MENTAL RETARDATION RESEARCH CENTER, NEUROIMAGING CORE (MRRC)

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The general goal of Dr. Denckla's research is to understand better the origins of learning disabilities and, based on this information, design approaches for interventional skills. A main part of the research concerns the study of cognitive/information processing and/or neurophysiological and behavioral factors. As such, quantitative neuroimaging is a main interest for this collaborator. There are several aspects to this research for which collaboration with the resource is extremely important. First of all, a large fraction of the subjects for Dr. Denckla's research are children, which require a special environment to feel comfortable to participate in the scanning. The magnets in the Kirby Center (Philips Gyroscan ACS-NT) are unique in that they have the shortest bore available of all 1.5T and 3 T scanners. The bore is accessible from the back and the front and allows the child to keep eye contact with its care giver. This child-friendly environment for MR imaging is expected to drastically reduce the requirements for sedation because the child is more at ease. The Kirby Center also contains a mock scanner in which the children or other subjects can be trained to hold still and perform tasks in the magnet. Together with the child psychologists at Kennedy Krieger, Dr. Denckla and the Resource staff will work on optimizing the imaging of non-sedated children. The latter is important because it is expected that functional testing of these children can provide much needed information on their behavior in a quantitative reproducible manner. Dr. Denckla's research relates to all of the development projects proposed in this resource application. The design of flow and oxygenation methods and techniques for improved image registration and processing in Project 1 is relevant to establish quantitative fMRI results that can be used as baseline while following developmental changes in children. The spectroscopy tools in project 2 will be used to determine levels of neurotransmitters and other brain chemicals with respect to normal children. Although we are presently performing such studies in sedated sick children for several disorders (see other collaboration and Service Projects), these lengthy spectroscopy studies also need normal references. Sedation of normals is not permitted under present hospital rules and the design of a fast spectroscopic imaging protocol is crucial for this. Aim 1 in Project 3 will, for the first time, provide the possibility to compare the wiring in the brains of children with developmental d isorders to that of normal children. Several protocols need to be developed and tested, especially for the study of awake normals. The new methods being developed in project 4 will be crucial in establishing shapes of brain regions and in combining the results of all different MRI and MRS methodologies in general maps that will be assessed as a function of developmental stage.