Investigating the Neural Bases of Language Processing during a Live Social Interaction: A fNIRS Study of Preschoolers With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

调查实时社交互动过程中语言处理的神经基础：对患有和不患有自闭症谱系障碍的学龄前儿童进行的 fNIRS 研究

• 批准号: 10615220
• 负责人: Meredith Grace Pecukonis
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-05-01 至 2024-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10615220
• 关键词: Adaptive Behaviors; Address; Brain; Brain region; Calibration; Cerebral hemisphere; Child; Clinical; Communication; Control Groups; Development; Enrollment; Environment; Exposure to; Friends; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Goals; Illustrated Books; Individual Differences; Inferior frontal gyrus; Intervention; Language; Language Development; Language Disorders; Left; Life; Measures; Methods; Middle frontal gyrus structure; Morphologic artifacts; Motion; Nursery Schools; Parietal; Process; Reading; Research; Research Project Grants; Sampling; School-Age Population; Sensory; Severities; Social Interaction; Social isolation; Structure of middle temporal gyrus; Superior temporal gyrus; System; Work; age group; autism diagnostic observation schedule; autism spectrum disorder; autistic children; awake; base; behavior measurement; functional near infrared spectroscopy; innovation; insight; interest; language outcome; language processing; neural; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; response; skills; social

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Although language abilities vary across the autism spectrum, the majority of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have language deficits that emerge early in life and have long lasting negative impacts on other domains of functioning. Previous work suggests that differences in how the brain processes language (i.e., reduced activation/response and functional connectivity) may contribute to the development of language deficits in ASD. However, only a handful of neuroimaging studies have explored the neural bases of language processing in children with ASD during the preschool years, a sensitive period in language development. Additionally, all of these studies measured brain response while children were asleep and socially-isolated, a context that is not generalizable to real-world language environments. The proposed research project will build upon the findings of these foundational neuroimaging studies by investigating how the brains of preschoolers with and without ASD function during a live social interaction. We will use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a sensory-friendly neuroimaging method, to measure children’s brain activity during two conditions – a live condition and a recorded condition. During the live condition, a live experimenter will interact with the child by reading him/her a scripted story from an illustrated book. During the recorded condition, the child will listen to a recording of a scripted story while viewing illustrations on a screen. A sample of 50 children with ASD and 50 typically developing (TD) controls, 36- to 60-months-old, will be used to address three research aims. The first aim is to determine how live social interaction modulates brain response to language in preschoolers with and without ASD. We hypothesize that TD controls will have greater brain response during the live condition compared to the recorded condition, while children with ASD will have similar brain response across both conditions. The second aim is to examine whether functional connectivity (FC) during a live social interaction (i.e., the live condition) differs between preschoolers with and without ASD. We hypothesize that the ASD group will have reduced inter- and intra-hemispheric FC. The third aim is to investigate the relation between measures of brain function (brain response and FC) and language abilities, communication skills, and autism severity. We hypothesize that greater brain response and FC during the live condition will be related to better language abilities and communication skills, but lower autism severity. Findings from this innovative project will demonstrate how the brains of preschoolers with and without ASD, an understudied age group, function during everyday social interactions. Exploring individual differences in brain function will elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying language deficits and heterogeneous language outcomes in ASD. Clinically, findings may provide insights into how the brain functions during different types of language interventions.

项目概要/摘要 尽管不同自闭症谱系的语言能力各不相同，但大多数患有自闭症谱系的儿童 自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 是指在生命早期出现的语言缺陷，并对孩子产生长期持续的负面影响 其他功能领域。先前的研究表明，大脑处理语言的方式存在差异 （即减少激活/反应和功能连接）可能有助于语言的发展 ASD 缺陷。然而，只有少数神经影像学研究探索了语言的神经基础 患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的学龄前阶段是语言发展的敏感期。 此外，所有这些研究都测量了儿童熟睡和与社会隔离时的大脑反应， 无法推广到现实世界语言环境的上下文。拟议的研究项目将建立 根据这些基础神经影像学研究的结果，通过调查学龄前儿童的大脑如何 在现场社交互动期间有或没有 ASD 功能。我们将使用功能性近红外光谱 （fNIRS），一种感觉友好的神经成像方法，用于测量儿童在两种情况下的大脑活动 - 实时状态和记录状态。在现场条件下，现场实验者将与孩子互动 给他/她读一本插图书中的脚本故事。在录制的情况下，孩子会听 在屏幕上观看插图时录制有脚本的故事。 50名患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的样本 50 个 36 至 60 个月大的典型发育 (TD) 对照将用于实现三个研究目标。这 第一个目标是确定实时社交互动如何调节学龄前儿童的大脑对语言的反应 并且没有 ASD。我们假设 TD 对照在实时条件下会有更大的大脑反应 与记录的情况相比，患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童在这两种情况下都会有相似的大脑反应 状况。第二个目标是检查实时社交互动期间功能连接（FC）是否 患有和不患有自闭症谱系障碍的学龄前儿童（即生活条件）有所不同。我们假设 ASD 组的半球间和半球内 FC 会减少。第三个目的是研究两者之间的关系。 大脑功能（大脑反应和 FC）和语言能力、沟通技巧和自闭症的测量 严重程度。我们假设，在活体状态下，更大的大脑反应和 FC 与更好的大脑反应有关。 语言能力和沟通能力，但自闭症严重程度较低。这个创新项目的研究结果将 展示患有和不患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的学龄前儿童（一个尚未被研究的年龄组）在 日常社交互动。探索大脑功能的个体差异将阐明神经 ASD 中语言缺陷和异质语言结果的潜在机制。临床上，发现 可以深入了解大脑在不同类型的语言干预期间如何运作。