Identifying the neural substrates of callous-unemotional traits in adolescents

描述（由申请人提供）：青少年的行为问题是一个严重的问题：青少年犯罪，包括暴力犯罪的可能性是青春期前儿童或成年人的三倍以上。但是，对青少年的行为问题仍然知之甚少，需要更有效的风险评估和预防战略。一套气质和行为特征，被称为冷酷无情的特征，共同构成了行为问题严重性和频率增加的强烈风险因素，以及它们持续到成年的可能性。冷酷无情的特质包括无畏、缺乏同情心和冷漠的行为，如攻击性。然而，知识差距仍然存在，因为没有研究评估了行为问题儿童冷酷无情特征的神经基础。研究人员的长期目标是确定人类大脑中同理心的神经基础，并了解同理心缺陷是如何出现的，使个体处于反社会行为的高风险之中。这个应用程序的目的是表征的神经功能模式，背后的冷酷无情的特质与行为问题的儿童，并评估这些神经激活模式与同理心。第一个具体的目标是确定的神经功能模式与冷酷无情的特点，在情绪处理任务中的儿童行为问题。功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）将用于测量健康儿童和行为问题儿童的神经激活，这些儿童在看到恐惧的面部表情时表现出不同的冷酷无情特征。先前的研究将冷酷无情的特质与处理恐惧相关刺激（如恐惧表情）的障碍联系起来，这些刺激已被证明能引起同情心。第二个具体的目标是确定的神经功能模式与移情反应的儿童与冷酷无情的特质和行为问题。当有行为问题的儿童和健康儿童完成一项任务时，功能磁共振成像扫描将再次用于测量神经激活，该任务评估他们对简短书面情景中经历中度恐惧的角色的移情反应。据推测，杏仁核和腹内侧前额叶皮层的低激活和这些结构之间的功能连接减少，以响应移情相关的刺激将与行为问题儿童的冷酷无情的特征。这项研究不仅建立在PI以前的研究基础上，还包括两个创新的新方向：1）确定神经活动和连接的差异，这些差异是行为问题儿童冷酷无情特征的基础，2）确定这些差异如何与共情缺陷相关。这一点很重要，因为冷酷无情的特质代表了行为问题严重性和持续时间显著增加的风险因素，而且只有确定了青春期行为问题的独特原因，才能在早期风险评估和预防方面取得成功。 公共卫生相关性：预计拟议的研究将对理解儿童和青少年行为问题的原因产生积极影响。这将是第一个确定与冷酷无情特征相关的神经功能模式，这些特征构成了行为问题严重性，持续时间和治疗阻力增加的风险因素。这是确定青少年严重品行问题的原因的关键一步，而这反过来又对早期风险评估和预防品行问题的成功至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Conduct problems in adolescence are a serious concern: adolescents are more than three times as likely to commit crimes, including violent crimes, than either pre-adolescent children or adults. But conduct problems in adolescents remain poorly understood and more effective risk assessment and prevention strategies are needed. A suite of temperamental and behavioral traits, referred to as callous-unemotional traits, together constitute a strong risk factor for increases in the severity and frequency of conduct problems and the likelihood that they will persist into adulthood. Callous-unemotional traits include fearlessness, a lack of empathy, and uncaring behaviors like aggression. However, a knowledge gap persists, in that no research has assessed the neural basis of callous-unemotional traits among children with conduct problems. The researchers' long-term goal is to identify the neural basis of empathy in the human brain, and to understand how empathy deficits emerge that place individuals at high risk for antisocial behavior. The objective of this application is to characterize the patterns of neural function that underlie callous-unemotional traits among children with conduct problems, and assess how these neural activation patterns relate to empathy. The first specific aim is to identify the patterns of neural functioning associated with callous-unemotional traits during an emotion processing task among children with conduct problems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will be used to measure neural activation in healthy children and in children with conduct problems who vary in callous-unemotional traits while the children view fearful facial expressions. Prior research links callous-unemotional traits with impairments in processing fear-relevant stimuli like fearful expressions, which have been demonstrated to elicit empathy. The second specific aim is to identify the patterns of neural functioning associated with empathic responding among children with callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems. fMRI scanning will again be used to measure neural activation while children with conduct problems and healthy children complete a task that assesses their empathic responses to characters experiencing moderate fear in short written scenarios. It is hypothesized that hypoactivation in the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and reduced functional connectivity between these structures in response to empathy-relevant stimuli will be correlated with callous-unemotional traits among children with conduct problems. The proposed study not only builds upon the PI's previous research but includes two innovative new directions: 1) identifying differences in neural activity and connectivity that underlie callous-unemotional traits among children with conduct problems, and 2) determining how these differences are related to deficits in empathy. This is important because callous-unemotional traits represent a risk factor for significance increases in the severity and duration of conduct problems, and because success in early risk assessment and prevention can only occur if the distinct causes of conduct problems in adolescence are identified. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research is expected to have a positive impact on the understanding of the causes of conduct problems in children and adolescents. It will be the first to identify the patterns of neural functioning that are associated with callous-unemotional traits, which constitute a risk factor for increases in the severity, duration, and resistance to treatment of conduct problems. This is a critical step towards identifying the cause of severe conduct problems in adolescence, which is in turn critical to success in the early risk assessment and prevention of conduct problems.