The development of the human brain through childhood is characterized by a complex interplay between anatomic, structural, cellular, chemical, and functional changes. The relationship between these physical brain changes and cognitive and behavioral aspects of development are poorly understood. Several previous studies have attempted to examine specific imaging measures (e.g., structural morphometry) as a function of age and development, but rarely is more than one brain imaging measure used for this purpose.In this study, we will perform MRI-based measurements of anatomic morphology, tissue microstructure (with diffusion-tensor MRI) and functional brain activation (with BOLD fMRI) in a population of healthy children between the ages of 10 and 12. The fMRI studies will be designed to study brain circuits of(l) emotion regulation, and (2) attention and inhibition. These measurements will be performed 3 times on an annual basis to study within subject changes in function and structure. A cross-sectional structural and functional analysis will be performed to determine if there are any developmental trends with age, gender, adolescent stage, temperament or cognitive ability. Subsequently, a longitudinal analysis will also be performed to determine structural and functional changes within single subjects. The results of this study will serve as a normative database of structural and functional brain development. Future studies of brain development in children with developmental disabilities (e.g., Autism, Fragile X, Downs, etc.) will be designed and performed based upon the results from this study.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21DA015879-01
Application #
6576800
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BDCN-5 (02))
Program Officer
Stanford, Laurence
Project Start
2002-09-27
Project End
2005-06-30
Budget Start
2002-09-27
Budget End
2003-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$145,500
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
Southwick, Jason S; Bigler, Erin D; Froehlich, Alyson et al. (2011) Memory functioning in children and adolescents with autism. Neuropsychology 25:702-10
Lange, Nicholas; Dubray, Molly B; Lee, Jee Eun et al. (2010) Atypical diffusion tensor hemispheric asymmetry in autism. Autism Res 3:350-8
Fletcher, P Thomas; Whitaker, Ross T; Tao, Ran et al. (2010) Microstructural connectivity of the arcuate fasciculus in adolescents with high-functioning autism. Neuroimage 51:1117-25
Lee, Jee Eun; Chung, Moo K; Lazar, Mariana et al. (2009) A study of diffusion tensor imaging by tissue-specific, smoothing-compensated voxel-based analysis. Neuroimage 44:870-83
Lee, Jee Eun; Bigler, Erin D; Alexander, Andrew L et al. (2007) Diffusion tensor imaging of white matter in the superior temporal gyrus and temporal stem in autism. Neurosci Lett 424:127-32
Alexander, Andrew L; Lee, Jee Eun; Lazar, Mariana et al. (2007) Diffusion tensor imaging of the corpus callosum in Autism. Neuroimage 34:61-73
Alexander, Andrew L; Lee, Jee Eun; Lazar, Mariana et al. (2007) Diffusion tensor imaging of the brain. Neurotherapeutics 4:316-29
Alexander, Andrew L; Lee, Jee Eun; Wu, Yu-Chien et al. (2006) Comparison of diffusion tensor imaging measurements at 3.0 T versus 1.5 T with and without parallel imaging. Neuroimaging Clin N Am 16:299-309, xi
Lazar, Mariana; Lee, Jong Hoon; Alexander, Andrew L (2005) Axial asymmetry of water diffusion in brain white matter. Magn Reson Med 54:860-7
Lazar, Mariana; Alexander, Andrew L (2005) Bootstrap white matter tractography (BOOT-TRAC). Neuroimage 24:524-32

Showing the most recent 10 out of 11 publications