Contextualizing adolescent structural brain development: Environmental determinants and mental health outcomes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss associations between selected aspects of an individual's physical and social environment and adolescent brain structural development and possible links to mental health, and also touch on methodological considerations for future research.
Abstract: The spatiotemporal group-level patterns of brain macrostructural development are relatively well-documented. Current research emphasizes individual variability in brain development, including its causes and consequences. Although genetic factors and prenatal and perinatal events play critical roles, calls are now made to also study brain development in transactional interplay with the different aspects of an individual's physical and social environment. Such focus is highly relevant for research on adolescence, a period involving a multitude of contextual changes paralleled by continued refinement of complex cognitive and affective neural systems. Here, we discuss associations between selected aspects of an individual's physical and social environment and adolescent brain structural development and possible links to mental health. We also touch on methodological considerations for future research.
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TL;DR: In this paper , a four-parameter logistic nonlinear random effects mixed model was used to quantify the characteristic, s-shaped, trajectory of cortical thinning in adolescence, which corresponds to the age at which the cortex shows most rapid thinning.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the impact of workplace environment on employee task performance under the mediating role of employee commitment and achievement-striving ability was examined, and the results indicated that a positive work environment had the power to improve employee performance.
Abstract: This study examined the impact of workplace environment on employee task performance under the mediating role of employee commitment and achievement-striving ability. For this purpose, data were collected from the academic staff under a cross-sectional research design, and they were approached through convenience sampling technique. As per recommendations of established sample size criteria, we distributed a sum of 420 questionnaires among the respondents. Among these distributed questionnaires, only 330 were received back. The returned questionnaires were checked for missing and incomplete responses and after discarding the missing responses useable responses were 314 which were used for the data analysis. Data had been analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) by using Smart PLS 3. The SEM was done based on measurement models and structural models. The results indicated that a positive work environment had the power to improve employee performance. Similarly, a positive work environment also improved the employee commitment level and achievement-striving ability significantly. Both employee commitment and achievement-striving ability also improved employee performance. While in the case of mediation, it had also been observed that workplace environment triggered employee commitment and employee achievement-striving ability which further improved employee performance.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article , a large longitudinal dataset of children aged 9-13 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study was used to assess brain maturation using brain age prediction based on convolutional neural networks and minimally processed T1-weighted structural MRI data.
6 citations
16 May 2022
TL;DR: In this article , a deep learning approach based on convolutional neural networks and minimally processed T1-weighted structural MRI data was used to predict brain ages of children aged 9-12.
Abstract: Abstract The temporal characteristics of brain maturation could potentially represent a mediating effect between pubertal development and life outcomes. Using a large longitudinal dataset of children aged 9-12 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study we tested the associations between pubertal status and brain maturation. Brain maturation was assessed using brain age prediction with a deep learning approach based on convolutional neural networks and minimally processed T1-weighted structural MRI data. Brain age prediction provided highly accurate and reliable estimates of individual age, with an overall mean absolute error of 0.7 and 1.4 years at the two timepoints respectively, and an intraclass correlation of 0.65. Linear mixed effects (LME) models accounting for age and sex showed that on average, advancing pubertal development by one pubertal stage was associated with a 2.4 months higher brain age across time points (β= 0.10, p<.001). Further, significant interactions with time demonstrated that higher rates of pubertal development were associated with larger positive changes in brain age over time (p<.001). These results demonstrate a link between sexual development and brain maturation in early adolescence, and provides a basis for further investigations of the complex sociobiological impacts of puberty on the adolescent brain and mind.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors discuss the complex relationship that continues to exist between academic institutions and underserved surrounding communities, acknowledging the areas in which neuroscience research has historically harmed and/or excluded structurally disadvantaged communities.
Abstract: Socioeconomic circumstances are associated with symptoms and diagnostic status of nearly all mental health conditions. Given these robust relationships, neuroscientists have attempted to elucidate how socioeconomic-based adversity “gets under the skin.” Historically, this work emphasized individual proxies of socioeconomic position (e.g., income, education), ignoring the effects of broader socioeconomic contexts (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage) which may uniquely contribute to chronic stress. This omission represented a disconnect between neuroscience and other allied fields that have recognized health is undeniably linked to interactions between systems of power and individual characteristics. More recently, neuroscience work has considered how sociopolitical context affects brain structure and function; however, the products of this exciting line of research have lacked critical sociological and historical perspectives. While empirical evidence on this topic is burgeoning, the cultural, ethical, societal, and legal implications of this work have been elusive. Although the mechanisms by which socioeconomic circumstances impact brain structure and function may be similar across people, not everyone is exposed to these factors at similar rates. Individuals from ethnoracially minoritized groups are disproportionally exposed to neighborhood disadvantage. Thus, socioeconomic inequities examined in neuroscience research are undergirding with other forms of oppression, namely structural racism. We utilize a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to interpret findings from neuroscience research and interweave relevant theories from the fields of public health, social sciences, and Black feminist thought. In this perspective piece, we discuss the complex relationship that continues to exist between academic institutions and underserved surrounding communities, acknowledging the areas in which neuroscience research has historically harmed and/or excluded structurally disadvantaged communities. We conclude by envisioning how this work can be used; not just to inform policymakers, but also to engage and partner with communities and shape the future direction of human neuroscience research.
