Poverty: Effects on Neural and Cognitive Development from Birth - 12 Months

贫困：对出生后 12 个月内神经和认知发育的影响

• 批准号: 8534225
• 负责人: HALLAM HURT
• 金额: $ 18.05万
• 依托单位: CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8534225
• 关键词: 1 year old; Achievement; Affect; African American; Age; Americas; Award; Behavior; Birth; Brain; Brain scan; Child; Cognition; Cognitive; Data; Data Set; Development; Disadvantaged; Discipline; Early Intervention; Early identification; Education; Enrollment; Environment; Environmental Risk Factor; Etiology; Evaluation; Exposure to; Family; Female; Foundations; Frequencies; Goals; Growth; Health; Hippocampus (Brain); Home environment; Image; Income; Infant; Infant Development; Influentials; Intervention; Investigation; Knowledge; Language; Language Development; Life; Link; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Measures; Mediating; Mediation; Mediator of activation protein; Mental Depression; Neuroanatomy; Occupations; Outcome; Performance; Poverty; Pregnancy; Prevention; Prospective Studies; Proxy; Research; Research Infrastructure; Risk; Sampling; Schools; Scientific Advances and Accomplishments; Secondary to; Stress; Structure; System; Temperament; Time; base; brain behavior; cognitive change; cognitive system; design; executive function; improved; infant outcome; intervention program; neurodevelopment; neuroimaging; novel; nutrition; prenatal; prospective; relating to nervous system; response; therapy design; white matter

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children growing up in poverty are at increased risk for poor cognitive outcomes, arguably one of the most critical issues facing our nation today. While many studies have shown that effects of poverty are apparent by age two years, far less is known regarding effects in children younger than two years. When do the effects of poverty first exert their effects? What cognitive systems are affected? Are changes detectable in the developing brain? What environmental factors are most influential? This research will: 1) provide novel data regarding neural effects of poverty; 2) identify timing of effects and specific cognitive systems affected by poverty; 3) explore relation of neural structure and function with cognitive outcomes; and 4) assess mediation of poverty's effects by maternal, child, and environmental factors. Our long-term goals are to improve outcome of disadvantaged children through: 1) identifying the earliest time period at which, and specific systems for which, interventions can be implemented; and 2) designing interventions based on changes in the developing brain and on environmental risks most strongly associated with cognitive outcomes. We propose to accomplish these aims through enrollment of 60 healthy, African American female term gestation infants born into families with low (n=30) or high (n=30) income in a prospective study. Child assessments will be conducted from birth through age 12 months as follows: Neuroimaging: MRI (major white tracts, cortical regions and hippocampus) at 1 and 12 months; and Infant Development: general cognitive development, language, and executive function at 6 and 12 months. Maternal, child, and environmental factors considered mediators of the effects of poverty on child outcome will be assessed starting in the prenatal period and continuing through infant age 12 months. Maternal factors include nutrition, stress, depression, and IQ. Child factors include temperament, growth, and health. Environmental factors include parental education and occupation, home environment, and childcare. For evaluation of neural and cognitive outcomes, cross- sectional and longitudinal analyses will be conducted with income group as the primary independent variable, followed by mediational analysis. To our knowledge this is the first prospective study that leverages the use of neuroimaging in the study of neural and cognitive outcomes of infants growing up in poverty. The inclusion of neuroimaging provides not only the first assessment of poverty's effect on the developing brain of infants, but also an unprecedented opportunity to link brain structure and behavior, and in turn explore mediational mechanisms affecting development of very young children. Successful achievement of proposed aims not only will advance scientific knowledge but also be hypothesis generating regarding causality, reversibility, and prevention of injurious effects of poverty.

描述（由申请人提供）：在贫困中长大的儿童认知能力较差的风险增加，这可以说是我们国家当今面临的最关键问题之一。虽然许多研究表明贫困的影响在两岁时就很明显，但对于两岁以下儿童的影响却知之甚少。贫困的影响何时首先发挥作用？哪些认知系统受到影响？正在发育的大脑中是否可以检测到变化？哪些环境因素影响最大？这项研究将：1）提供有关贫困神经影响的新数据； 2）确定影响的时间和受贫困影响的具体认知系统； 3）探索神经结构和功能与认知结果的关系； 4) 评估孕产妇、儿童和环境因素对贫困影响的调节作用。我们的长期目标是通过以下方式改善弱势儿童的结局：1）确定可以实施干预措施的最早时间段和具体系统； 2）根据大脑发育的变化以及与认知结果最密切相关的环境风险来设计干预措施。我们建议通过在一项前瞻性研究中招募 60 名出生在低收入 (n=30) 或高收入 (n=30) 家庭的健康非洲裔美国女性足月妊娠婴儿来实现这些目标。将从出生到 12 个月大的儿童进行如下评估： 神经影像学：1 个月和 12 个月时的 MRI（主要白束、皮质区域和海马体）；婴儿发展：6 个月和 12 个月时的一般认知发展、语言和执行功能。母亲、儿童和环境因素被认为是贫困对儿童结局影响的中介因素，将从产前阶段开始进行评估，一直持续到婴儿 12 个月大。母亲因素包括营养、压力、抑郁和智商。儿童因素包括气质、成长和健康。环境因素包括父母的教育和职业、家庭环境和儿童保育。为了评估神经和认知结果，将以收入群体作为主要自变量进行横断面和纵向分析，然后进行中介分析。据我们所知，这是第一项利用神经影像学研究贫困婴儿的神经和认知结果的前瞻性研究。神经影像学的纳入不仅首次评估了贫困对婴儿大脑发育的影响，而且还提供了一个前所未有的机会，将大脑结构和行为联系起来，进而探索影响幼儿发育的中介机制。成功实现所提出的目标不仅将促进科学知识的发展，而且还将产生关于因果关系、可逆性和预防贫困有害影响的假设。