An ERP Study of Number Processing and Error Detection in FAS and ADHD

描述(申请人提供)：胎儿酒精谱系障碍(FASD)和注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)的研究一直受到行为诊断标准缺乏特异性和对调节观察到的认知缺陷的神经基质的有限了解的阻碍。尽管病因不同，但这些疾病中出现的表型相似的缺陷很难区分。皮雅各布森实验室的神经行为数据表明，胎儿酒精相关的算术障碍是由核心数量系统的缺陷介导的，核心数量系统涉及精神表征和处理数字(数字)的能力，而在ADHD中，糟糕的算术似乎是由执行功能受损介导的。PiBerger开发了使用事件相关电位(ERP)来研究算术和注意的神经基础的创新范式，这使得识别数字加工的离散成分成为可能，包括幅度表征、错误检测、选择性注意和反应抑制。我们建议进行第一项ERP研究，以比较患有和不患有FASD和/或ADHD的儿童的数字处理，以促进对每种疾病中受损的神经基质的理解，从而潜在地提高鉴别诊断。100名青少年(12.5-15岁)来自一个特征良好的前瞻性纵向队列，将从四组中选出：仅FASD组；仅ADHD组；FASD+ADHD组；未暴露、未受影响的对照组。本研究的目的是(1)使用标准化的数学成绩测验和基于当代数学认知理论的无文化成套测验，来表征FASD和ADHD中数字加工的神经认知过程的缺陷；(2)运用三种ERP范式来检验这些障碍中哪些数字加工和控制过程受到影响--数量的非符号表征(数字)、对算术错误的执行监控、选择性注意、反应抑制/认知控制；(3)检查FASD或ADHD患者的主要事件相关电位波形的潜伏期和波幅与行为数学评估成绩的关系。还将进行探索性分析，以确定对事件相关电位成分的影响在多大程度上是这些障碍中的每一种所特有的，或者可归因于整体智力和/或执行功能的缺陷，以及大脑总体积、灰质或白质体积、或前扣带皮质或顶上和下顶区的体积可能在多大程度上调节所观察到的影响。拟议的研究将在南非开普敦进行，南非开普敦是这项研究的一个高成本效益地点，因为在一个地点可以获得异常多的Fas儿童，而且可以使用128个频道的电气大地测量公司系统来获取企业资源规划数据。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been hampered by a lack of specificity in behavioral diagnostic criteria and limited understanding of the neural substrates that mediate the observed cognitive deficits. Phenotypically similar deficits seen in these disorders are difficult to distinguish despite different etiologies. Neurobehavioral data from PI Jacobson's laboratory suggest that fetal alcohol-related impairment in arithmetic is mediated by a deficit in the core quantity system involving the ability to mentally represent and manipulate number (numerosity), whereas in ADHD, poor arithmetic appears to be mediated by impaired executive function. PI Berger has developed innovative paradigms using event-related potentials (ERP) to examine the neural bases of arithmetic and attention, which make it possible to identify discrete components underlying number processing, including magnitude representation, error detection, selective attention, and response inhibition. We propose to conduct the first ERP study to compare number processing in children with and without FASD and/or ADHD to advance understanding of the neural substrates that are compromised in each of these disorders, thereby potentially improving differential diagnosis. 100 young adolescents (12.5- 15 years of age) from a well-characterized, prospective longitudinal cohort will be selected from four groups: FASD only; ADHD only; FASD + ADHD; non-exposed, unaffected controls. The aims of the study are (1) to characterize the deficits in neurocognitive processes that underlie number processing in FASD and ADHD, using a standardized mathematics achievement test and a culture-free battery based on contemporary theories of mathematical cognition; (2) to administer three ERP paradigms to examine which numerical and control processes of number processing are affected in each of these disorders-non-symbolic representation of quantity (numerosity), executive monitoring of arithmetic errors, selective attention, response inhibition/cognitive control; (3) to examine the degree to which latency and amplitude of the principal ERP waveforms that appear to be altered in FASD or ADHD are related to performance on the behavioral mathematics assessments. Exploratory analyses will also be conducted to determine the degree to which effects seen on the ERP components are specific to each of these disorders or attributable to deficits in overall intellectual and/or executive function and the degree to which total brain, gray or white matter volume, or volumes of the anterior cingulate cortex or the superior and inferior parietal region may mediate the observed effects. The proposed study will be conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, a highly cost-effective venue for this study, given the unusually large number of children with FAS available at a single site and the availability of a 128- channel Electrical Geodesics, Inc., system to acquire the ERP data.