Multimodal Neuroimaging of Stress, Arousal and Alcoholism Risk

描述(申请人提供)：Seo栋ju博士是耶鲁大学精神病学系的副研究科学家，专门从事功能磁共振成像(FMRI)。徐博士于2008年在明尼苏达大学双子城分校获得临床心理学博士学位，随后在耶鲁大学完成博士后培训，重点研究压力和成瘾问题。候选人的长期目标是开发一个跨学科的研究计划，利用多模式神经成像和连接图谱，竞争性地进行和解释酒精中毒的翻译神经科学研究。具体地说，她的研究重点是与重度酒精使用相关的压力和自主神经系统(ANS)相关的神经失调，发现酒精中毒风险的易感性标记物，并开发有效的预防和治疗策略。她的短期目标是获得实现长期目标所需的技能和资源，并通过此次K08奖提供的培训和支持成为一名独立研究员。她的初步发现表明，酗酒和酗酒受到vmPFC调节系统和ANS觉醒区域之间功能脱节的影响，ANS唤醒区域是大脑中参与情绪调节和奖励状态的区域。根据这一结果，推测vmPFC-ANS回路中功能连接的减少会导致社交酗酒者的情绪和ANS中断和饮酒。候选人的目标是在更大的样本中检验这一假设，并寻求支持，为这项研究学习新技能。她的研究战略将是使用同时的fMRI和ANS记录、功能连接图和联合临床设计来检查重度和轻度社交饮酒者的大脑和ANS反应，以确定与酒精滥用风险相关的神经指标。她的培训计划将涵盖与酒精中毒的跨学科神经科学相关的以下主题：1)学习酒精中毒的功能磁共振连接图和翻译神经科学；2)结合功能磁共振和ANS技术和分析；以及3)发展酒精研究的纵向研究设计和分析方面的专业知识。她的导师包括国际知名的酒精中毒翻译研究专家(Rajita Sinha，Ph.D.；John H.Krystore，M.D.)、多模式神经成像和连接性测绘(Todd Conable，Ph.D.)。和酒精中毒的纵向研究(Howard Tennen博士；Ralitza Guorguieva博士)。K08奖将允许候选人获得新的技能和资源来检验这一假说，并为徐博士提供一个宝贵的机会，使其成长为一名独立的临床调查员，拥有应用最先进的多模式神经成像技术进行酒精中毒的转化性神经科学研究的专业知识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Dongju Seo is an associate research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University specializing in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Dr. Seo received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2008 and subsequently completed postdoctoral training at Yale University with a focus on stress and addiction. The long-term goal of the candidate is to develop an interdisciplinary program of research to competitively conduct and interpret translational neuroscience research on alcoholism using multimodal neuroimaging and connectivity mapping. Specifically, her research focuses on stress- and autonomic nervous system (ANS)- related neural dysregulation associated with heavy alcohol use, discovering vulnerability markers for alcoholism risk, and developing effective prevention and treatment strategies. Her short-term goal is to obtain the skills and resources required to achieve her long-term goals and to become an independent researcher through the training and support provided by this K08 Award. Her preliminary findings indicate that binge and heavy alcohol use is influenced by a functional disconnectivity between the VmPFC regulatory system and the ANS arousal regions, brain areas involved in the modulation of emotions and rewarding states. Based on this result, it is hypothesized that decreased functional connectivity in the VmPFC-ANS circuit contributes to emotional and ANS disruption and alcohol intake in heavy social drinkers. The candidate aims to test this hypothesis in a larger sample and seeks support to learn new skills for this study. Her research strategy will be to examine brain and ANS response in heavy and light social drinkers using simultaneous fMRI and ANS recording, functional connectivity mapping, and combined clinical design to identify neural measures associated with risk for alcohol abuse. Her training program will cover the following topics relating to the interdisciplinary neuroscience of alcoholism: 1) learning fMRI connectivity mapping and translational neuroscience of alcoholism 2) combining fMRI and ANS techniques and analysis, and 3) developing expertise in longitudinal study design and analysis for alcohol research. Her mentors include internationally prominent experts in translational research on alcoholism (Rajita Sinha, Ph.D.; John H. Krystal, M.D.), multimodal neuroimaging and connectivity mapping (Todd Constable, Ph.D.) and longitudinal research on alcoholism (Howard Tennen, Ph.D.; Ralitza Gueorguieva, Ph.D.). The K08 Award will allow the candidate to acquire new skills and resources to test the hypothesis and provide Dr. Seo with a valuable opportunity to grow into an independent clinical investigator, with expertise in the application of state-of-the art, multimoda neuroimaging techniques to conduct translational neuroscience research on alcoholism.