Mapping Individual Cognitive Differences to Neural Variance and School Readiness

将个体认知差异映射到神经差异和入学准备度

• 批准号: 8730275
• 负责人: TERRY L. JERNIGAN
• 金额: $ 15.44万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-28 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8730275
• 关键词: 10 year old; Academic achievement; Address; Adult; Age; Age-Years; Architecture; Area; Behavior Disorders; Behavioral; Benchmarking; Biological; Biological Factors; Brain; Child; Childhood; Cognitive; Computer Simulation; Computing Methodologies; Data; Detection; Development; Developmental Process; Diffusion; Education; Environment; Exhibits; Fiber; Genetic; Human; Imaging Techniques; Individual; Individual Differences; Intervention; Knowledge; Language; Link; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Maps; Mathematics; Measures; Mediating; Mental disorders; Methods; Modeling; Nature; Neurobiology; Neurocognitive; Normal Range; Outcome; Pathology; Performance; Phase; Pregnancy; Process; Readiness; Reading; Research; Sampling; School-Age Population; Schools; Short-Term Memory; Signal Transduction; Specificity; Structure; Surface; System; Technology; Testing; Thick; Time; Visuospatial; Writing; age related; behavior measurement; cognitive control; cognitive function; density; design; developmental neurobiology; emerging adult; experience; imaging modality; improved; innovation; mental development; neurodevelopment; neuroimaging; novel; prevent; relating to nervous system; response; skills; white matter

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.

描述（由申请人提供）：学龄早期是认知能力和神经系统发生重大发育变化的时期。然而，关于这些同时发生的发展过程是如何相互联系的，或者关于生物因素与童年经历和环境的关键相互作用的性质，我们知之甚少。拟议的项目在解决这一问题方面迈出了关键的第一步，以前所未有的详细程度审查了基本认知过程的发展以及在儿童过渡到正规学校教育期间调节这些过程的神经系统。该设计是对100名典型发育儿童的纵向研究，这些儿童在6岁时被引入，并每年进行5次行为测量和MRI评估。待收集的语言、视觉空间处理、工作记忆和认知控制的行为测量对该年龄段的发育变化表现出高度敏感性。儿童的MR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值。这项研究的重点是6至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。神经参数和早期学业成绩之间的关系也将被检查。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更详细的儿童大脑信息，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适应个体差异的干预措施，从而促进更多儿童的积极成果。