Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Identifying neural markers of risk for anxiety in infancy - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament characterized by fear of novelty, is the best behavioral marker of which children are at risk for anxiety. However, the neurodevelopmental mechanisms that underly the pathway from BI to anxiety remain elusive. Extensive evidence links BI and inhibitory control (IC) processes to the development of anxiety. However, very little evidence has illuminated whether these behaviors are associated with changes in brain connectivity. The goal of the proposed project is to precisely characterize brain networks associated with BI, IC, and their interaction in infancy to illuminate the pathophysiology of anxiety. To do so, during the mentored phase, I will characterize longitudinal changes in brain networks implicated in BI (Aim 1), identify longitudinal changes in resting state functional connectivity that are associated with both BI and IC (Aim 2). Subsequently, during the independent phase (R00), I will replicate and extend this line of work to validate these findings using behavioral measures of BI and IC and identify the moderating contribution that brain networks associated with IC have on the neural correlates of BI (Aim 3). Elucidating the independent and interactive contributions of factors associated with anxiety is essential for generating knowledge for targeted interventions. This research plan will advance my goal of developing an independent funded research program investigating how brain development supports complex social and emotional development. This line of work will target those individuals most at risk for atypical social and emotional outcomes (e.g., those at risk for psychopathology) by charting the precursors to emotional disorders using neuroimaging methods. To effectively lead my future research team, I require intensive training in infant functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) data analysis and longitudinal modeling. To date, my training has provided me with a strong foundation of skills in developmental psychology, infant behavioral assessment, and infant fMRI data collection. My career development plan expands on this skill set to provide essential further training in data-driven approaches for processing fMRI data (e.g., independent components analysis), longitudinal modeling of fMRI data, and toddler fMRI data collection. By engaging in this protected training time, I will enter my independent stage of research well prepared to lead my research team to identify neural markers indicative of high risk for anxiety.
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