Mechanisms of Attention Deficits in Children with Heavy Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

产前大量酒精暴露儿童注意力缺陷的机制

• 批准号: 8316436
• 负责人: SARAH N MATTSON WELLER
• 金额: $ 34.33万
• 依托单位: SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8316436
• 关键词: 16 year old; Address; Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Age; Alcohols; Anterior; Area; Attention; Behavioral; Brain; Brain region; Child; Clinical; Control Groups; Data; Development; Diagnosis; Disease; Ethnic Origin; Fetal Alcohol Exposure; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Funding; Goals; Imaging Techniques; Impairment; Individual; Investigation; Lead; Learning; Literature; Measures; Memory; Methodology; Modeling; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Nature; Neurotransmitters; Parietal; Pattern; Performance; Pharmacological Treatment; Population; Procedures; Public Health; Race; Recommendation; Recording of previous events; Relative (related person); Research; Role; Side; Socioeconomic Status; Specificity; Strategic Planning; Study Section; System; Techniques; Testing; Visual attention; Visuospatial; Work; base; blood oxygen level dependent; design; disorder control; executive function; improved; interest; neurobehavioral; neuroimaging; neuropathology; neuropsychological; performance tests; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; response; sex

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The hallmark of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is the significant neurobehavioral impairment that occurs across the spectrum. A profile of these deficits is emerging, but the clinical utility of such a profile requires continued research to improve its accuracy and specificity. One deficit that is often noted in FASD is in the domain of attention. Based on previous studies of attention, documenting deficits in spatial orienting and sustained visual attention, we propose a broadened investigation of the mechanisms of visual attention deficits using state of the art methodology. More specifically, the proposed study will use the Attention Network Test (ANT), which was designed to assess three attention networks (orient, alert, executive control) that underlie visual attention and are dependent on the integrity of dissociable brain regions and neurotransmitter systems. Both neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) versions of the ANT will be used to assess differential behavioral and brain response related to the three attention networks in children with FASD and typically developing controls. Findings of differential impairments across the networks within the FASD group may help to identify areas of relative strengths and deficits in this population, contributing to the developing neurobehavioral profile of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. In addition, analyzing blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to the ANT will allow for examination of the neural underpinnings of observed attention deficits. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize a profile characterized by relatively greater deficits in the alerting and executive control networks in the FASD group. An additional goal of the current application is to examine the specificity of observed effects by including children with full scale IQ (FSIQ) scores below the average range (FSIQ<85) in our control group. This will allow us to compare the attention performance between the groups with and without controlling overall IQ. We hypothesize that the observed attention deficits will occur even in the absence of IQ differences. We plan to test 80 children (ages 8-12y) in two groups (FASD and Control) with the neuropsychological version of the ANT and 60 adolescents (ages 13-16y) on the fMRI version. For both tasks, the control group will be larger than the FASD group to allow for the additional subjects with below average IQ scores. The proposed study is consistent with the NIAAA strategic plan for 2009-2014, which cited refining the neurodevelopmental signature of FASD as a critical research need. Our focus on neuropsychological features of FASD, the inclusion of neuropsychological and fMRI procedures, and our interest in the relation between attention and lowered IQ directly addresses these recommendations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project is directly relevant to public health concerns surrounding the behavioral effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. The resulting data will clarify the nature and neural underpinnings of attention deficits in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and as a result will help refine the profile of effects that are specific to this population and improve diagnosis of alcohol-affected individuals. Improved delineation and identification of these features will ultimately lead to improved treatment by indentifying aspects of attention as well as underlying brain regions and neurotransmitter systems affected by heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

描述（由申请人提供）：胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）的标志是整个频谱中发生的重要神经行为障碍。这些缺陷的概况正在出现，但是这种特征的临床实用性需要继续研究以提高其准确性和特异性。 FASD中经常注意到的一个赤字在于关注领域。基于先前对注意力的研究，记录了空间定向和持续视觉关注的缺陷，我们提出了使用艺术方法的状态对视觉注意力缺陷的机制进行扩展的研究。更具体地说，拟议的研究将使用注意力网络测试（ANT），该测试旨在评估视觉关注的三个注意力网络（东方，机敏，执行控制），并依赖于可离职的大脑区域和神经递质系统的完整性。 ANT的神经心理学和功能磁共振成像（fMRI）版本都将用于评估与FASD儿童的三个注意力网络相关的差异行为和大脑反应，并且通常会开发控制。 FASD组内网络差异差异的发现可能有助于确定该人群中相对优势和缺陷的领域，从而有助于发展大量产前酒精暴露的神经行为特征。另外，分析对蚂蚁的血氧水平依赖性（粗体）反应将允许检查观察到的注意力缺陷的神经基础。基于先前的研究，我们假设一个特征，其特征是FASD组的警报和执行控制网络中相对较大的缺陷。当前应用程序的另一个目标是通过在我们的对照组中包括全尺度智商（FSIQ）得分（FSIQ <85）的儿童（FSIQ）分数（FSIQ）分数（FSIQ）的特异性。这将使我们能够比较有或没有控制整体智商的组之间的注意力表现。我们假设即使没有智商差异，观察到的注意力缺陷也会发生。我们计划在FMRI版本上分别用两组（FASD和对照）测试80名儿童（8-12岁）（FASD和对照），并在60名青少年（13-16岁）中测试。对于这两个任务，对照组将大于FASD组，以允许智商分数低于平均水平的其他受试者。拟议的研究与2009 - 2014年的NIAAA战略计划一致，该计划将FASD的神经发育签名作为批判性研究需求。我们关注FASD的神经心理学特征，神经心理学和功能磁共振成像程序的包含以及我们对注意力之间的关系和降低智商之间的关系的兴趣直接解决了这些建议。 公共卫生相关性：该项目与围绕大量产前酒精暴露的行为影响的公共卫生问题直接相关。最终的数据将阐明胎儿酒精谱系障碍注意力缺陷的性质和神经基础，因此，将有助于完善特定于该人群的影响的概况，并改善受酒精影响的个体的诊断。改善这些特征的描述和识别最终将通过缩进注意力的各个方面以及受重大产前酒精暴露影响的基本大脑区域和神经递质系统，从而改善治疗。