A recent grant provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA) awarded almost nine million dollars to the University of California San Diego. The brain study, which will use sophisticated gene-mapping tools and imaging technology to collect data about brain development in children, will be looking for the biological bases of differences in human behavior.
“The impact of the study is likely to be very broad,” said Terry Jernigan, Ph.D, project leader and professor at UC San Diego’s Center for Human Development. Jernigan hopes the brain study will accelerate the investigation of genetic risk factors and gene-by-environment interactions that contribute to disorders, such as substance abuse. “It will provide information that could help to enhance education, improve early detection of mental disorders, and identify targets for early interventions that may prevent negative outcomes, such as addiction and mental disorders.”
The brain study, which is called PING (pediatric imaging, neurocognition and genetics), would essentially create a database, or map, depicting the genomic landscape of the developing brain. The study will include 1,400 children between the ages of 3 and 20. The potential outcome of the study will make it possible to search for links between genetic variation and developing patterns of brain connectivity. It will shed light on how genes influence brain development and how it can go awry in certain individuals or following certain environmental events, making early intervention and prevention a more attainable goal.
The grant was awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
