Developmental disorders such as autism offer a unique opportunity to identify important brain structures and functional circuits that underlie complex, perceptual, cognitive, and social behaviors. The proposed multi-disciplinary program, utilizing behavioral testing (Project I) and MRI spectroscopy in autistic children (Project II), and behavioral, MRI-spectroscopic, and neuroanatomical studies in monkeys (Projects II and III), offers a comprehensive analysis of testable animal model of human autism. According to this hypothesis, early damage to the amygdala-orbitofrontal circuit causes a developmental impairment characterized by disturbances in social, emotional, and cognitive behavior. Project IV will evaluate the degree to which the infant responds to injury to the orbitofrontal-amygdala circuit. In order to evaluate fully the possible mechanisms of functional reorganization following this neonatal brain damage, the normal infant and normal adult patterns of cortico-limbic connections will be evaluated using modern neuroanatomical pathways tracing techniques. These patterns of connections will then be correlated with the immunocytochemical development of this circuit and closely related structures. Next, the patterns of cortico-limbic connections with be evaluated in adult monkeys that received either early or late lesions of the amygdala or orbitofrontal cortex. These results will establish the degree to which the developing nervous system can utilize compensatory mechanisms to stabilize developmentally transient neural pathways, to recruit new pathways between weakly associated structures, or to recruit new target structures into functional cortico-limbic circuits. Overall, this research will make a significant contribution towards our understanding of the neurobiological bases of pervasive developmental disorders.

Project Start
1999-03-01
Project End
2000-02-29
Budget Start
1998-10-01
Budget End
1999-09-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77225
Ahlgrim, Nathan S; Raper, Jessica; Johnson, Emily et al. (2017) Neonatal perirhinal cortex lesions impair monkeys' ability to modulate their emotional responses. Behav Neurosci 131:359-71
Raper, Jessica; Wilson, Mark; Sanchez, Mar et al. (2017) Increased anxiety-like behaviors, but blunted cortisol stress response after neonatal hippocampal lesions in monkeys. Psychoneuroendocrinology 76:57-66
Payne, Christa; Cirilli, Laetitia; Bachevalier, Jocelyne (2017) An MRI study of the corpus callosum in monkeys: Developmental trajectories and effects of neonatal hippocampal and amygdala lesions. Dev Psychobiol 59:495-506
Malkova, Ludise; Alvarado, Maria C; Bachevalier, Jocelyne (2016) Effects of Separate or Combined Neonatal Damage to the Orbital Frontal Cortex and the Inferior Convexity on Object Recognition in Monkeys. Cereb Cortex 26:618-27
Alvarado, Maria C; Malkova, Ludise; Bachevalier, Jocelyne (2016) Development of relational memory processes in monkeys. Dev Cogn Neurosci 22:27-35
Dickerson, Aisha S; Pearson, Deborah A; Loveland, Katherine A et al. (2014) Role of parental occupation in autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and severity. Res Autism Spectr Disord 8:997-1007
Kazama, Am; Bachevalier, J (2013) Effects of Selective Neonatal Amygdala Damage on Concurrent Discrimination Learning and Reinforcer Devaluation in Monkeys. J Psychol Psychother Suppl 7:5
Coskun, Mehmet Akif; Loveland, Katherine A; Pearson, Deborah A et al. (2013) Functional assays of local connectivity in the somatosensory cortex of individuals with autism. Autism Res 6:190-200
Raper, Jessica; Wilson, Mark; Sanchez, Mar et al. (2013) Pervasive alterations of emotional and neuroendocrine responses to an acute stressor after neonatal amygdala lesions in rhesus monkeys. Psychoneuroendocrinology 38:1021-35
Bachevalier, Jocelyne; Wright, Anthony A; Katz, Jeffrey S (2013) Serial position functions following selective hippocampal lesions in monkeys: effects of delays and interference. Behav Processes 93:155-66

Showing the most recent 10 out of 49 publications