3 citations
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TL;DR: The peak age of onset for many psychiatric disorders is adolescence, a time of remarkable physical and behavioural changes and answers to these questions might enable the understanding of mental health during adolescence.
Abstract: The peak age of onset for many psychiatric disorders is adolescence, a time of remarkable physical and behavioural changes. The processes in the brain that underlie these behavioural changes have been the subject of recent investigations. What do we know about the maturation of the human brain during adolescence? Do structural changes in the cerebral cortex reflect synaptic pruning? Are increases in white-matter volume driven by myelination? Is the adolescent brain more or less sensitive to reward? Finding answers to these questions might enable us to further our understanding of mental health during adolescence.
2,436 citations
TL;DR: The pattern of brain maturation during these years was distinct from earlier development, and was localized to large regions of dorsal, medial and orbital frontal cortex and lenticular nuclei, with relatively little change in any other location.
Abstract: We spatially and temporally mapped brain maturation between adolescence and young adulthood using a whole-brain, voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis of high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images (MRI). The pattern of brain maturation during these years was distinct from earlier development, and was localized to large regions of dorsal, medial and orbital frontal cortex and lenticular nuclei, with relatively little change in any other location. This spatial and temporal pattern agrees with convergent findings from post-mortem studies of brain development and the continued development over this age range of cognitive functions attributed to frontal structures.
1,363 citations
TL;DR: A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is suggested to interpret the evolution of developmental science in similar terms to those necessary to explain the development of individual children.
Abstract: The understanding of nature and nurture within developmental science has evolved with alternating ascendance of one or the other as primary explanations for individual differences in life course trajectories of success or failure. A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is suggested to interpret the evolution of developmental science in similar terms to those necessary to explain the development of individual children. A unified theory of development is proposed to integrate personal change, context, regulation, and representational models of development.
1,063 citations
TL;DR: Findings highlight gender-specific maturational changes of the developing brain and the need for large gender-matched samples in pediatric neuropsychiatric studies.
Abstract: Brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 104 healthy children and adolescents, aged 4-18, showed significant effects of age and gender on brain morphometry! Males had larger cerebral (9%) and cerebellar (8%) volumes (P = 0.01 and 0.0001, respectively). In contrast, the cerebral hemispheres and caudate showed a highly consistent rightgreater-than-left asymmetry [P < 00001 for both). All volumes demonstrated a high degree of variability. These findings highlight gender-specific maturational changes of the developing brain and the need for large gender-matched samples in pediatric neuropsychiatric studies.
996 citations
TL;DR: A relationship between development of brain physiology and developmental changes in social behavior and dysregulation of the social information processing network in this critical period may contribute to the onset of mood and anxiety disorders during adolescence.
Abstract: Background. Many changes in social behavior take place during adolescence. Sexuality and romantic interests emerge during this time, and adolescents spend more time with peers and less time with parents and family. While such changes in social behavior have been well documented in the literature, relatively few neurophysiological explanations for these behavioral changes have been presented.Method. In this article we selectively review studies documenting (a) the neuronal circuits that are dedicated to the processing of social information; (b) the changes in social behavior that take place during adolescence; (c) developmental alterations in the adolescent brain; and (d) links between the emergence of mood and anxiety disorders in adolescence and changes in brain physiology occurring at that time.Results. The convergence of evidence from this review indicates a relationship between development of brain physiology and developmental changes in social behavior. Specifically, the surge of gonadal steroids at puberty induces changes within the limbic system that alters the emotional attributions applied to social stimuli while the gradual maturation of the prefrontal cortex enables increasingly complex and controlled responses to social information.Conclusions. Observed alterations in adolescent social behavior reflect developmental changes in the brain social information processing network. We further speculate that dysregulation of the social information processing network in this critical period may contribute to the onset of mood and anxiety disorders during adolescence.
894 citations