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Beck D, Ferschmann L, MacSweeney N, Norbom LB, Wiker T, Aksnes E, Karl V, Dégeilh F, Holm M, Mills KL, Andreassen OA, Agartz I, Westlye LT, von Soest T, Tamnes CK. Puberty differentially predicts brain maturation in male and female youth: A longitudinal ABCD Study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 61:101261. [PMID: 37295068 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Research has demonstrated associations between pubertal development and brain maturation. However, existing studies have been limited by small samples, cross-sectional designs, and inconclusive findings regarding directionality of effects and sex differences. We examined the longitudinal temporal coupling of puberty status assessed using the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based grey and white matter brain structure. Our sample consisted of 8896 children and adolescents at baseline (mean age = 9.9) and 6099 at follow-up (mean age = 11.9) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study cohort. Applying multigroup Bivariate Latent Change Score (BLCS) models, we found that baseline PDS predicted the rate of change in cortical thickness among females and rate of change in cortical surface area for both males and females. We also found a correlation between baseline PDS and surface area and co-occurring changes over time in males. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses revealed correlated change between PDS and fractional anisotropy (FA) for both males and females, but no significant associations for mean diffusivity (MD). Our results suggest that pubertal status predicts cortical maturation, and that the strength of the associations differ between sex. Further research spanning the entire duration of puberty is needed to understand the extent and contribution of pubertal development on the youth brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dani Beck
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway.
| | - Lia Ferschmann
- PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Niamh MacSweeney
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Linn B Norbom
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Thea Wiker
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Eira Aksnes
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Valerie Karl
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Fanny Dégeilh
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, Inria, Inserm, IRISA UMR 6074, EMPENN - ERL U 1228, Rennes, France
| | - Madelene Holm
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Kathryn L Mills
- PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Ingrid Agartz
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lars T Westlye
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Tilmann von Soest
- PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Christian K Tamnes
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
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Byrne ML, Vijayakumar N, Chavez SJ, Flournoy JC, Cheng TW, Mills KL, Barendse MEA, Mobasser A, Flannery JE, Nelson BW, Wang W, Shirtcliff EA, Allen NB, Pfeifer JH. Associations between multi-method latent factors of puberty and brain structure in adolescent girls. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101228. [PMID: 36934604 PMCID: PMC10031110 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pubertal processes are associated with structural brain development, but studies have produced inconsistent findings that may relate to different measurements of puberty. Measuring both hormones and physical characteristics is important for capturing variation in neurobiological development. The current study explored associations between cortical thickness and latent factors from multi-method pubertal data in 174 early adolescent girls aged 10-13 years in the Transitions in Adolescent Girls (TAG) Study. Our multi-method approach used self-reported physical characteristics and hormone levels (dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), testosterone (T), and estradiol (E2) from saliva) to estimate an overall pubertal factor and for each process of adrenarche and gonadarche. There were negative associations between the overall puberty factor representing later stage and thickness in the posterior cortex, including the occipital cortices and extending laterally to the parietal lobe. However, the multi-method latent factor had weaker cortical associations when examining the adnearcheal process alone, suggesting physical characteristics and hormones capture different aspects of neurobiological development during adrenarche. Controlling for age weakened some of these associations. These findings show that associations between pubertal stage and cortical thickness differ depending on the measurement method and the pubertal process, and both should be considered in future confirmatory studies on the developing brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle L Byrne
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton VIC, Australia; Department of Psychology, the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
| | - Nandita Vijayakumar
- Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia; Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | | | - John C Flournoy
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Theresa W Cheng
- Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathryn L Mills
- Department of Psychology, the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA; PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Marjolein E A Barendse
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of California Davis, CA, USA
| | - Arian Mobasser
- Department of Psychology, the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | | | | | - Wen Wang
- Department of Psychology, the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | | | - Nicholas B Allen
- Department of Psychology, the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
