Jamie Roeske , Xiangyu Long , Meaghan V Perdue , Madison Long , Bryce Geeraert , Mohammad Ghasoub , Keith Owen Yeates , Catherine Lebel
{"title":"Sex differences in maturational timing of amygdala and prefrontal cortex volumes and white matter tract microstructure","authors":"Jamie Roeske , Xiangyu Long , Meaghan V Perdue , Madison Long , Bryce Geeraert , Mohammad Ghasoub , Keith Owen Yeates , Catherine Lebel","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101568","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101568","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The developmental mismatch hypothesis (DMH) proposes that a mismatch in maturational timing of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex (PFC) drives adolescent sensation-seeking behaviour. While some studies provide support for the DMH, few have evaluated sex differences or examined both grey and white matter. Here, we used T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine amygdala and PFC macrostructure and amygdala-PFC white matter microstructure development across 606 MRI sessions from 148 typically developing children and adolescents (76 females) aged 1.95–17.71 years. Using generalized additive mixed effects models, we evaluated the maturational timing of amygdala volume, four PFC subregion volumes, and fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity of the uncinate fasciculus and amygdala-PFC white matter tracts. Amygdala and PFC maturation was consistent with the DMH in males but less so in females. Relative to males, females exhibited less amygdala development and shorter periods of PFC development. In contrast to gray matter volumes, white matter changed continuously from early childhood to late adolescence, but ended earlier in females than in males. Our findings show different amygdala-PFC maturation patterns and that the amygdala-PFC neural system reaches maturity earlier in females than in males. These important differences may underlie sex differences in sensation-seeking behaviour.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101568"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yu Liu , Songjun Peng , Xinran Wu , Zhaowen Liu , Zhengxu Lian , Huaxin Fan , Nanyu Kuang , Xinrui Gu , Senyou Yang , Yechen Hu , Xi Jiang , Yufeng Zhang , Wei Cheng , Jianfeng Feng , Barbara J. Sahakian , Xingming Zhao , Trevor W. Robbins , Benjamin Becker , Jie Zhang
{"title":"Neural, cognitive and psychopathological signatures of a prosocial or delinquent peer environment during early adolescence","authors":"Yu Liu , Songjun Peng , Xinran Wu , Zhaowen Liu , Zhengxu Lian , Huaxin Fan , Nanyu Kuang , Xinrui Gu , Senyou Yang , Yechen Hu , Xi Jiang , Yufeng Zhang , Wei Cheng , Jianfeng Feng , Barbara J. Sahakian , Xingming Zhao , Trevor W. Robbins , Benjamin Becker , Jie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101566","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101566","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adolescence is a critical period for brain development, yet the impact of peer environments on brain structure, cognition, and psychopathology remains poorly understood. Here, we capitalized on data from 7806 adolescents (age = 12.02 ± 0.67) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, to determine associations between two distinct peer environments (proportion of prosocial or delinquent friends) and the structural and functional architecture of the brain, cognition, as well as behavioral and emotional dysregulation. A higher proportion of prosocial friends was associated with fewer behavioral problems and larger fronto-cingulate and striatal regions. In contrast, a higher proportion of delinquent friends was linked to increased behavioral problems, lower neurocognitive performance, and decreased functional connectivity in the default-mode and fronto-striato-limbic circuits, which spatially overlapped with external dopamine density maps. Moreover, the associations between prosocial friends and behaviors were mediated by brain volumes (e.g., pallidum), while the associations between delinquent friends and behaviors were primarily mediated by fronto-striato-limbic connectivity. Prosocial friends also attenuated the development of internalizing problems, whereas delinquent friends promoted externalizing symptoms. These findings underscore the profound influence of peer environments on adolescent brain development and mental health, highlighting the need for early interventions to promote resilience and healthy neuro-maturation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101566"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Caitlin Aloisio , Lindsay Taraban , Kathleen Mowatt , Hendrik Santosa , Theodore J. Huppert , Jennifer S. Silk , Koraly Pérez-Edgar , Judith K. Morgan
{"title":"Behaviorally inhibited preschoolers experience stronger connectivity among social-related neural regions while interacting with a stranger","authors":"Caitlin Aloisio , Lindsay Taraban , Kathleen Mowatt , Hendrik Santosa , Theodore J. Huppert , Jennifer S. Silk , Koraly Pérez-Edgar , Judith K. Morgan","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Social behavioral inhibition (BI), or wariness in response to unfamiliar social stimuli, is a temperament trait that, when present in preschool-age children, predicts neural alterations and anxiety disorders by adolescence. The current study assessed neural functioning associated with BI during the preschool years. Our sample was enriched for BI based on mother report and included 59 preschool-age children (54 % female, <em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 3.7 years). Children interacted with an unfamiliar experimenter via the Stranger Approach paradigm from the preschool version of Lab-TAB, and neural data were collected simultaneously to measure neural response to an unfamiliar social encounter. Children who exhibited more social BI-related behaviors experienced stronger functional connectivity between multiple social-related neural regions, including the temporoparietal junction, superior temporal gyrus, and medial and lateral prefrontal cortex while interacting with a stranger. Additionally, children who experienced stronger connectivity between the right and left temporoparietal junction had greater mother-reported anxiety symptoms one year later. Our results suggest that observable social BI during early childhood is associated with distinct neural patterns, which may elucidate biomarkers that underlie risk for later anxiety.