Effects of Early Adversity on Autonomic and Neural Mechanisms Underlying Self-Regulation

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Early developmental exposure to chronic stressors associated with poverty leads to profound disparities in multiple social and health outcomes that persist into adulthood. One specific aspect of brain function that is important for success in school and success in adulthood is self-regulation, which is traditionally studied from a strictly cognitive perspective. However, to meet the demands of different stressful or non-stressful situations, in a healthy system the brain and heart must interact to appropriately prepare the body and brain to respond. Very little is known about how this dynamic interaction between the heart and brain is associated with self-regulation in children and adults or how chronic stress associated with early adversity affects this interaction. This project will significantly improve our understanding of these relationships, which has the potential to contribute to the achievement of a broad range of societally-relevant outcomes for national health and prosperity. Results from this project will provide a critical link between the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience and pediatrics, behavioral medicine, health psychology, and intervention science. This research may also identify potential protective factors to the adverse effects of chronic stress on cognition, which would provide neurobiological targets to inform the development and refinement of interventions. Evidence-based interventions have the potential to improve health outcomes, with numerous and substantial economic benefits, including but not limited to reductions in health care costs, expansions in labor supply, and greater productivity. Work by economists has shown that effective early interventions have substantial positive economic impact, with conservative analyses estimating a return on investment of approximately 7 to 1. Interventions targeting self-regulation also promise to improve individual academic outcomes and quality of life for children from backgrounds of adversity. Greater academic opportunity for underrepresented populations can also increase the diversity and the competitiveness of the domestic workforce, both of which are crucial to the development of a more globally competitive workforce in the 21st century. The objective of this project is to determine how the dynamic interaction between the heart and brain is associated with attention and self-regulation in childhood and in adulthood, and to identify which aspects of this interaction are the most vulnerable to early adversity and stress. These vulnerable systems are likely to respond positively to early-childhood interventions. The central hypothesis is that two branches of the autonomic nervous systems, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS), interact with behavior and brain systems involved in attention and self-regulation in young children and adults, and that these functions will influence the relationship between early adversity and attention/self-regulation. We will test this hypothesis with three specific aims: Aim 1. To determine the relative contributions of PNS and SNS mechanisms to behavior and brain function for attention and self-regulation in young children and adults; Aim 2. To determine the extent to which autonomic nervous system functions interact with the brain response to feedback and errors in self-regulation on a trial-by-trial basis; and Aim 3. To develop and refine models of the role of PNS and SNS functions in the relationship between early adversity and behavior and brain function for cognition. We will measure PNS and SNS function at the same time as brain measures of attention and self-regulation using electrophysiology in children and adults from a wide range of socioeconomic status backgrounds. This will contribute to understanding how early adversity impacts brain systems underlying the control of attention and behavior.