The Dallas Asthma Brain and Cognition (ABC) Study

This study will implement a cross-sectional design, conducted across two sessions. The first session will capture cognitive performance, health history, and relevant social, behavioral, and emotional processes. The second session approximately one week later will capture neural structure, function, and chemistry. In the first session, participants will undergo screening for psychological disorders, neuropsychological testing and pulmonary function assessment at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) or UT Southwestern site. They will then participate in a second session at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and brain metabolic activity with spectroscopy. Blood draws and additional pre- and post-neuroimaging spirometry will also be performed at the second session. Potential participants identified by brief phone screen will be invited for two assessment sessions 1 week apart. At the first session, they will be consented, interviewed about their asthma and/or general health status, and pulmonary function tests will be performed. They will then fill in questionnaires and will be screened for psychological disorders by standardized psychiatric interview. After that, they will complete the neuropsychological test battery. The second session will entail spirometry (to ascertain adequate lung function for imaging), the 1 ½ hour neuroimaging protocol, saliva samples, and blood sampling. Spirometry will be repeated at the end of the imaging session. We will also offer patients a brief optional session before the imaging session to get acquainted to the scanning environment in a mock scanner.