Methods for Dynamic Causal Interactions in the Developing Human Brain

描述（由申请人提供）：这是NIH K25指导定量研究职业发展奖的修订申请，标题为“发育中的人脑中动态因果相互作用的方法”。在过去的十年中，功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）已成为研究人脑功能的有力工具。虽然功能磁共振成像研究主要集中在识别在认知任务的执行过程中激活的大脑区域，但越来越多的共识是，认知功能是多个大脑区域之间动态的，依赖于上下文的因果关系相互作用的结果。因此，设计研究这种相互作用的方法具有重要意义。人类大脑经历了一个漫长的发展时期，了解信息处理背后的因果脑动力学的成熟对于深入了解大脑和认知发展至关重要。这项提案的第一个主要目标是通过开发新的算法来识别分布式大脑区域之间依赖于上下文的因果相互作用，从而解决功能磁共振成像研究中的一个关键需求。为此，我们将首先开发和验证基于多变量动态系统（MDS）框架的新方法，该框架克服了现有几种方法的主要局限性，用于研究人类大脑中的因果相互作用。本提案的第二个主要目标是使用MDS框架来研究成人中感觉运动和注意力处理的动态因果相互作用，以及它们从童年到成年的差异成熟。我在这里提出的基于MDS的方法将使我能够第一次研究这些过程，从而更全面地了解人类大脑功能和发育的基本机制。总之，这些研究将为研究认知基础的分布式皮层网络提供重要的新方法，并导致对人类大脑功能和发育的基本机制的更完整的理解。结合这项研究计划，一个严格的教育和培训计划将解决我在大脑解剖学，认知神经科学，认知心理学和发展心理学知识方面的关键差距。我将接受这些领域的顶尖专家的指导和培训。我还将获得设计功能磁共振成像实验，功能磁共振成像数据采集和分析，并在大脑功能和发展的背景下解释功能磁共振成像结果的关键经验。我的培训计划和研究项目将使我获得必要的技能，成为一个成功的独立调查员在计算，认知和发展神经科学领域。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a revised application for an NIH K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award entitled "Methods for dynamic causal interactions in the developing human brain". In the past decade, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating human brain function. Although fMRI research has primarily focused on identifying brain regions that are activated during performance of cognitive tasks, there is growing consensus that cognitive functions emerge as a result of dynamic, context-dependent, causal interactions between multiple brain areas. Devising methods for investigating such interactions has therefore taken great significance. The human brain undergoes a protracted period of development, and understanding the maturation of causal brain dynamics underlying information processing is critical for gaining insights into brain and cognitive development. The first major goal of this proposal is to address a critical need in fMRI research by developing novel algorithms for identifying context- dependent causal interactions between distributed brain regions. To this end, we will first develop and validate novel methods based on a Multivariate Dynamical Systems (MDS) framework that overcomes major limitations of several existing methods for investigating causal interactions in the human brain. The second major goal of this proposal is to use the MDS framework to investigate dynamic causal interactions underlying sensory-motor and attention processing in adults, and their differential maturation from childhood to adulthood. The MDS-based methods I propose to develop, validate, test, and apply here will allow me to investigate these processes for the first time, leading to a more complete understanding of fundamental mechanisms underlying human brain function and development. Taken together, the proposed studies will provide important new methods for investigating distributed cortical networks underlying cognition and lead to a more complete understanding of fundamental mechanisms underlying human brain function and development. In conjunction with this research plan, a rigorous education and training program will address critical gaps in my knowledge of brain anatomy, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and developmental psychology. I will be mentored and trained by leading experts in these fields. I will also gain critical experience in designing fMRI experiments, fMRI data acquisition and analysis, and interpretation of fMRI findings in the context of brain function and development. My training program and the research project will enable me to acquire skills necessary for becoming a successful independent investigator in the fields of computational, cognitive and developmental neuroscience.