Neuroimaging of Mechanisms Subserving Cognitive and Social Outcomes in Childhood TBI

 描述(由申请人提供)：Kristen Robinson博士的长期职业目标是成为一名有成就的临床科学家，他的研究项目旨在早期识别儿童脑损伤后认知、社交和适应性疾病的最高风险儿童。这份有导师指导的研究科学家发展奖(K01)提案概述了职业发展和研究计划，最终将使罗宾逊博士成为儿科神经心理学领域的一名成功的独立研究员。罗宾逊博士将推行一项职业发展计划，重点是通过一系列有指导的研究经验，继续获得实现职业目标所需的技能。罗宾逊博士将接受尖端神经成像方法的强化培训，这些方法评估大脑通路和功能网络，对社会功能进行生态上有效的“现实世界”评估，以及先进的多方法统计建模，以及行为神经学方面的指导。她将在一支技术娴熟、经验丰富的导师和合作者团队的指导下完成培训，这些导师和合作者具有广泛的专业知识和成功地指导学员和初级教员作为独立临床科学家走向成功的职业生涯。她将受益于最先进的神经成像设施和研究核心服务的广泛支持。她在获奖期间获得的新的研究和分析技能将增强她现有的能力，并建立在她在临床心理学、儿科神经心理学和社会神经科学方面的坚实基础上。该研究项目的长期目标是通过确定导致执行功能和社会认知缺陷的神经机制，以及这些机制与社会行为、同伴关系和课堂社会适应的关系，来改善创伤性脑损伤(TBI)儿童的社会结局。这项研究将涉及8至15岁患有中到重度脑外伤的儿童(n=30)和骨科损伤的对照组(OI；n=30)。研究方法将包括扩散张量成像、功能和连通性成像以及生态有效的基于学校的评估，并将涉及两个主要研究目标：a)确定脑外伤儿童与OI儿童在执行和社会认知功能方面的差异和相似之处；b)探索两者之间的联系 大脑结构、功能激活、社会功能和适应性结果。统计分析将评估不同群体之间大脑激活和白质完整性模式的相似和差异，并将评估这些大脑结构和功能完整性指标与社会行为、同伴关系和社会适应之间的关联 在教室里。对这些关系的评估是必要的，以便为制定干预措施提供信息，以补救脑外伤后儿童面临的社会困难。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Kristen Robinson's long-term career goal is to become an accomplished clinical scientist with a program of research aimed at the early identification of children most at risk for cognitive, social, and adaptive morbidities following childhood brain injury. This mentored research scientist development award (K01) proposal outlines career development and research plans that will ultimately lead to Dr. Robinson becoming a successful independent investigator in pediatric neuropsychology. Dr. Robinson will pursue a career development plan that focuses on the continued acquisition of skills necessary to obtain her career goals, through a set of mentored research experiences. Dr. Robinson will obtain intensive training in cutting-edge neuroimaging methods that assess brain pathways and functional networks, ecologically- valid "real-world" assessment of social functioning, and advanced multi-method statistical modeling, as well as instruction in aspects of behavioral neurology. She will complete her training under the mentorship of a skilled and established team of mentors and collaborators with extensive expertise and success in guiding trainees and junior faculty to successful careers as independent clinical scientists. She will benefit from state-of-the-art neuroimaging facilities and extensive support from research core services. The new research and analytical skills she acquires during the award period will enhance her existing abilities and build upon her strong foundation in clinical psychology, pediatric neuropsychology, and social neuroscience. The long-term objectives of the research project are to improve social outcomes for children following traumatic brain injury (TBI) by identifying the neural mechanisms that underlie executive function and social cognitive deficits and identifying how those mechanisms are associated with social behavior, peer relationships, and classroom social adjustment. The study will involve 8- to 15- year old children with moderate to severe TBI (n=30) and a comparison group of children with orthopedic injury (OI; n=30). Research methods will include diffusion tensor imaging, functional and connectivity imaging, as well as ecologically-valid school based assessment, and will address two main research aims: a) to identify differences and similarities in the neural substrates underlying executive and social- cognitive functioning in children with TBI relative to children with OI; and b) to explore associations among brain structure, functional activation, social functioning, and adaptive outcome. Statistical analyses will assess the similarities and differences in patterns of brain activation and white matter integrity across groups, and will assess the associations among these indicators of brain structural and functional integrity with social behavior, peer relationships, and social adjustment in the classroom. Assessment of these relationships is necessary to inform the development of interventions to remediate the social difficulties children face after TBI.