Neural Mechanisms Subserving Deficits in High-Risk Youth

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall aim of this Mentored Research Scientist Career Development (K01) Award is for the candidate to gain new skills so that she may become an independent researcher in the area of neuroimaging, particularly with respect to understanding the neurobehavioral profile associated with maltreated youth who gain the repeated attention of the Juvenile Justice system. This aim will be accomplished through a program of combined education and training at the University of California, San Diego, and the completion of an imaging research project on lifecourse persistent delinquents with (LCPD+) and without (LCPD-) child maltreatment histories. The candidate's major training goals are to develop her proficiency in the utilization of structural (sMRI) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with a focus on elucidating how brain activity in specific neuroanatomical regions is altered in LCPD+ relative to LCPD- youth and to gain increased competence in the responsible conduct of research. To achieve these goals, the candidate will participate in educational activities and formal coursework in her department as well as mentorship and consultation with experts in the fields of neuroimaging (MRI physics, fMRI experimental research design, imaging data analysis), child maltreatment, developmental traumatology and the ethical conduct of research with vulnerable populations. The proposed research will examine how neurocognitive [NC] deficits, especially executive dysfunction and verbal deficits thought to be prevalent in these populations, are related to specific neural circuitry in LCPD youth compared to matched healthy control subjects and to: 1) characterize the NC profiles of 120 LCPD+, LCPD- and healthy youth; 2) elucidate the neural bases of NC deficits in a subset of these youth (n=55), 3) determine the magnitude of the relationship between observed neural mechanisms and performances on traditional neuropsychological measures and 4) preliminarily investigate NC correlates of functional impairment in LCPD youth. At the end of the award period, the candidate expects to possess the skills necessary to be an independent neuroimaging research investigator, to have received funding as an independent investigator; and to become a leader in the application of neuroimaging techniques to the scientific study of maltreated and delinquent youth. Given the social and fiscal costs associated with maltreatment and delinquency, this program of research holds significant potential for public policy.