Early Social Communication Environment and Brain Development in Infants at Risk for Autism

项目摘要 职业目标：我的长期研究目标是识别早期社会传播环境的特征 这是早期干预的目标，为婴儿继续有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）。整体 这个应用程序的目标，这是实现我的长期目标的下一步，是确定 早期社会交往环境的哪些方面是大脑发育的保护因素， 行为结果研究项目：在丰富的社会交往中成长的自闭症儿童 与在不太富裕的环境中长大的孩子相比，在较晚的生活环境中长大的孩子表现出上级语言能力。 社会沟通环境;然而，迄今为止，尚不清楚社会沟通环境是否 从出生到2岁影响高家族风险婴儿的大脑发育和行为结果 自闭症考虑到生命的第一年是大脑可塑性很强的时期， ASD的诊断特征，确定早期影响大脑的机制，并在此期间进行干预 可以产生理想的结果。当前项目的目标是确定丰富的早期社会交际是否 环境支持ASD高危婴儿的最佳大脑和行为发育， 而不是继续发展ASD。此外，还将对独立的婴儿样本进行研究，以确定最佳的 通过寻找社会交往与社会交往之间的时间依赖性联系， 环境与大脑/行为发育。具体目标：1）确定 早期社会交往环境与ASD低风险婴儿的语言和大脑发育 (K99)（2）确定早期沟通环境是否是大脑发育的保护因素， 自闭症高危婴儿的自闭症症状。(K99); 3）确定关联时的时间窗口 社会交往环境与婴儿大脑发育的关系最为密切。（R00）。职业生涯 发展：这个K99/R00奖将提供必要的培训，我需要之前过渡到一个 独立的职位包括：掌握先进的扩散张量成像分析技术，成为 精通结构磁共振成像，接受过婴儿神经成像数据的MRI采集培训， 获得新的计算机算法的应用技能，以自动表征社会 通信环境，并完成高级统计方法的培训， 环境-大脑-行为的关系导师制：支持我的培训和职业发展， 一个非常有成就的多学科小组已同意提供指导。我的指导团队包括 主要导师，约瑟夫·皮文博士（部门。精神病学，精神病学），二级导师，马丁·斯泰纳博士（系。的 计算机科学，麻省理工学院），和两个免费的合作者：博士詹姆斯·伯格（互动学院 计算，格鲁吉亚理工学院）和乔纳森绿色（大脑，行为和心理健康研究所， 曼彻斯特）。

PROJECT SUMMARY Career Goal: My long-term research goal is to identify features of the early social communication environment that are early intervention targets for infants that go on to have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The overall objective of this application, which is the next step toward attainment of my long-term goal, is to determine which aspects of the early social communication environment are protective factors for brain development and behavioral outcome. Research Project: Children with ASD who grow up in rich social communication environments show superior language abilities later in life when compared to children who grow up in less rich social communication environments; however, to date it is unknown if the social communication environment from birth to two years impacts brain development and behavioral outcome in infants at high-familial risk for ASD. Given that the first year of life is a time of great brain plasticity and before the emergence of the diagnostic features of ASD, determining early influential brain mechanisms and intervening during this time could yield ideal outcomes. The goal of the current project is to determine if a rich early social communicative environment supports optimal brain and behavioral development in infants at high-risk for ASD who do and do not go on to develop ASD. Additionally, an independent sample of infants will be studied to determine optimal periods for intervention by searching for time-dependent associations between the social communication environment and brain/behavior development. Specific Aims: 1) To define patterns of association between the early social communication environment with language and brain development in infants at low-risk for ASD. (K99); 2) To determine if the early communication environment is a protective factor for brain development and autism symptoms in infants at high-risk for ASD. (K99); 3) To identify the time window when the association between the social communication environment and infant brain development is the strongest. (R00). Career Development: This K99/R00 award will provide the necessary training I require before transitioning into an independent position including: mastering advanced diffusion tensor imaging analytic techniques, becoming proficient in structural magnetic resonance imaging, training in MRI acquisition of infant neuroimaging data, gaining skills in the application of novel computer algorithms to automatically characterize the social communication environment, and completing training in advanced statistical approaches to investigate environment-brain-behavior relationships. Mentorship: To support my training and career development a highly accomplished, multidisciplinary team has agreed to provide mentorship. My mentoring team includes a primary mentor, Dr. Joseph Piven (Dept. of Psychiatry, UNC), a secondary mentor, Dr. Martin Styner (Dept. of Computer Science, UNC), and two complimentary collaborators: Drs. James Rehg (School of Interacting Computing, Georgia Tech), and Jonathan Green (Institute of Brain, Behaviour, and Mental Health, University of Manchester).