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Mentored Patient-oriented Research Career Development Award, a program of
research and career development, is proposed to establish a foundation for
future independent research in functional neuroimaging, with a focus on
social cognition in autism. The research component of the proposal is based
on the hypothesis that autism will be associated with an abnormal pattern
of brain activity while performing the social cognitive tasks with relative
decreases in the amygdala-centered neural circuit which is both necessary
for social cognition and disordered behaviorally and neuropathologically
in autism. The specific aims of the study are: 1.) To identify the functional
neuroanatomy that underlies social cognitive dysfunction in autism by the
use of an implicit interpersonal threat processing task that has been validated
to activate an amygdala network in normal subjects. 2.) To develop additional
behavioral tasks that may be used in conjunction with functional imaging
to further characterize social cognition in autism and other neuropsychiatric
disorders. Investigators will characterize the limitations in social cognition
in relation to performance on a moral reasoning task, designed to differentiate
between personal/high-emotion moral judgment and impersonal/low-emotion
moral judgment. This task activates medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate
cortex, areas of the brain that are also engaged during theory of mind tasks
in normal subjects, and not in autistic subjects, despite similar performance.
The extensive training portion of this proposal consists of clinical neuroscience
and neuropsychology coursework and seminars, as well as hands-on instruction
in behavioral analysis and fMRI imaging techniques.
The multimodal studies
that are outlined in the current proposal, and which contain psychophysiological,
behavioral, and functional neuroimaging information, will permit the investigator
to expand her area of expertise in clinical neuropsychiatry, affective
processing and positron emission tomography to functional magnetic resonance
imaging with specific focus on social disabilities in neurodevelopmental
disorders such as autism. By combining these approaches and data, it is
anticipated that we will begin to examine, in greater depth, social cognitive
dysfunction in autism, as reflected in neural, physiological and behavioral
responses. This line of investigation is likely to improve our understanding
and treatment of autism, a prevalent and chronic public health problem.
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