treated at birth. It is well-established that many children with SB have unusual profiles of cognitive ability, with strengths in word reading, math facts, and object-based visual perception in the face of difficulties with reading comprehension, math procedures, and many aspects of action-based visual perception, attention, and motor function. What is unclear is how the SB brain mediates these functions and the extent to which variations within the SB group reflect differences in cerebral reorganization. In this proposal, we propose systematic explorations of functional organization of key motor, somatosensory, language, and cognitive skills that characterize the modal profile associated with SB in a sample of 136 children with SB, 20 with aqueductal stenosis (AS), and 60 controls. Four specific aims are proposed, each representing a separate experiment. Aim 1 (Motor, somatosensory, and language mapping) attempts to identify the brain activation profiles indicative of the neuronal mechanisms that mediate basic somatosensory and motor functions of the upper extremities as well as receptive language function among 136 SB children and 60 controls. Aim 2 (Reading and arithmetic) addresses the representation of reading and math skills in 60 children with SB who vary in these skills. Aim 3 (Visual attention) addresses the role of the parietal lobe in mediating visual attention skills using a line bisection task in 40 children with SB divided according to whether they show or do not show a leftward bias on a horizontal line bisection task in Project 3, and 20 controls. Aim 4 (Rhythm discrimination) uses a rhythm perception task to assess cerebellar function in 20 children with SB characterized by early hydrocephalus and a congenital cerebellar malformation, 20 with AS characterized by early hydrocephalus, but no cerebellar malformation, and 20 controls. The results should help establish how the congenitally malformed brain reorganizes function as well as help establish the basis for the neurological mechanisms by which these functions are mediated in children with SB.