Development of Amygdala-Prefrontal Interactions

描述(由申请人提供)：本修订申请导师研究科学家发展奖(RFA-PA-95-049 K01)描述了一项职业发展和研究计划，其长期目标是了解青春期情绪失调(和情感障碍)的神经基础。该方法建立在申请人之前关于遗传对成人杏仁核和前额叶皮质功能动力学影响的神经成像研究的基础上。这项申请旨在将这一研究范围扩展到特定的发育和临床框架，以解决与青少年情感障碍相关的情感调节和青春期大脑成熟的关键问题。培训计划强调用认知和情感神经科学的方法来理解情感调节的发展；它还包括旨在增加申请者对与这一调查相关的发展、临床、统计和伦理问题的知识的具体活动。该研究计划建立在一个研究儿童情感性精神障碍神经行为改变的计划项目的基础上(P01-MH41712)。研究计划的第一部分涉及在现有方案的基础上增加基因分型和神经成像研究，该方案包括抑郁症、焦虑症和正常对照儿童和青少年的样本。第二部分涉及招募一组新的女性对照样本，以解决青春期雌激素水平上升对正常发育中杏仁核-前额叶功能相互作用的影响的具体问题。总之，这些研究和培训计划将使申请者能够在情感神经科学框架内，以有助于了解早发性情感障碍的病因和素质(并最终获得更有效的治疗)的方式，促进对青春期情感调节发展的遗传和成熟影响的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised application for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (RFA-PA-95-049 K01) describes a career development and research plan with a long-term goal of understanding the neural bases of affect dysregulation (and affective disorders) in adolescence. The approach build's upon the applicant's previous neuroimaging studies of genetic influences on the functional dynamics of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex in adults. This application seeks to extend that line of investigation into a specific developmental and clinical framework to address key questions about affect regulation and pubertal brain maturation relevant for adolescent affective disorders. The training plan emphasizes a cognitive and affective neuroscience approach to understanding the development of affect regulation; it also includes specific activities aimed at increasing the applicant's knowledge of developmental, clinical, statistical and ethical issues relevant to this line of investigation. The research plan builds upon a well-established program project investigating neurobehavioral changes in pediatric affective disorders (P01-MH41712). Component one of the research plan involves the addition of genotyping and a neuroimaging study to an existing protocol that includes samples of depressed, anxiety disordered, and normal control children and adolescents. Component two involves the recruitment of a new sample of female controls to address a specific question about the impact of the pubertal rise in estrogen on amygdala-prefrontal functional interactions in normal development. Together, these studies and training program will enable the applicant to advance understanding of genetic and maturational influences on the development of affect regulation during adolescence within an affective neuroscience framework in ways that will help inform the etiology and diathesis (and eventually, more effective treatment) of early onset affective disorders.