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

项目总结 职业目标：我的长期研究目标是确定早期社交环境的特征 这些都是对后来患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的婴儿的早期干预目标。整体而言 这项申请的目标，也是实现我长期目标的下一步，是为了确定 早期社会交流环境的哪些方面是大脑发育和 行为结果。研究项目：在丰富的社交交流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，环境在晚年表现出更好的语言能力 社会交流环境；然而，到目前为止，社会交流环境是否 出生至两年对高家族风险婴儿大脑发育和行为结局的影响 ASD.鉴于生命的第一年是大脑可塑性极强的时期，在 ASD的诊断特点、早期影响脑机制的确定及干预 可以产生理想的结果。当前项目的目标是确定一个丰富的早期社交沟通 环境支持患有和患有自闭症的高危婴儿的最佳大脑和行为发育 而不是继续发展为ASD。此外，还将对独立的婴儿样本进行研究，以确定最佳 通过搜索社交沟通之间的时间依赖关联来进行干预的时间段 环境和大脑/行为发展。具体目标：1)定义两个组织之间的关联模式 早期社会交流环境与语言和脑发育是ASD低危婴儿的关系。 (K99)；2)确定早期沟通环境是否为大脑发育的保护因素 自闭症高危婴儿的自闭症症状。(K99)；3)识别关联时的时间窗口 社会交往环境与婴幼儿大脑发育之间的关系最强。(R00)。职业生涯 发展：这个K99/R00奖项将提供我在过渡到 独立职位包括：掌握先进的扩散张量成像分析技术， 精通结构磁共振成像，接受过磁共振婴儿神经成像数据采集培训， 掌握应用新的计算机算法自动刻画社会特征的技能 交流环境，并完成高级统计方法方面的培训以进行调查 环境-大脑-行为的关系。导师制：支持我的培训和职业发展 成就卓著的多学科团队已同意提供指导。我的指导团队包括一个 主要导师约瑟夫·皮文博士(系)精神病学，北卡罗来纳大学)，二级导师，马丁·斯泰纳博士(系的 和两位免费的合作者：James Rehg博士(交互学院 乔纳森·格林(乔治亚理工学院脑、行为和心理健康研究所，乔治亚理工学院) 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).