Mapping Individual Cognitive Differences to Neural Variance and School Readiness

描述（由申请人提供）：早期学龄阶段是认知能力和神经系统发生重大发展变化的时期。然而，对于这些同时发生的发展过程是如何相互联系的，以及生物因素与童年经历和环境的关键相互作用的本质，人们知之甚少。该项目以前所未有的细节研究了儿童向正规学校过渡过程中基本认知过程和调节这些过程的神经系统的发展，为解决这一问题迈出了关键的第一步。该设计是一项对100名6岁时发育正常的儿童进行的纵向研究，每年进行5次行为测量和MRI评估。收集的行为测量，语言，视觉空间处理，工作记忆和认知控制，在这个年龄段表现出高度敏感的发展变化。儿童的核磁共振成像将涉及最近开发的、改进的图像采集方法和结果的计算建模。将测量特定脑纤维束的扩散参数以及皮质表面积和厚度的区域测量。这项研究的重点是6岁到10岁之间纤维束发育速度的差异，以及这种差异与认知发展速度之间的联系。神经参数与早期学业成绩之间的关系也将被研究。这项研究是新颖的，不仅因为所应用的成像方法将产生比目前可用的关于儿童大脑的更详细的信息，而且还因为该项目的概念重点是大脑和行为发展轨迹之间的一致性程度。这项研究的长期意义在于，它有可能指导我们采取更能适应个体差异的干预措施，从而在更多的儿童中促进积极的结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The early school age period is a time of significant developmental change in both cognitive abilities and neural systems. Yet little is known about how, specifically, these developmental processes that occur concurrently are linked to each other, or about the nature of critical interactions of biological factors with childhood experiences and environments. The proposed project takes a critical first step in addressing this problem by examining, in unprecedented detail, the development of basic cognitive processes and of the neural systems that mediate them during the child's transition to formal schooling. The design is a longitudinal study of 100 typically- developing children inducted at age 6 and assessed with behavioral measures and MRI annually on 5 occasions. The behavioral measures to be collected, of language, visuospatial processing, working memory, and cognitive control, have exhibited high sensitivity to developmental change over this age range. MR imaging of the children will involve recently developed, improved methods for image acquisition and computational modeling of the results. Diffusion parameters from specific brain fiber tracts as well as regional measures of cortical surface area and thickness will be measured. The focus of the study is on differences in the rate of fiber tract development from 6 to 10 years of age and links between this variability and the pace of cognitive development. Relationships between the neural parameters and early academic achievement will also be examined. The study is novel, not only because the imaging methods to be applied will produce more detailed information about the brains of children than is currently available, but also because of the conceptual focus of the project on the degree of concordance between trajectories of brain and behavioral development. The long-term significance of the study lies in its potential to guide us toward interventions that are more adaptive to individual differences and therefore promote positive outcomes in more children. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The research described in this application will use magnetic resonance imaging to determine how much healthy children differ from each other in the rate at which their brains develop biologically, particularly in the connecting fibers that transmit information within the brain, and how closely this mirrors the pace of their mental development. The aim of the research is to increase our understanding of differences among children so that we can use this knowledge to create more supportive environments for all children, and also to guide us toward interventions that may allow us to prevent some mental illnesses.