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101565"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143931437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neurocognitive risks of asthma during childhood","authors":"Nicholas J. Christopher-Hayes , Simona Ghetti","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of chronic medical conditions on the developing brain has gained recent attention, but the neurocognitive risks associated with asthma, which has high prevalence in childhood, are still largely unknown. Recent findings have underscored that children with asthma may be at higher risk for developing cognitive difficulties. In this review, we examine the pathophysiology of asthma and its associations with brain and cognitive development based on rodent models and relatively scant research in humans. We also examine risk factors that may exacerbate asthma symptoms and neurocognitive outcomes, and we discuss why children may be particularly vulnerable to asthma-related neurocognitive consequences. We conclude by providing a framework for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101564"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lena M. Gaudette , Allison M. Swift , Melissa N. Horger , Jennifer F. Holmes , Rebecca M.C. Spencer
{"title":"Pediatric sleep electrophysiology: Using polysomnography in developmental cognitive neuroscience","authors":"Lena M. Gaudette , Allison M. Swift , Melissa N. Horger , Jennifer F. Holmes , Rebecca M.C. Spencer","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101562","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101562","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research suggests a bidirectional relationship between brain and cognitive development and sleep in early childhood. Polysomnography is essential for the investigation of the mechanisms underlying sleep’s role in brain and cognitive development. This paper outlines methods for integrating measures of sleep and sleep physiology into cognitive developmental neuroscience research. There are various options when choosing a polysomnography system depending on the research question. We offer considerations such as application time, recording time, montage density and analysis options, and cost. We also review suggestions for modifying procedures with developmental populations to support high quality polysomnography data collection. We hope that this overview will facilitate more developmental cognitive neuroscience studies of sleep to advance our understanding of early brain and cognitive development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101562"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143902343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Madison Politte-Corn , Sarah Myruski , Bridget Cahill , Koraly Pérez-Edgar , Kristin A. Buss
{"title":"Disentangling the role of different resting-state neural markers of adolescent behavioral inhibition and social anxiety","authors":"Madison Politte-Corn , Sarah Myruski , Bridget Cahill , Koraly Pérez-Edgar , Kristin A. Buss","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One of the most reliable predictors of adolescent social anxiety is the temperamental profile of behavioral inhibition (BI), but there is considerable heterogeneity in this association. Resting-state EEG-based neural markers, namely frontal alpha asymmetry and delta-beta coupling (DBC), hold promise for improving our understanding of the relation between BI and social anxiety symptoms during adolescence. The current study aimed to (1) clarify the relation between these neural markers, BI, and social anxiety and (2) examine the moderating role, individually, of frontal alpha asymmetry and DBC on the BI-social anxiety link. Participants were 97 adolescents (<em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 14.29 years, <em>SD</em><sub>age</sub> = .98; 84.4 % White, 3.1 % Black, 12.5 % multiracial; 54.6 % female) and their parents. Parents reported on adolescent BI and adolescents self-reported social anxiety symptoms. Additionally, adolescents provided EEG data across a 6-minute resting task, from which measures of frontal alpha asymmetry and DBC were derived. Results indicated that stronger DBC was directly associated with higher social anxiety symptoms, but not BI, and did not moderate the association between BI and social anxiety. In contrast, frontal alpha asymmetry was not directly associated with either BI or social anxiety but interacted with BI to predict avoidance and distress to social situations, such that greater relative right activation predicted a stronger BI-social anxiety link. However, this effect did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Findings suggest that high DBC may mark a general vulnerability for social anxiety symptoms, whereas frontal alpha asymmetry may potentiate the risk for social anxiety symptoms specifically among BI youth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101560"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143883217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Martina Villa , Nabin Koirala , Meaghan V. Perdue , Lee Branum-Martin , Nicole Landi
{"title":"How does SES influence the brain circuitry for literacy? Modeling the association between SES, oral language, white matter integrity, and reading","authors":"Martina Villa , Nabin Koirala , Meaghan V. Perdue , Lee Branum-Martin , Nicole Landi","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reading is pivotal for educational and occupational success, hence, understanding the factors contributing to reading skill variation is a major educational objective. Although cognitive and neurobiological factors that influence reading are well documented, the contributions of environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES), fiv to reading-related neurobiology are relatively understudied. Studies have shown that SES predicts reading and the integrity of reading-related white matter tracts; however, the direct and indirect contributions of SES to reading via white matter integrity remain undifferentiated. Further, while oral language (both phonological awareness [PA] and vocabulary) has been positively associated with both SES and reading, only a few studies have attempted to model the SES-reading association via oral language, and none of them included white matter integrity. The current study closes these gaps by using Structural Equation Modeling in a large sample of children from the Healthy Brain Network biobank, testing the (in)direct paths by which SES (parental education) influences reading through oral language and white matter integrity. Results reveal an effect of SES on reading that is indirectly affected by oral language, though not by white matter integrity. These findings reinforce the role of oral language skills as a key pathway linking SES and reading.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101561"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143902312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anne-Wil Kramer , Lydia Krabbendam , Jessica V. Schaaf , Hilde M. Huizenga , Anna C.K. Van Duijvenvoorde
