Neuroimaging of the Development of Neural Mechanisms Social Cognition

描述(由申请人提供)：为了回应通知编号(NOT-OD-10-032)，NIH宣布通过NIH基本行为和社会科学机会网络(OppNet)为竞争性修订申请(R01、R03、R15、R21、R21/R33和R37)提供恢复法案资金，我们对正在进行的拨款提出了一个重要的新目标。这一新目标的目的将是严格评估儿科功能近红外光谱/断层成像(FNIRS)方法在发展社会神经科学领域的应用，并直接将其与儿科功能磁共振成像(FMRI)进行比较。发展适应社交技能的大脑机制对个人的健康和福祉以及他们所属的社会至关重要。然而，我们目前最好的技术fMRI有一些限制，使许多孩子无法参与研究，或者导致父母不愿让他们的孩子参与研究。FNIRS解决了其中一些限制。我们计划直接比较使用目前正在对儿童进行的fMRI实验收集的fNIRS数据。这项工作将为研究社会行为和过程的fNIRS方法提供一个全面和直接的比较。表明fNIRS成像数据可扩展到发展社会神经科学领域，将使一些新的研究领域取得快速进展，包括对目前无法进入的人群的研究。增加潜在研究参与者的深度和广度将加快科学进步，了解精神疾病的出现，影响社会认知和社会行为(如自闭症、焦虑症、厌食症和精神分裂症)的精神障碍的发病机制，并将极大地有助于社会大脑正常发育的研究。 与公共健康相关：我们计划使用两种成像方法：磁共振成像和近红外光谱，直接比较大脑对社会行为和社会处理的机制。前者是最先进的，但存在阻碍儿童科学研究的局限性，而后者在儿科神经科学领域尚未得到证实。如果能成功地证明fNIRS的实用性，将为研究儿童大脑如何在社交世界中发挥作用开辟新的研究途径。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to Notice Number (NOT-OD-10-032) NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, and R37) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) we propose a significant new aim to the ongoing grant. The purpose of this new aim will be to rigorously assess the utility of pediatric functional near-infrared spectroscopy/tomography (fNIRS) methodology for the field of development social neuroscience, and to directly compare it to pediatric functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The development of brain mechanisms underlying adaptive social skills is key to the health and well-being of individuals, and to the society to which they belong. However, fMRI, our current best technology, has limitations that preclude many children from research, or contribute to unwillingness in parents to allow their child to participate. fNIRS addresses some of these limitations. We plan to directly compare fNIRS data collected using experiments currently being carried out with children in fMRI. This effort will provide a comprehensive and direct comparison of the fNIRS methodology for the study of social behaviors and processes. Demonstrating that fNIRS imaging data are extensible to the field of developmental social neuroscience would make possible a rapid advancement in a number of new research areas, including the study of populations that are currently inaccessible. Increasing the depth and breadth of the pool of potential research participants will speed scientific progress toward understanding the emergence of mental illness, the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders that affect social cognition and social behavior (e.g., autism, anxiety disorders, anorexia, and schizophrenia) and will strongly benefit the study of the normative development of the social brain. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We plan to directly compare brain mechanisms for social behaviors and social processing using two imaging methodologies: magnetic resonance imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy. The former is state-of-the-art, but is has limitations that hinder the scientific study of children, while the latter is unproven in the field of pediatric neuroscience. A successful demonstration of the usefulness of fNIRS would open new lines of research into how children's brains develop to function in a social world.