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Adolescence is a time of significant
change. It is also a period during which risk for serious mental
illness is heightened, with very steep rises seen in the
prevalence of many psychiatric disorders occurring around this
time. Yet little is known about the developmental changes in
brain systems during adolescence. Major maturational changes in
circuitry underlying inhibitory processes and regulation occur
during this period, yet precise information is lacking and
methods to track such developmental changes on an individual
basis are not available. In addition, adolescence is a period
during which major patterns of connectivity are established and
mature. There appear to be pronounced differences among
individuals in the rate at which maturational changes in
regulatory functions and connectivity occur.
 We
are now poised on the threshold of major discoveries of what is
changing in the adolescent brain and why this period is
associated with such increase in risk for disorder. Moreover,
new non-invasive methods are now available to track maturational
changes in brain function and structure that may be key to
understanding why adolescence is such a unique and critical
period of developmental change. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
is a method that uses magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) to image the major white matter tracts
in the brain that provide the connections among regions. When
DTI is combined with anatomical imaging and with functional MRI,
a very complete picture of maturational changes in the
adolescent brain can be obtained. Moreover, the extent to which
such measures of brain
function and structure predict risk for the development of
disorder can be examined by following individuals over time.
The studies we will embark upon on this topic also offer the
opportunity to intervene earlier, and in some cases, prior to
full blown development of illness. For example, using tasks that
require inhibitory function, brain systems that underlie this
competence can be mapped. In addition, the structural integrity
of circuits that support such skill can be
determined. Using these methods, individuals with deficits in
the functional and/or structural basis of inhibitory ability
might be identified and then placed into training procedures
designed to strengthen inhibitory and regulatory brain circuits.
The impact of this training can then be tracked on direct
measures of brain function as well as on measures of social
behavior and academic performance.
The Opportunity: We have already conducted several pilot
studies with children of this age and have compelling evidence
to indicate that brain imaging methods can play a key role in
understanding the adolescent brain and in the development of new
treatment strategies
and training approaches to minimize the risk that steeply rises
during
this period. We can become a leading center in the world in
charting the course of the adolescent brain and in developing a
deep understanding of why this period poses such risk for
atypical development. |
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