MRI IN CHILDHOOD NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究的主要目标是使用磁共振成像(MRI)方法来确定发育性神经精神障碍的神经生物学基础，特别是在几个疾病领域：1)冲动控制障碍，包括抽动症(TS)、强迫症(OCD)和注意力缺陷/多动障碍(ADHD)；2)可能导致新生儿大脑发育障碍的条件，包括早产和产前暴露于滥用药物；以及3)情感障碍。他的大部分工作还涉及开发处理MRI数据的新方法，以及在MRI扫描仪中涉及行为神经科学范式的翻译研究，以及指导初级调查人员将神经成像方法应用于儿童精神障碍的研究。这一职业发展奖(K02)的直接目标是：(1)获得足够的工资支持，使申请者能够继续使用核磁共振方法来确定儿童神经精神障碍的神经生物学基础；(2)免除申请者大量的临床、教学和行政责任，从而允许更多的时间和精力集中在研究活动上；(3)为申请者提供发展磁共振波谱(MRS)技能的机会，这是一种核磁共振检查(MRS)，他只有有限的经验，但承诺进一步揭示申请者在TS、OCD和ADHD中帮助确定的形态和功能障碍的神经化学基础；以及(4)对620名患有TS、OCD或ADHD的儿童和成人进行一项已经资助的形态测量研究(R01)，并将这些形态测量与免疫学、神经体液、神经心理学和家族史数据相关联。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching aim of this program of research is to use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methodologies to identify the neurobiological basis of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, and in several disease areas in particular: 1) Disorders of impulse control, including Tourette's syndrome (TS), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); 2) Conditions that confer risk for disturbances in development of the neonatal brain, including premature birth and prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse; and 3) Affective Disorders. A substantial portion of his work also involves the development of new methods for processing MRI data and for translational research involving behavioral neuroscience paradigms within the MRI scanner, as well as mentoring junior investigators in the application of neuroimaging methodologies to the study of childhood psychiatric disorders. The immediate aims of this Career Development Award (K02) are to (1) obtain sufficient salary support to allow the applicant to continue using MRI methods to define the neurobiological bases of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders; (2) free the applicant of substantial clinical, teaching, and administrative responsibilities, thereby permitting a greater focus of time and energy on research activities; (3) provide the applicant with the opportunity to develop skill sets in MR Spectroscopy (MRS), an MRI modality with which he has only limited experience, but one that promises to reveal further the neurochemical underpinnings of morphological and functional disturbances that the applicant has helped to define in TS, OCD, and ADHD; and (4) conduct an already-funded morphometric study (R01) of 620 children and adults with TS, OCD, or ADHD and to correlate those morphological measures with immunological, neurohumoral, neuropsychological, and family history data.