Project Details
Description
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Executive function is a multifaceted construct that includes higher-order cognitive processes such as response
inhibition, working memory, and goal selection. Executive abilities improve throughout adolescence, and
deficits of executive function, or executive dysfunction, are a transdiagnostic feature of many psychiatric
disorders that emerge during this period of development. Understanding the underlying neurodevelopmental
mechanisms that contribute to executive dysfunction is a critical prerequisite for targeted interventions. Iron
deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world and is a known source of executive dysfunction
during the vulnerable windows of early childhood and adolescence. However, despite its prevalence and
impact, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not fully understood. This proposal focuses on a
potentially critical but under-explored mechanism linking iron deficiency to transdiagnostic executive
dysfunction: brain iron deficiency. Aim 1 will define how brain iron deficiency during adolescence mediates the
effect of peripheral iron deficiency on executive dysfunction. We will first investigate this relationship in a large
community-based sample (n=9,500 with peripheral iron and cognitive assessment, n=1,601 with neuroimaging)
and then replicate and extend the model to a sample that is enriched for individuals with psychiatric disorders.
Aim 2 will use a prospectively collected sample of adolescents with and without a history of iron deficiency in
routine screenings at 9-18monts of age to determine how iron deficiency across childhood and adolescence
impacts brain iron deficiency and executive dysfunction in adolescence. Critically, this aim will inform a multi-hit
model whereby iron deficiency across childhood and adolescence will be associated with greater brain iron
deficiency and thus more severe executive function than having iron deficiency in only one of the two time
periods. Finally, Aim 3 will examine how sex differences in peripheral iron deficiency impact sex differences in
brain iron after the onset of puberty. Together, these aims will identify both the timing of vulnerability and the
neurobiological mechanisms underlying executive dysfunction, thus informing translational models for targeted
treatments and interventions. The support of this K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award will provide the
applicant with the training necessary to achieve these aims, including training in developmental
neuropsychiatry, cognitive assessment, quantitative magnetic resonance imaging, and advanced biostatistics.
These training objectives will be accomplished with the support of an outstanding mentorship team, Drs.
Satterthwaite, Gur, Witschey, Shinohara, Wehrli, and Georgieff, and the world class technical and intellectual
resources of the University of Pennsylvania. Together, the proposed scientific aims and training objectives will
form the foundation for an independent research program aimed at uncovering the neurodevelopmental
mechanisms for executive dysfunction in youth with mental illness.
Status | Active |
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Effective start/end date | 9/1/23 → 8/31/24 |
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health: $249,000.00
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