Static and Dynamic Neurocircuitry Associated with Fluctuations in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a prevalent and potentially devastating behavior that associates with severe psychopathology and suicide. Unfortunately, there are critical gaps in our understanding of variability in NSSI urges and behaviors over time. These scientific gaps limit our ability to develop more responsive, innovative, and effective interventions based upon temporally specific knowledge of brain-behavior relations. The proposed study will help disentangle static and dynamic fluctuations associated with longitudinal variabilityin NSSI. Ultimately, this could yield novel insights into NSSI-related biobehavioral mechanisms, which could be targeted clinically. With this proposed training grant, each scientific aim is structured to support the candidate’s development as an independent investigator with expertise in ecological momentary assessment (EMA; behavioral) and neuroimaging (biological) correlates of NSSI behaviors across time. This includes the use of a longitudinal design, allowing the candidate to build skills to understand dynamic change in NSSI as they relate to stable and changing risks for NSSI behaviors and the neural systems foundational to these risks. Specifically, she will determine whether proximal NSSI frequency and urges measured through EMA will covary with resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and regions associated with motor planning over time (Aim 1) and whether brain activation during rumination induction, which involves repetitive negative thinking, remains independent of NSSI changes (Aim 2). This will build her skills to successfully execute longitudinal studies in the future [Training Aim 1 (TA1)]. She will also acquire experience in collecting and analyzing data using EMA (TA2), and integrating EMA with neuroimaging data (TA3). The increasing rates of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, including NSSI, among youths makes this research critically important. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH is home to the Center for Suicide Prevention Research, which includes phenomenal resources and some of the world’s leading experts on youth self-injurious thoughts and behavior, making NCH an exceptional setting for this project. The proposed project will collect clinical, EMA, and MRI data from 50 adolescents ages 14-17 with NSSI. Participants will complete 5 epochs of EMA spaced two months apart (T1-T5), with three of these timepoints also including clinical and MRI data spaced four months apart (T1, T3, and T5). By collecting data at five timepoints, the candidate will be able to leverage naturalistic environmental changes that potentiate NSSI, as measured by EMA, and identify specific neurobiological features that are associated with propensity for NSSI. This project provides the candidate with the opportunity to acquire critical skills that will greatly benefit the field of NSSI while collecting an extraordinarily rich dataset that will support a highly competitive R01 for the candidate.