Project Description:
This project is operated as a subcontract from and collaboration with Johns Hopkins University.
The goal of this study is to examine the effect of prenatal and early life air pollution exposure on the developing brain, early cognitive-behavioral traits, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dramatic changes in brain structure and function are well known in early life. The unfolding of autistic behaviors across the first few years of childhood is accompanied by age-specific brain changes that differ between children with ASD and those with typical developmental trajectories. Epidemiologic studies, including our own, suggest that air pollution exposure may increase the risk of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the effect of prenatal and early life air pollution exposure on brain structure and connectivity during early childhood has not been studied, though increasing numbers of epidemiologic studies support the presence of neurodevelopmental effects. In this study we propose to examine the relationship between prenatal and early life air pollution exposure and longitudinal measures of brain structure and connectivity, cognition, behavior and ASD in the NIH-funded, Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) Network Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS). IBIS is a unique network of four clinical sites that enroll infants at high or low familial risk for ASD, allowing for contrast of familial genetic influences. Standardized neuroimaging protocols, along with cognitive, behavior, and ASD assessments, were and are being conducted over regular intervals, creating a rich resource for the study of environmental exposures on the developing brain. We will leverage this valuable resource for the first prospective study of prenatal and early life air pollution effects on very early brain development. Specific aims are: (1) to examine the effect of prenatal and early life air pollution exposure on the development of ASD and dimensional characteristics of autism; (2) to evaluate the effect of prenatal and early life air pollution exposure on the early trajectory of cognitive development and adaptive function; and (3) to explore the effect of prenatal and early life air pollution exposure on early longitudinal brain development. Because air pollutant exposure is common and can be mitigated, the potential public health impact of this study is large. Additionally, identification of a risk factor in very young children provides the opportunity for early intervention where reduction of risk for disordered development is still possible.