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Piekarski DJ, Colich NL, Ho TC. The effects of puberty and sex on adolescent white matter development: A systematic review. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101214. [PMID: 36913887 PMCID: PMC10010971 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence, the transition between childhood and adulthood, is characterized by rapid brain development in white matter (WM) that is attributed in part to rising levels in adrenal and gonadal hormones. The extent to which pubertal hormones and related neuroendocrine processes explain sex differences in WM during this period is unclear. In this systematic review, we sought to examine whether there are consistent associations between hormonal changes and morphological and microstructural properties of WM across species and whether these effects are sex-specific. We identified 90 (75 human, 15 non-human) studies that met inclusion criteria for our analyses. While studies in human adolescents show notable heterogeneity, results broadly demonstrate that increases in gonadal hormones across pubertal development are associated with macro- and microstructural changes in WM tracts that are consistent with the sex differences found in non-human animals, particularly in the corpus callosum. We discuss limitations of the current state of the science and recommend important future directions for investigators in the field to consider in order to advance our understanding of the neuroscience of puberty and to promote forward and backward translation across model organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tiffany C Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
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Jarvers I, Kandsperger S, Schleicher D, Ando A, Resch F, Koenig J, Kaess M, Brunner R. The relationship between adolescents' externalizing and internalizing symptoms and brain development over a period of three years. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103195. [PMID: 36137498 PMCID: PMC9668616 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adolescence is a crucial period for both brain maturation and the emergence of mental health disorders. Associations between brain morphology and internalizing/externalizing symptomatology have been identified in clinical or at-risk samples, but age-related developmental differences were rarely considered. The current study investigated the longitudinal relationship between internalizing/externalizing symptoms and brain development in the absence of psychiatric disorders during early and late adolescence. METHODS 98 healthy adolescents within two cohorts (younger: 9 years, older: 12 years) participated in annual assessments for three years; a clinical assessment measuring their externalizing and internalizing symptoms (SDQ) and an MRI assessment measuring their brain volume and white matter microstructure, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and average path length. RESULTS Linear mixed effect models and cross-lagged panel models showed that larger subcortical gray matter volume predicted more externalizing symptoms in older adolescents whereas decreases of subcortical gray matter volume predicted more externalizing symptoms for younger adolescents. Additionally, longer average white matter path length predicted more externalizing symptoms for older adolescents, while decreases in cerebral white matter volume were predictive of more externalizing symptoms for younger adolescents. There were no predictive effects for internalizing symptoms, FA or MD. CONCLUSIONS Delays in subcortical brain maturation, in both early and late adolescence, are associated with increases in externalizing behavior which indicates a higher risk for psychopathology and warrants further investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina Jarvers
- Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany,Corresponding author at: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 84, Regensburg, Bavaria 93053, Germany.
| | - Stephanie Kandsperger
- Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany
| | - Daniel Schleicher
- Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany
| | - Ayaka Ando
- Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Franz Resch
- Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julian Koenig
- University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Cologne, Germany
| | - Michael Kaess
- Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany,University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Romuald Brunner
- Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany
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Thijssen S, Collins PF, Luciana M. Does pubertal stage mediate the association between family environment and structure and function of the amygdala-mPFC circuit? A replication study of the longitudinal ABCD cohort. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 56:101120. [PMID: 35716638 PMCID: PMC9213703 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Psychosocial acceleration theory suggests that early stress accelerates pubertal development. Using half of the baseline Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort, Thijssen et al. (2020) provide support that accelerated puberty following stressful family environments may promote neurodevelopment. Here, we replicate and extend those analyses using 1) data from the second half of the ABCD sample (n = 3300 +, ages 9-10), and 2) longitudinal imaging data from the original sample (n = 1800 +, ages 11-12). A family environment latent variable was created and related to anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) thickness, area, white matter fractional anisotropy, amygdala volume, and cingulo-opercular network (CON)-amygdala resting-state functional connectivity. Results from the independent sample replicate the mediating effects of family environment through pubertal stage on amygdala-CON functional connectivity. Sex-stratified analyses show indirect effects via pubertal stage in girls; boys show evidence for direct associations. Analyses using wave 2 imaging data or wave 2-wave 1 difference scores from the originally-analyzed sample replicate the resting-state indirect effects. The current paper replicates the mediating role for puberty in the association between family environment and neurodevelopment. As both direct and indirect associations were found, puberty may be one of multiple mechanisms driving accelerated neurodevelopment following environmental stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Thijssen
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands,Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands,Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA,Correspondence to: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Postbus 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Paul F. Collins
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Monica Luciana
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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