Stress effects on childhood brain development

压力对儿童大脑发育的影响

• 批准号: 8645130
• 负责人: Allyson Patricia Mackey
• 金额: $ 5.15万
• 依托单位: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8645130
• 关键词: 6 year old; Adult; Affect; Age; Animal Experimentation; Brain; Brain region; Buffers; Child; Childhood; Chronic stress; Cognition; Cognitive; Complex; Data; Development; Diffusion; Education; Environment; Environmental Risk Factor; Event; Exhibits; Figs - dietary; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Goals; Human; Impaired cognition; Income; Inferior; Intervention; Knowledge; Lateral; Life; Light; Link; Liquid substance; Literature; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Measures; Medial; Mental Health; Mental disorders; Neurosciences Research; Occupations; Outcome; Parietal Lobe; Pattern; Performance; Physiological; Physiology; Prefrontal Cortex; Process; Recruitment Activity; Research; Rest; Risk; Short-Term Memory; Socioeconomic Status; Stress; Sum; Symptoms; Testing; Thick; Variant; Weight; Work; association cortex; cognitive neuroscience; coping; experience; hydrocortisone receptor; indexing; innovation; insight; low socioeconomic status; novel; processing speed; public health relevance; response; skills; white matter

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this research is to investigate the effects of stress on childhood brain development. While low levels of stress during development can promote healthy coping later in life, chronic stress sets up vulnerabilities for psychiatric disorders and impairs cognition. Although chronic stress cannot be experimentally manipulated in humans, it is possible to investigate the effects of naturally occurring variations in stress exposure. Childhood socioeconomic status (SES), an index composed of parental education, occupation, and income, is linked to a gradient in exposure and reactivity to stress. Lower SES is associated with more stressful life events and greater dysregulation of stress physiology. Further, low SES environments are associated with fewer factors that buffer the effects of stress. Recent animal research has provided evidence that stress might accelerate important maturational processes. This is problematic in light of the finding in humans that slower brain development is associated with superior cognitive skills. I propose to test the novel hypothesis that stress accelerates brain development in young children. Further, I will explore the question of whether early brain maturation is an adaptive response to a high-stress environment. To test these hypotheses, I will recruit six-year-old children from low SES backgrounds who have experience many stressful life events (high-stress group, N=40), and children from high SES backgrounds who have experienced few stressful life events (low-stress group, N=40). I will 1) characterize differences in perceived stress, physiological stress markers, and cognitive performance between high- and low-stress groups; 2) test whether the high-stress group exhibits greater structural brain maturity as indexed by greater cortical thickness and more directional diffusivity in white matter; 3) explore whether structural maturation differences are reflected in functional networks; and 4) investigate whether early maturation in the high-stress group is associated with inferior or superior cognitive abilities and mental health. In high-stress environments, accelerated maturation may be adaptive because it protects networks supporting cognitive skills in a partially developed state, rendering them less vulnerable to environmental insult. In sum, this research will be the first to test the innovative hypothesis that stress accelerates brain development in young children, and to explore whether accelerated development is an adaptive response to stress. Results of this study will help fill a major gap in knowledge that has evolved from the underrepresentation of children from low SES backgrounds in cognitive neuroscience research. Our findings will elucidate the neurodevelopmental mechanisms by which childhood stress impacts cognition and increases risk for psychiatric illness. Knowledge gained from this work will provide insight into whether interventions should aim to accelerate or decelerate brain maturation in children exposed to stress.

描述（由申请人提供）：这项研究的目的是研究压力对儿童脑发育的影响。尽管在发育过程中的压力较低可以促进以后生活中的健康应对，但慢性压力会造成精神疾病的脆弱性并损害认知。尽管不能在人类中实验操纵慢性应激，但可以研究自然发生的压力变化的影响。童年社会经济地位（SES）是由父母教育，职业和收入组成的指数，与暴露和对压力的反应性的梯度有关。较低的SES与更紧张的生活事件和压力生理的更大失调有关。此外，低SES环境与缓解压力影响的因素更少。最近的动物研究提供了证据，表明压力可能会加速重要的成熟过程。鉴于人类发现较慢的大脑发育与出色的认知能力有关，这是有问题的。我建议测试应力加速幼儿大脑发育的新假设。此外，我将探讨早期大脑成熟是否是对高压力环境的适应性反应的问题。为了检验这些假设，我将招募来自低SES背景的六岁儿童，他们经历了许多压力大的生活事件（高压力小组，n = 40），以及来自高SES背景的孩子，他们经历了很少的压力生活事件（低压力组，n = 40）。我将1）表征高压力组和低压力组之间感知到的压力，生理压力标记和认知表现的差异； 2）测试高压力组是否表现出更大的结构性脑成熟度，因为皮质厚度更大，白质中的方向扩散率更高。 3）探索结构成熟差异是否反映在功能网络中； 4）研究高应力群体的早期成熟是否与劣质或优越的认知能力和心理健康有关。在高压力中 环境，加速成熟可能是适应性的，因为它保护了在部分发达的状态下支持认知技能的网络，从而使它们不易受到环境侮辱的影响。总而言之，这项研究将是第一个测试压力加速幼儿大脑发育的创新假设的研究，并探索加速发展是否是对压力的适应性反应。这项研究的结果将有助于填补来自认知神经科学研究中低SES背景儿童的人数不足的知识的重大空白。我们的发现将阐明儿童压力会影响认知并增加精神病风险的神经发育机制。从这项工作中获得的知识将提供有关干预措施是否应旨在加速或减速承受压力的儿童的大脑成熟的洞察力。