This K08 application aims to characterize how exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) changes sub-components of cognitive control, related brain function, and substance use disorder (SUD) risk. Improved understanding of the impact of ACEs on cognitive control and SUD risk is of particular importance in the Puerto Rican community, as this group has higher rates of ACEs and worse SUD treatment outcomes than the general US population, and is underrepresented in SUD and neurobiological studies. This five-year K08 application presents a program for research and training that will support the applicant on a path towards becoming an independent investigator, focused on studying the development of SUD risk using a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach. The training plan builds on the candidate's prior experience and training and capitalizes on an outstanding mentorship team and research environment to foster the development of the candidate's expertise in (1) collection, analysis and interpretation of longitudinal pediatric fMRI data; 2) SUD risk in a pediatric minority population; (3) computational modeling of cognitive and neuro- developmental processes; (4) responsible conduct of scientific research. This project will investigate the influence of ACEs on the development of sub-components cognitive control and related brain activity in the frontoparietal (FPN) and cingulo-opercular (CON) networks during a cognitive control performance task and at rest (Aim 1), and the relationship between ACE-related changes in development and SUD risk (Aim 2). We hypothesize that increased ACEs will lead to (1) a slower rate of evidence accumulation (i.e. drift rate, a computational model parameter), (2) greater activity in key FPN nodes, and (3) increased connectivity between FPN and CON nodes and other regions. Furthermore, these behavioral and neural changes will be associated with increased risk for SUD. Currently, the proposed study participants are enrolled in the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study, which will collect cognitive control measures and MRI data on 290 children. Building on this structure, we propose to select a subsample (n=76) of children, evenly sampled across the full range of baseline cumulative ACE scores, and invite them to participate in a follow up assessment. Measures of cognitive control performance, brain activity during cognitive task performance and rest, and parental- and self-report of SUD-risk related behaviors will be collected. Data yielded from the proposed study will lead to a future R01 application examining continued development of cognitive control, brain activity and SUD risk, as well as the development of substance use patterns and SUD as these children become adolescents. Together, the research and training experiences and expertise developed through this K08 award will support the applicant's transition to research independence and ensure the applicant becomes a leading authority in the developmental cognitive neuroscience of SUD risk, focusing on the impact of ACEs.
This career development K08 award seeks to provide the applicant with the training and research opportunities necessary to become the next leading expert in the developmental cognitive neuroscience of substance use disorder risk, focusing on the impact of adverse childhood experiences. We propose to use parameter estimates from computational modeling of cognitive control performance in the analyses of MRI data; relating brain function to risk for substance use through self-report on a SUD-risk profile scale. Our goal is to characterize how adverse childhood experiences impact cognitive control and substance use risk, to help inform future research aimed at developing novel approaches to prevention.
