Neurophysiological oscillations and synchronization in cognitive development

我的NSERC发现研究项目的长期愿景是了解神经生理节律的作用及其在大脑区域之间的协调，这些过程是如何发展的，以及这种成熟转变如何与认知、感知和运动过程的出现相关。在接下来的五年里，下一个关键步骤将包括对儿童进行脑磁图（MEG）和核磁共振成像（MRI）纵向队列，以及笔和纸的心理测量评估，以准确测量个体差异和能力变化。这些孩子将在8岁和11岁时被观察，第一次将我的项目转变为纵向框架。这将建立一个队列，为理解儿童大脑发育如何影响青春期和成年期的成熟模式奠定基础。在未来五年，我将追求三个短期目标：1)研究儿童任务依赖和自发网络同步的个体差异如何与个体认知能力相关；2)揭示这些神经生理网络的成熟变化如何在纵向队列中表达；3)研究这些变化如何与血流动力学网络和潜在大脑结构的发育变化相关，这些变化已被MRI很好地表征。将记录30名儿童在执行视觉空间注意力任务、自然观看和休息状态时的脑电信号。结构MRI将测量白质的发育，因为这对大脑区域之间的交流至关重要，此外还有与大脑发育相关的其他结构参数，包括皮层厚度。功能磁共振成像将用于血流动力学内在连接网络成像。每位参与者在8岁和11岁时的心理测量和成像测量将被记录下来。任务依赖和静息状态神经生理网络连接将使用MCMV波束形成器重建、plv和基于图集的图形汇总统计来估计。多元（PLS）统计将用于研究神经生理网络，认知能力和大脑结构之间的假设关系。目标1-3的结果将促进我们对儿童时期大脑区域间神经生理通讯发展的理解，以及这与认知发展、大脑结构和fMRI网络连接的关系。重要的是，这将建立一个纵向队列，将我正在进行的NSERC发现研究项目转化为一个纵向框架，可用于未来青少年和早期成人神经认知发展的研究。

The long-term vision of my NSERC Discovery research program is to understand the role of neurophysiological rhythms and their coordination between brain areas, how these processes develop, and how such maturational shifts are related to emergence of cognitive, perceptual and motor processes. During the next five years, the next critical step will involve performing magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and MRI imaging on a longitudinal cohort of children, together with pen-and-paper psychometric assessments to accurately measure individual differences and changes in ability. These children will be seen at 8 and 11 years of age, shift my program into a longitudinal framework for the first time. This will establish a cohort that will set the stage for understanding how childhood brain development may impact maturational patterns through adolescence and adulthood. During the next five years I will pursue three short-term objectives: 1) Investigate how individual differences in task-dependent and spontaneous network synchrony in children may relate to the individuals' cognitive abilities, 2) Uncover how maturational changes in these neurophysiological networks are expressed in a longitudinal cohort, and 3) Investigate how such changes are related to developmental shifts in haemodynamic networks and underlying brain structure that have been well characterized using MRI. MEG will be recorded for 30 children while they perform a visuospatial attention task, during naturalistic viewing, and during resting state. Structural MRI will measure white matter development, as this is critical for communication among brain areas, together with other structural parameters related to brain development including cortical thickness. fMRI will be used to image haemodynamic intrinsic connectivity networks. Psychometric and imaging measures will be recorded at age 8 and 11 years for each participant. Task-dependent and resting state neurophysiological network connectivity will be estimated using MCMV beamformer reconstruction, PLVs and atlas-based graph summary statistics. Multivariate (PLS) statistics will be employed to investigate hypothesized relationships between neurophysiological networks, cognitive abilities, and brain structure. The outcomes of Objectives 1-3 will advance our understanding of how neurophysiological communication among brain areas develops during childhood, and how this might be related to cognitive development, brain structure and fMRI network connectivity. Importantly, this will establish a longitudinal cohort to transform these my ongoing NSERC Discovery research program into a longitudinal framework that can be used for future study of adolescent and early adult neurocognitive development.