Magnetic Source Imaging and Sensory Behavioral Characterization in Autism

描述（由申请人提供）：elissa Marco博士是一名认知行为儿童神经学家，专长于智力迟钝和自闭症的遗传学。她得到了加州大学旧金山分校神经病学、精神病学、放射学和神经科学系卓越的学术支持。她的长期研究目标是利用磁源成像（MSI）来：(1)探索自闭症的病因，(2)促进早期准确诊断，(3)为治疗试验创造一种客观的认知过程测量方法。本研究的目的是确定自闭症个体是否表现出与行为观察到的感觉过度反应直接相关的局部皮层过度兴奋。其基本原理是自闭症患者感觉处理困难的比例很高，之前的研究已经记录了皮层结构和连接的异常。具体目标是：(1)使用传统和先进的MSI技术来评估初级感觉皮层的早期触觉和听觉处理；(2)将这些发现与触觉和听觉敏感度的详细测量相关联。MSI空间自适应滤波算法允许在时间，空间和振荡频率上精确评估大脑活动。这项技术代表了该领域先前工作的一种新颖而有前途的延伸。本横断面病例对照研究将评估自闭症男孩（9-11岁）的感觉加工过程，这些男孩的表现智商为70。将对20名自闭症儿童和20名健康对照者进行诊断评估、认知测试、客观感官评估、MEG和MRI。此外，为了帮助理解自闭症的感觉处理，该项目将支持Marco博士在神经影像学，神经心理学，认知神经科学和生物统计学方面的培训，使她成为一名独立的以患者为导向的研究人员。公共卫生相关性：自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）渗透到受影响的个人及其社区的社会、情感和经济生活中。据估计，每150人中就有1人患有自闭症，其潜在的神经机制尚不清楚。本项目旨在利用先进的磁源成像技术，可靠地测量自闭症儿童感官知觉过程中神经活动的时间、空间和频率特征。该项目将有助于了解自闭症，并为未来的诊断和治疗研究的发展做出贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Elysa Marco is a cognitive-behavioral child neurologist with expertise in the genetics of mental retardation and autism. She is supported by the academic excellence of the University of California, San Francisco's Neurology, Psychiatry, Radiology, and Neuroscience departments. Her long term research objectives are to use magetic source imaging (MSI) to: (1) probe the etiology of autism, (2) facilitate early accurate diagnosis, and (3) create an objective measure of cognitive processing for use in treatment trials. The goal of this study is to ascertain whether individuals with autism show local cortical hyper-excitation that directly correlates with behaviorally observed sensory over-reactivity. The rationale is that individuals with autism have high rates of sensory processing difficulties and previous studies have documented abnormalities in cortical structure and connectivity. The specific aims are to (1) use traditional and advanced MSI techniques to assess early tactile and auditory processing in the primary sensory cortex; and (2) correlate these findings with detailed measures of tactile and auditory sensitivity. MSI spatial adaptive filtering algorithms allows for precise assessment of brain activity in time, space, and in oscillatory frequency. This technique represents a novel and promising extension of previous work in the field. This cross-sectional case-control study will assess sensory processing in boys (9-11 years) with autism and a performance IQ >70 relative to matched healthy controls. Diagnostic evaluation, cognitive testing, objective sensory assessment, MEG, and MRI will be conducted on 20 children with autism and 20 healthy controls. In addition, to contributing to the understanding of sensory processing in autism, this project will support Dr. Marco's training in neuroimaging, neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and biostatistic so that she can become in independent patient oriented researcher. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) permeate the social, emotional, and economic life of the affected individual and their community. ASD is now estimated to affect 1 in 150 individuals and it's underlying neural mechanism remain unclear. This project aims to use the advanced technique of magnetic source imaging to reliably measure the temporal, spatial, and frequency characteristics of neual activity in children with autism during sensory perception. This project will contribute to the understanding of autism and to the development of diagnostic and treatment studies for the future.