Preliminary efficacy of social reward value training in toddlers with elevated symptoms of autism

社会奖励价值训练对自闭症症状加重的幼儿的初步效果

基本信息

批准号：
10240563
负责人：
KATARZYNA CHAWARSKA
金额：
$ 18.75万
依托单位：
YALE UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-09-07 至 2023-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10240563
关键词：
Affect Attention Basal Ganglia Birth Brain Characteristics Child Complex Data Development Enrollment Environment Evaluation Exhibits Face Family Functional Imaging Functional disorder Future Image Impairment Individual Individual Differences Infant Intervention Studies Laboratories Learning Longterm Follow-up Maintenance Modification Mothers Neonatal Parents Participant Pilot Projects Property Protocols documentation Resources Rest Rewards Severities Siblings Signal Transduction Smiling Social Values Stimulus Symptoms System Testing Time Toddler Training Treatment Protocols Visual attention acceptability and feasibility autism spectrum disorder autistic children base cellular imaging cohort connectome follow-up gaze hedonic imaging approach improved individuals with autism spectrum disorder long term memory molecular imaging neurodevelopment novel personalized medicine predicting response response sample fixation selective attention sex skills social social attention visual tracking

项目摘要

One of the markers of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in infants and toddlers is impaired selective attention to faces1-6 (Preliminary Study, PS#1). This impairment diminishes their ability to learn from and interact adaptively with others in real-world environments.7 Attentional selection in the social domain relies, in part, on one’s ability to encode reward values of people and store these values in long-term memory as stable values.8- 10 The ‘stable’ values (henceforth, ‘values’) are learned over the course of repeated learning opportunities, and once acquired, they are signaled rapidly, preferentially directing gaze to encoded faces of importance (high- value, HV) based on their hedonic or informative properties in the past.11 Automatic responses based on values stored in long-term memory are essential for survival when decisions have to be made rapidly (e.g., mother versus stranger). Learning about values is subserved by the reward learning system in the brain involving basal ganglia (BG) circuitry.11 This circuitry is implicated in the pathophysiology of ASD12, 13 and extant evidence suggests that individuals with ASD exhibit specific impairments in learning the reward value of social stimuli such as faces.14 (PS#2) Based on this evidence, we propose that limited attention to faces in toddlers with elevated autism symptoms (ASD+) is, in part, driven by impaired value learning in the social domain, affecting their ability to rapidly and preferentially select HV faces and ignore low-value (LV) faces in the complex real-world environment. Consequently, they exhibit diminished spontaneous attention to faces in general, and when they look at faces, they may distribute their limited attentional resources between high- (e.g., mother or therapist) and low-value (stranger) individuals in a trial-and-error fashion. We further hypothesize that reinforcing attention of children with ASD+ toward specific faces through social value training (SVT) will increase their attention to these faces in real-world environments. Here we propose to test a novel SVT in the ASD+ group at 18 months (n=48). In the proposed pilot study, ASD+ toddlers will undergo SVT using a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm. SVT will be administered over a two-day period and the training effects will be assessed by changes in visual attention to HV faces as compared to LV faces between baseline, post-baseline (day 3), and a long-term follow-up (1 month) using two tasks: a laboratory selective attention (LSA) task and real-world selective attention (RWSA) task. We will also evaluate acceptability and feasibility of the value training and contribution of sex, nonverbal developmental level, and severity of autism symptoms to response to the training. Taking advantage of the overlapping cohorts between Projects 1 (neonatal imaging) and Project 5, we will examine if characteristics of resting-state functional connectivity at birth predict response to training in the ASD+ toddlers. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to directly target a marker for ASD by engaging the reward learning system and to evaluate functional integrity of neonatal connectome as a potential predictor of response to training at 18 months.

婴幼儿自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的标志之一是选择性注意力受损面对 1-6（初步研究，PS#1），这种障碍削弱了他们学习和互动的能力。在现实世界环境中与他人自适应地相处。7 社交领域的注意力选择部分依赖于一个人对人们的奖励值进行编码并将这些值作为稳定值存储在长期记忆中的能力。8- 10 “稳定”的价值观（以下简称“价值观”）是在反复学习机会的过程中习得的，并且一旦获得，它们就会迅速发出信号，优先将目光转向编码的重要面孔（高值，HV）基于其过去的特征或信息属性。11 基于当必须快速做出决定时，存储在长期记忆中的价值观对于生存至关重要（例如，大脑中的奖励学习系统有助于学习价值观基底神经节 (BG) 电路。11 该电路与 ASD12、13 和现有证据表明，自闭症谱系障碍患者在学习奖励价值方面表现出特定的障碍诸如面孔之类的社交刺激。14 (PS#2) 基于这一证据，我们建议在患有自闭症症状（ASD+）的幼儿部分是由于社会价值学习受损造成的域，影响他们快速优先选择 HV 面并忽略低值 (LV) 面的能力在复杂的现实世界环境中，他们表现出对面孔的自发关注减少。一般来说，当他们看脸时，他们可能会将有限的注意力资源分配给高水平的人。（例如，母亲或治疗师）和低价值（陌生人）个体，我们以试错的方式进一步进行。通过社会价值观培训，加强 ASD+ 儿童对特定面孔的注意力（SVT）将在现实世界环境中增加他们对这些面孔的关注。在这里，我们建议测试一部小说。 ASD+ 组在 18 个月时接受 SVT（n=48）在拟议的试点研究中，ASD+ 幼儿将接受 SVT。使用注视相关的眼动追踪范式将在两天内进行。训练效果将通过与 LV 面孔相比，HV 面孔的视觉注意力变化来评估基线、基线后（第 3 天）和长期随访（1 个月），使用两项任务：实验室选择性我们还将评估注意力（LSA）任务和现实世界选择性注意力（RWSA）任务。价值训练的可行性以及性的贡献、非语言发展水平以及自闭症的严重程度利用项目 1 之间的重叠队列来评估对培训的反应。（新生儿成像）和项目 5，我们将检查静息态功能连接的特征是否据我们所知，这是第一项直接预测 ASD+ 幼儿对训练的反应的研究。通过奖励学习系统来确定自闭症谱系障碍的标记，并评估自闭症谱系障碍的功能完整性新生儿连接组作为 18 个月时训练反应的潜在预测因子。