Neurobehavioral Correlates of Early Deprivation

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This collaborative R01 involves parallel studies at the Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The work explores the neurobiological bases of problems in attention/executive functions, sensory integration, and emotion/stress regulation exhibited by children who have experienced neglect/privation early in life. This project is motivated by renewed interest the effects of early deprivation/neglect on development, precipitated by the last decade's increase in international adoptions. In addition, it reflects concerns with brain development and neural plasticity coupled with continued controversies over the importance of early experiences and questions about sensitive periods. The marked change in living environments experienced with adoption allows a reasonable way to estimate both the duration and ages during which deprivation was experienced. To date, studies of these children have employed global measures that are difficult to map to specific neural systems. The General Aim of this project is to build upon extant studies and examine specific cognitive and affective systems. The specific aims identify (a) aspects of neural circuitry that are linked to the development of cognitive processes and self-regulatory behaviors and (b) later-developing neural systems that are likely to be affected by early deprivation/neglect. Specific Aim 1 examines frontally mediated systems believed to underlie aspects of attention, inhibitory control, and working memory. Specific Aim 2 examines sensory-motor processing including sensory integration, acquisition, and praxis. Specific Aim 3 explores systems thoughts to be compromised based upon the animal literature on early neglect: cortico-limbic-hypothalamic-brainstem systems that are involved in stress reactivity and regulation. Together, these studies will provide a relatively comprehensive and more specific picture of the potential neural compromises resulting from early deprivation in human children as well as highlighting those aspects of brain-behavior development that appear to be spared.