Exploring the long-term impact of early life adversity on the (anti-)social brain

虽然对环境逆境的研究有望为复杂精神疾病病因学的个体差异提供重要线索，但在很大程度上缺乏社会和反社会行为的脑内表型的决定性途径。将早期环境逆境的长期影响研究与神经影像学相结合，可能会提供一种强有力的策略。在拟议的项目中，我们的目标是研究早期发育过程中环境逆境对涉及社会行为的神经网络的影响，通过结构MRI和功能MRI进行评估。将对来自一项流行病学队列研究的280名年轻成人（健康和当前患有精神病理学）进行评估。详细地说，神经回路将被检查涵盖社会行为的不同维度，如社会互动，社会认知，社会行为和动机的调制。候选人的环境条件与相当大的和确定的影响，在这个样本中，包括产前和产后早期逆境，将进行调查。识别早期逆境对涉及社会行为的神经网络的影响的神经机制，以及它们随时间的稳定性，将有助于建立更有效的诊断，预防和治疗精神障碍的方法，特别是那些涉及反社会行为的方法。

Although the study of environmental adversity promises to provide important clues about individual variation in the etiology of complex psychiatric disorders, conclusive pathways to brain endophenotypes of social and antisocial behavior are largely missing. A combination of research of the long-term effects of early environmental adversity with neuroimaging may provide a powerful strategy. In the proposed project, we aim to study the impact of environmental adversities during early development on neural networks implicated in social behavior, as assessed by structural MRI and functional MRI. 280 young adults (both healthy and with current psychopathology) from an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth will be assessed. In detail, neural circuitries will be examined encompassing different dimensions of social behavior, such as social interaction, social cognition, modulation of social behavior and motivation. Candidate environmental conditions with sizeable and established effects on brain function and structure in this sample, covering prenatal and early postnatal adversities, will be investigated. The identification of neural mechanisms underlying the effects of early adversity on neural networks implicated in social behavior, and their stability over time, will help to establish more effective ways of diagnosing, preventing and treating mental disorders, especially those involved in antisocial behavior.