{"title":"Make it worth it: Effort-reward modulations on reinforcement-learning and prediction-error signaling across adolescence","authors":"Anne-Wil Kramer , Lydia Krabbendam , Jessica V. Schaaf , Hilde M. Huizenga , Anna C.K. Van Duijvenvoorde","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101559","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101559","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adolescence is characterized by significant shifts in effort allocation. A well-known neuro-economic framework suggests that rewards help overcome potential effort costs. However, few studies have examined the neurobiological mechanisms by which rewards and associated effort costs drive adolescent learning. This study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of adolescents (<em>N</em> = 146, 13–25 years) and employed a reinforcement-learning paradigm that manipulated effort and reward levels, by varying task demands and varying potential rewards. The analysis of trial-by-trial learning signals (reward prediction errors) and behavioral learning performance demonstrated that greater reward levels enhanced adolescent learning, especially when faced with greater effort demands. Moreover, this effect was more pronounced in those experiencing greater effort demands: younger adolescents and adolescents who place less value on effort for demanding tasks. Neuroimaging results revealed that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) was a key region in signaling the interaction between reward and effort demands. That is, greater reward strengthened prediction error coding in the dACC, particularly under conditions of greater task demands, with these effects being more pronounced in younger adolescents and adolescents who place less value on effort for demanding tasks. These findings support a role for dACC in the engagement of cognitive control, especially in situations where more cognitive control would be beneficial despite its associated effort costs, such as in high-demanding learning situations. This comprehensive approach aims to inform strategies for supporting effort allocation in learning during this crucial developmental period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101559"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143883218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Juliette L.Y. Champaud , Samanta Asite , Lorenzo Fabrizi
{"title":"Development of brain metastable dynamics during the equivalent of the third gestational trimester","authors":"Juliette L.Y. Champaud , Samanta Asite , Lorenzo Fabrizi","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101556","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metastability, a concept from dynamical systems theory, provides a framework for understanding how the brain shifts between various functional states and underpins essential cognitive, behavioural, and social function. While studied in adults, metastability in early brain development has only received recent attention. As the brain undergoes dramatic functional and structural changes over the third gestational trimester, here we review how these are reflected in changes in brain metastable dynamics in preterm, preterm at term-equivalent and full-term neonates.</div><div>We synthesize findings from EEG, fMRI, fUS, and computational models, focusing on the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of metastable states, which include functional integration and segregation, signal predictability and complexity. Despite fragmented evidence, studies suggest that neonatal metastability develops over the equivalent of the third gestational trimester, with increasing ability for integration-segregation, broader range of metastable states, faster metastable state transitions and greater signal complexity. Preterms at term-equivalent age exhibit immature metastability features compared to full-terms. We explain and interpret these changes in terms of maturation of the brain in a free energy landscape and establishment of cognitive functions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101556"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abigail Fiske , Alicia Mortimer , Liam Collins-Jones , Carina C J M de Klerk , Sylvia Ulieta Gattas , Henrik Dvergsdal , Gaia Scerif , Karla Holmboe
{"title":"Inhibitory control development from infancy to early childhood: A longitudinal fNIRS study","authors":"Abigail Fiske , Alicia Mortimer , Liam Collins-Jones , Carina C J M de Klerk , Sylvia Ulieta Gattas , Henrik Dvergsdal , Gaia Scerif , Karla Holmboe","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101557","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The developmental period from infancy to early childhood is one of substantial change – in advancements in cognitive skills, such as early executive functions, but also in the maturation of the prefrontal and parietal cortices that parallel such advances. The current study aims to investigate the emergence and development of inhibitory control, a core executive function, from infancy to early childhood. We collected longitudinal functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data from the same sample of participants at 10-months, 16-months, and 3½ years of age whilst they completed the <em>Early Childhood Inhibitory Touchscreen Task</em>. In our previous publications, we reported that 10-month-old infants recruited right lateralised regions of the prefrontal and parietal cortex when inhibition was required. Despite no change in response inhibition performance, 16-month-olds recruited broader and bilateral regions of the prefrontal and parietal cortex. Results of the current study found that 3½-year-olds activated regions of the right inferior parietal cortex and the right inferior frontal gyrus when inhibition was required. Response inhibition performance was significantly improved by early childhood, yet there was commonality in the brain regions recruited at 16-months and 3½ years. This could suggest that these brain regions are fundamental neural indices of inhibitory control, even from toddlerhood.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101557"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143734558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}