Thalamic activity and structure and surface neural oscillations in autism

自闭症的丘脑活动和结构以及表面神经振荡

• 批准号: 9117646
• 负责人: James Christopher EDGAR
• 金额: $ 18.25万
• 依托单位: CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-01 至 2018-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9117646
• 关键词: 16 year old; Accounting; Alpha Rhythm; Anisotropy; Area; Autistic Disorder; Biological; Brain; Chemicals; Child; Clinical; Cognitive; Communication; Coupling; Data; Data Set; Diffusion; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Equilibrium; Etiology; Evaluable Disease; Failure; Foundations; Health; Impairment; Individual; Laboratories; Lateral Geniculate Body; Left; Link; Magnetoencephalography; Measures; Multimodal Imaging; Myelin; National Institute of Mental Health; Neurons; Noise; Pathway interactions; Pattern; Phase; Plant Roots; Process; Property; Publishing; Recruitment Activity; Regression Analysis; Reporting; Research Personnel; Rest; Role; Route; Sensory; Signal Transduction; Source; Structural defect; Structure; Surface; Thalamic Nuclei; Thalamic structure; Ventral Posterior Nucleus; aged; autism spectrum disorder; base; brain dysfunction; interest; non-compliance; relating to nervous system; repetitive behavior; restoration; sensory input; sensory integration; signal processing; social; theories; white matter

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Atypical neural activity at the brain surface is frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many researchers hypothesize that this atypical surface neural activity is due to an incorrect balance in the brain chemicals that control the firing rate of neurons. Although there is evidence to support this hypothesis, a more important influence on surface brain rhythms may be the contribution of deeper and more central brain structures to surface brain activity. One of these deep brain structures - the thalamus - is a central rely station that controls the flow of information from th outside world into the brain and thus controls the pattern of surface brain activity. Given the central role of the thalamus in modulating and coordinating neural activity, understanding the contribution of the thalamus to surface neural abnormalities in ASD is of high priority. The proposed R21 examines the most fundamental brain oscillation: resting-state (RS) alpha (8 to 12 Hz). RS alpha oscillations are strongest when at rest but modulated when performing tasks, with alpha rhythms providing a foundation for local and long-range communication. Focusing on RS alpha activity is optimal as: (1) RS alpha is the dominant brain oscillation, with a high signal to-noise ratio making RS alpha a sensitive probe, and (2) the thalamic nuclei and thalamocortical pathways modulating cortical RS alpha are known, allowing for a hypothesis- driven assessment of association between cortical alpha activity and thalamic structure. Our laboratory's published data show that (a) thalamic structure (specifically volume) is related to this RS brain rhythm, and (b) this fundamental brain rhythm is abnormal in idiopathic ASD. Taken together, these findings suggest that thalamic abnormalities might account for cortical brain neural abnormalities in ASD. To formally examine this hypothesis, children with idiopathic ASD and typically developing controls (TDC) aged 12-to-16-years-old will be recruited (N = 26 per group), and non-invasive multimodal imaging (magnetoencephalography, MEG, and structural and diffusion MRI) will examine associations between thalamic structure and function and properties of the resting-state brain alpha rhythm (strength of local activity as well as local and long-range functional connectivity). Establishing the role of thalamic and thalamocortical abnormalities in idiopathic ASD will inform the biological basis of ASD, will potentially account for the broad array of phenotypic domains in ASD given the central role of thalamus, and will indicate the need for new treatments that target restoration of thalamic function.

 描述（由适用提供）：自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的个体经常报道脑表面的非典型神经元活性。许多研究人员假设这种非典型表面神经元活性是由于控制神经元的发射速率的脑化学物质的不正确平衡。尽管有证据支持这一假设，但对表面脑节律的更重要影响可能是更深，更中央脑结构对表面脑活动的贡献。这些深的大脑结构之一 - 丘脑 - 是一个中央依赖站，它控制着从外界进入大脑的信息流，从而控制表面大脑活动的模式。鉴于丘脑在调节和协调的神经活动中的核心作用，了解丘脑对ASD表面神经元异常的贡献是很高的优先级。拟议的R21检查最基本的脑振荡：静止状态（RS）alpha（8至12 Hz）。 RS Alpha振荡在静止时很强，但在执行任务时进行了调节，Alpha Rhythms为本地和远程交流提供了基础。专注于RS Alpha活性是最佳的：（1）RS alpha是主要的脑振荡，具有高信号 已知毫无疑问，使RSα成为敏感的探针，（2）已知的丘脑核和丘脑皮层途径调节皮质RSα，从而允许对假设驱动的对皮质α活性和丘脑结构之间的关联的评估。我们实验室已发布的数据表明，（a）丘脑结构（特别是体积）与这种RS脑节律有关，并且（b）这种基本的脑节律在特发性ASD中是异常的。综上所述，这些发现表明，丘脑异常可能解释了ASD的皮质脑神经元异常。 To formally examine this hypothesis, children with idiopathic ASD and typically developing controls (TDC) aged 12-to-16-years-old will be recruited (N = 26 per group), and non-invasive multimodal imaging (magnetoencephalography, MEG, and structural and diffusion MRI) will examine associations between thalamic structure and function and properties of the resting-state brain alpha rhythm (strength of本地活动以及本地活动 和远程功能连接）。在特发性ASD中建立丘脑和丘脑皮质异常的作用将为ASD的生物学基础提供信息，并有可能解释ASD中广泛的表型结构域在ASD中的广泛作用，并将表明针对丘脑功能恢复的新处理的需求。