Measuring gene-environment transactions to identify sensitive periods for infant social behavior & brain growth

测量基因-环境变化以确定婴儿社会行为的敏感期

基本信息

批准号：
9924648
负责人：
Warren Jones
金额：
$ 76.18万
依托单位：
EMORY UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-05-02 至 2024-02-29
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9924648
关键词：
Accounting Adolescence Affect Age Atlases Behavioral Behavioral Genetics Biological Birth Brain Child Child Development Competence Data Development Developmental Course Dizygotic Twins Ecosystem Enrollment Environment Future Genes Genetic Genetic Variation Genetic study Growth Human Individual Infant Intervention Laboratories Lead Learning Life Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures Modeling Monozygotic twins Nature Neurodevelopmental Disability Pathway interactions Pattern Personality Phenotype Process Research Shapes Social Behavior Social Development Standardization Structure Syndrome Testing Therapeutic Time Transact Twin Multiple Birth Variant Visual Walking autism spectrum disorder autistic children behavior change clinically significant cognitive ability cohort disability early childhood experience improved infancy insight model development neuroimaging preempt prevent prospective psychologic social social learning spatiotemporal standardize measure visual tracking

项目摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This project builds on recent research in our laboratory that showed for the first time that genes directly shape the way a child sees the world: what a child spends time looking at—as well as how, when, and where she looks—are all strongly influenced by genetic variation (Constantino et al, Nature, 2017). Identical twins, who share the same genetic variation, effectively synchronize their looking to social content. Moreover, these same measures of social looking are markedly and differentially decreased in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Χ2= 64.03, P < 0.0001). In the current project, we will measure genetic and environmental influence on social visual engagement and brain growth from birth through toddlerhood, quantifying effects of gene- environment transactions over time. We will use eye-tracking to measure how infants look at the social world and MRI to measure changing brain connectivity under conditions of controlled genetic variation: identical & fraternal twins followed from the first week after birth. We will enroll 240 twins (120 pairs), collecting eye- tracking data at 10 time points, neuroimaging data at 5 time points, and standardized assessments of social- communicative competency at 3 time points. This application will test the hypothesis that gene-by- environment-by-age transactions in the first years of life serve as a powerful developmental canalizing mechanism, a mechanism capable of providing the necessary shared medium for typical social development, and yet equally capable of channeling diverse initial liabilities off-course, into atypical social development resulting in the syndromic social disability called autism spectrum disorder. By quantifying the developmental timing of gene-environment transactions, together with their impact on phenotypic presentation of social behavior and brain growth, this project will provide insights into modifiable behavioral pathways that offer the greatest therapeutic potential to prevent or preempt the emergence of deleterious consequences of atypical development as found in ASD and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.

项目概要/摘要该项目建立在我们实验室最近的研究基础上，该研究首次表明基因直接塑造孩子看待世界的方式：孩子花时间看什么，以及如何、何时、何地外貌——都受到遗传变异的强烈影响（Constantino 等人，Nature，2017）。共享相同的遗传变异，有效地同步他们对社交内容的看法。患有谱系障碍的自闭症儿童的社交审视指标显着且差异性下降（ASD）（Χ2= 64.03，P < 0.0001）。在当前项目中，我们将测量遗传和环境对的影响。从出生到幼儿期的社会视觉参与和大脑发育，量化基因的影响我们将使用眼球追踪来测量婴儿如何看待社交世界。和 MRI 来测量受控遗传变异条件下大脑连接的变化：相同和异卵双胞胎从出生后第一周开始进行跟踪我们将招募 240 名双胞胎（120 对），收集眼- 10个时间点的追踪数据、5个时间点的神经影像数据以及社交标准化评估该应用程序将在 3 个时间点测试以下假设：生命最初几年的不同年龄的环境变化是一种强大的发展渠道机制，能够为典型社会发展提供必要的共享媒介的机制，但同样能够将各种初始负债引导到非典型的社会发展中通过量化发育，导致称为自闭症谱系障碍的综合症社交障碍。基因-环境交互的时间及其对社会表型呈现的影响行为和大脑发育，该项目将提供对可修改行为途径的见解，从而提供预防或预防非典型疾病有害后果出现的最大治疗潜力自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和其他神经发育障碍中发现的发育障碍。