Influence of Physical Activity on Daily Positive Affect & Affective Neural Activity in Preschoolers

项目摘要：了解体育活动和积极情感之间的关系如何改变情感 早期发育的神经回路为解开发育、病因学和 治疗精神疾病，特别是情绪障碍。童年情绪障碍和身体缺乏 活动是两个主要的公共卫生问题，后者的流行率越来越高，并与 一生中的发病率很高1，2。尽管研究表明体力活动在 情绪症状的改善，研究说明这些发育关系与 情绪障碍的发病是非常缺乏的。新颖的早期干预措施，侧重于身体锻炼的好处 预防儿童情绪障碍的活动可能大有可为。考虑到这一框架， 这项K23提案的目的是使候选人能够制定一项研究计划，调查 体力活动对情感神经活动和儿童情绪障碍风险的影响。帮助实现 本申请的目标和训练计划针对申请者在以下方面的训练需求：1)体力活动 和幼儿事件相关电位(ERP)评估方法[和方案]；2)研究 情绪发展和学龄前儿童精神病理学的评估；3)纵向研究设计和 先进的数据分析技术。丰富的培训环境和多学科的导师团队 这些领域中的每一个都有详细介绍。该研究提案检验了积极情感(测量的)假设 在大脑、行为和生态瞬间评估方面)调节物理之间的联系 活动和后来维度的情绪症状在发育的早期。因此，我们假设每日低点(和 每周)体力活动导致较低的每日(和每周)积极情绪，并显著有助于 情绪症状的发展，即使在考虑了关键的协变量，如情绪家族史之后 精神障碍和心理社会风险及保护因素。为了检验这些假设，学龄前儿童(3-5岁) 和积极情绪低的人将使用筛查清单招募，并进行两次评估，相隔18个月 使用ERP方法，客观收集一周的体力活动数据，一周的生态 前瞻性设计中的瞬时评估数据和行为方法。这项研究的数据将是 用于为更明确的R01项目的开发提供信息，该项目绘制了身体活动的轨迹， 高危儿童的神经标记物、情绪症状和结果有望得到预防 和治疗的影响，通过确定是否以及如何积极的情感(测量的行为和 中性)将体力活动与发育早期情绪高涨的症状联系起来。此外，建议的 培训计划将使惠伦博士成为一名独立的科学家，研究物理 儿童情绪障碍的发展和维持中的活动。

Project Abstract: Understanding how relations between physical activity and positive affect may alter affective neurocircuitry early in development holds enormous promise for unlocking the development, etiology, and treatment of mental illnesses, particularly mood disorders. Both childhood mood disorders and lack of physical activity are two major public health problems, the latter with increasing prevalence and associated with substantial morbidity across the lifespan1,2. Despite research implicating a strong role of physical activity in the amelioration of mood symptoms, research accounting for these developmental relationships relevant to the onset of mood disorders is greatly lacking. Novel, early interventions focusing on the benefits of physical activity for the prevention of childhood mood disorders may hold great promise. With this framework in mind, the purpose of this K23 proposal is to enable the candidate to develop a research program investigating the impact of physical activity on affective neural activity and risk for childhood mood disorders. To help achieve the goal, the training plan in this application addresses the applicant's need for training in: 1) physical activity and event related potentials (ERP) assessment methods [and protocols] in young children; 2) research assessments of emotion development and preschool psychopathology; and 3) longitudinal study design and advanced data analysis techniques. A rich training environment and a multidisciplinary team of mentors in each of these areas is detailed. The research proposal tests the hypothesis that positive affectivity (measured in terms of brain, behavior, and ecological momentary assessment) mediates the association between physical activity and later dimensional mood symptoms early in development. Thus, we hypothesize that low daily (and weekly) physical activity leads to lower daily (and weekly) positive affect and significantly contributes to the development of mood symptoms, even after accounting for key covariates such as family history of mood disorder and psychosocial risk and protective factors. To test these hypotheses, preschoolers (ages 3-5) high and low on positive affect will be recruited using a screening checklist and assessed twice, 18 months apart using ERP methods, one week of objectively collected physical activity data, one week of ecological momentary assessment data, and behavioral methods in a prospective design. Data from this study will be used to inform development for a more definitive R01 project that charts the trajectories of physical activity, neural markers, and mood symptoms in at-risk young children and results are anticipated to have prevention and treatment implications, by determining whether and how positive affectivity (measured behaviorally and neutrally) links physical activity to elevated mood symptoms early in development. Further, the proposed training plan will enable Dr. Whalen to become an independent scientist investigating the role of physical activity in the development and maintenance of mood disorders in children.