A mechanistic study of the association between poverty and executive functions in early childhood: Contributions of early brain development and the early caregiving environment

项目摘要 在贫困中成长的儿童的长期压力可能会对社会， 行为和认知发展。生活在经济困难中的困难， 事实上，与认知和学业表现的缺陷有关。当前 一项研究探讨了贫穷与执行功能之间的联系（ 促进学习，自我监控和决策），这些都是众所周知的经历快速 生命最初几年的发展变化。早期神经系统发育将是 检查作为调解人的这种协会检查从怀孕到3岁。除了 与生活在贫困中相关的远端风险，我们将调查关键的经验， 邻近上下文（即，语言暴露、看护者行为、儿童睡眠卫生）， 调解这种风险对儿童大脑结构和功能发育的影响。 参与者（n= 230）将在妊娠第28周和整个研究期间的5次访视时接受观察。 孩子生命的前三年。将在2周、15和24个月时进行神经影像学检查 (with 15个月时的伴随实验室访视）。我们将专注于开发白色物质束 支持新兴执行功能的认知过程：前扣带（错误 监测）;钩（联合注意）;弓状束（语言处理）和个人 大脑功能发育的差异，包括静息状态的显着性网络， 注意力、执行控制和默认模式。在6个月和24个月大时， 访视将包括观察和客观测量护理人员的行为、语言 暴露（通过语音记录仪）和睡眠卫生（通过活动记录仪7天）。儿童认知 将在每次评估中评估发展情况，并将 在36个月大时施用。 本研究将首次探讨贫困对新兴高管的影响 在3岁时通过影响儿童生命头两年的神经发育发挥作用。 此外，调查结果将有助于提供关键信息， 近距离经验（语言暴露，照顾者行为，儿童睡眠卫生）可能介导 这个风险。

Project Summary Chronic stress for children growing up in poverty may lead to lasting effects on social, behavioral, and cognitive development. The difficulties of living in economic hardship has, indeed, been associated with deficits in cognitive and academic performance. The current study examines the link between poverty and executive functions (cognitive processes that facilitate learning, self-monitoring, and decision making) which are known to undergo rapid developmental change during the first years of life. Early neurological development will be examined as a mediator of this association examined from pregnancy to age 3. In addition to distal risk associated with living in poverty, we will investigate critical experiences within the proximal context (i.e., language exposure, caregiver behavior, child sleep hygiene) that may mediate the effect of this risk on child structural and functional brain development. Participants (n= 230) will be seen during the 28th week of pregnancy, and at 5 visits across the first 3 years of their child's life. Neuroimaging will be conducted at 2 weeks, 15 and 24 months (with an accompanying lab visit at 15 months). We will focus on developing white matter tracts that support cognitive processes of emerging executive functions: anterior cingulum (error monitoring); uncinate (joint attention); arcuate fasciculus (language processing) and individual differences in functional brain development, including resting state networks of salience, attention, executive control, and default-mode. At 6 and 24 months of age, an intensive home visit will include observational and objective measures of caregiver behavior, language exposure (via speech recorders) and sleep hygiene (via actigraphy for 7 days). Child cognitive development will be assessed at each assessment and an executive functioning battery will be administered at 36 months of age. This study will be the first to investigate the influence of poverty on emerging executive functioning at age 3 via effects on child neurological development over the first two years of life. In addition, findings will contribute critical information regarding whether specific measures of proximal experience (language exposure, caregiver behavior, child sleep hygiene) may mediate this risk.