(provided by candidate): The educational aim of the proposed Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (MRSDA) is to train the candidate in adolescent developmental psychopathology and affective neuroscience relevant to understanding key aspects of adolescent depression. Decreased positive affect appears to be an important but little-studied component of adolescent depression. From an affective neuroscience perspective, it is valuable to examine positive affect through measures of reward processing. To accomplish the educational aim of the proposed MRSDA, the candidate will (1) learn from expert mentors and consultants on adolescent development, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neuroimaging data analysis, and longitudinal data analysis;(2) complete coursework in adolescent development, affective neuroscience, statistics, and research ethics;(3) attend methodology workshops on fMRI, neuroimaging data analysis, and longitudinal data analysis;and (4) conduct a study of neural and subjective components of positive affect in adolescent depression. The proposed study has three specific aims.
Aim 1 focuses on the hypothesis that adolescent depression is associated with low activation (as revealed by blood oxygen level-dependent signal intensities) in reward-related brain areas (including the ventral striatum, dorsal striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala) in response to rewarding events.
Aim 2 focuses on the hypothesis that adolescent depression is associated with low subjective experience of positive affect in natural settings, as measured by ecological momentary assessment.
Aim 3 focuses on the hypothesis that brain reward activation in depressed adolescents in the fMRI study is related to the seeking and experience of positive affect in natural settings. Consistent with the priorities of the National Institute of Mental Health, the proposed MRSDA will foster a new course of study on the affective neuroscience of early-onset affective disorders by focusing on development and applying a translational approach with basic neuroscience techniques to clinical questions. Adolescent depression is a common, chronic disorder that leads to death (suicide), disability, and suffering. Advancing knowledge of the underlying emotional processes and real-life experiences in adolescent depression represents a crucial step in developing early intervention and prevention strategies. The ultimate goal is to decrease rates of a disorder that devastates the lives of so many adolescents and their families.
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