The role of the visual association cortex in scaffolding prefrontal cortex development: A novel mechanism linking socioeconomic status and executive function

Population-level normative models reveal race- and socioeconomic-related variability in cortical thickness of threat neurocircuitry

The inequitable distribution of economic resources and exposure to adversity between racial groups contributes to mental health disparities within the United States. Consideration of the potential neurodevelopmental consequences, however, has been limited particularly for neurocircuitry known to regulate the emotional response to threat. Characterizing the consequences of inequity on threat neurocircuitry is critical for robust and generalizable neurobiological models of psychiatric illness. Here we use data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study 4.0 release to investigate the contributions of individual and neighborhood-level economic resources and exposure to discrimination. We investigate the potential appearance of race-related differences using both standard methods and through population-level normative modeling. We show that, in a sample of white and Black adolescents, racial inequities in socioeconomic factors largely contribute to the appearance of race-related differences in cortical thickness of threat neurocircuitry. The race-related differences are preserved through the use of population-level models and such models also preserve associations between cortical thickness and specific socioeconomic factors. The present findings highlight that such socioeconomic inequities largely underlie race-related differences in brain morphology. The present findings provide important new insight for the generation of generalizable neurobiological models of psychiatric illness.

Cognitive aging and the life course: A new look at the Scaffolding theory

Our understanding of human neurocognitive aging, its developmental roots, and life course influences has been transformed by brain imaging technologies, increasing availability of longitudinal data sets, and analytic advances. The Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition is a life course model, proposed originally in 2009, featuring adaptivity and compensatory potential as lifelong mechanisms for meeting neurocognitive challenges posed by the environment and by developing or declining brain circuitry. Here, we review the scaffolding theory in relation to new evidence addressing when during the life course potentially enriching and depleting factors exert their effects on brain health and scaffolding, and we consider the implications for separable, and potentially reciprocal, influences on the level of cognitive function and the rate of decline in later life.

Controlling the input: How one-year-old infants sustain visual attention

Traditionally, the exogenous control of gaze by external saliencies and the endogenous control of gaze by knowledge and context have been viewed as competing systems, with late infancy seen as a period of strengthening top-down control over the vagaries of the input. Here we found that one-year-old infants control sustained attention through head movements that increase the visibility of the attended object. Freely moving one-year-old infants (n = 45) wore head-mounted eye trackers and head motion sensors while exploring sets of toys of the same physical size. The visual size of the objects, a well-documented salience, varied naturally with the infant's moment-to-moment posture and head movements. Sustained attention to an object was characterized by the tight control of head movements that created and then stabilized a visual size advantage for the attended object for sustained attention. The findings show collaboration between exogenous and endogenous attentional systems and suggest new hypotheses about the development of sustained visual attention.

Cognitive stimulation as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status and neural function supporting working memory: a longitudinal fMRI study

Childhood experiences of low socioeconomic status are associated with alterations in neural function in the frontoparietal network and ventral visual stream, which may drive differences in working memory. However, the specific features of low socioeconomic status environments that contribute to these disparities remain poorly understood. Here, we examined experiences of cognitive deprivation (i.e. decreased variety and complexity of experience), as opposed to experiences of threat (i.e. violence exposure), as a potential mechanism through which family income contributes to alterations in neural activation during working memory. As part of a longitudinal study, 148 youth between aged 10 and 13 years completed a visuospatial working memory fMRI task. Early childhood low income, chronicity of low income in early childhood, and current income-to-needs were associated with task-related activation in the ventral visual stream and frontoparietal network. The association of family income with decreased activation in the lateral occipital cortex and intraparietal sulcus during working memory was mediated by experiences of cognitive deprivation. Surprisingly, however, family income and deprivation were not significantly related to working memory performance, and only deprivation was associated with academic achievement in this sample. Taken together, these findings suggest that early life low income and associated cognitive deprivation are important factors in neural function supporting working memory.

Cognitive and Emotional Well-Being of Preschool Children Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Importance

The association between COVID-19 social disruption and young children's development is largely unknown.

Objective

To examine associations of pandemic exposure with neurocognitive and socioemotional development at 24 and 54 months of age.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional study evaluated associations between pandemic exposure vs nonexposure and developmental outcomes with covariate adjustment using data from the Ontario Birth Study collected between February 2018 and June 2022. Eligible participants were children aged 24 and 54 months. Data were analyzed from June to November 2022.

Exposure

COVID-19 pandemic exposure defined as assessment after March 11, 2020.

Main Outcome and Measures

Neurodevelopmental assessment using the ASQ-3 (Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition) and MCHAT-R (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised) at 24 months of age, and neurocognitive and socioemotional assessment using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox at 54 months of age.

Results

A total of 718 children at age 24 months (mean [SD] age, 25.6 [1.7] months; 342 female [47.6%]; 461 White [64.2%]) and 703 at age 54 months (mean [SD] age, 55.4 [2.6] months; 331 female [47.1%]; 487 White [69.3%]) were included. At 24 months of age, 460 participants (232 female [50.4%]) were assessed during the pandemic (March 17, 2020, to May 17, 2022) and 258 (110 female [42.6%]) were assessed prepandemic (April 17, 2018, to March 10, 2020). At 54 months of age, 286 participants (129 female [45.1%]) were assessed from March 14, 2020, to June 6, 2022, and 417 (202 female [48.4%]) were assessed from February 8, 2018, to March 10, 2020. At 24 months of age, pandemic-exposed children had reduced risk of problem-solving difficulties using cutoff scores (odds ratio [OR], 0.33; 95% CI, 0.18-0.62; P = .005) and higher problem-solving (B, 3.93; 95% CI, 2.48 to 5.38; P < .001) compared with nonexposed children. In contrast, pandemic-exposed children had greater risk for personal-social difficulties using cutoff scores (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.09-2.56; P = .02) and continuous scores (B, -1.70; 95% CI, -3.21 to -0.20; P = .02) compared with nonexposed children. At 54 months of age, pandemic-exposed children had higher receptive vocabulary (B, 3.16; 95% CI, 0.13 to 6.19; P = .04), visual memory (B, 5.95; 95% CI, 1.11 to 10.79; P = .02), and overall cognitive performance (B, 3.89; 95% CI, 0.73 to 7.04; P = .02) compared with nonexposed children, with no differences in socioemotional development.

Conclusions and Relevance

This cross-sectional study found both positive and negative associations between pandemic exposure and preschool children's cognitive and emotional well-being within a relatively socioeconomically advantaged sample.

Multilayer network associations between the exposome and childhood brain development

Growing up in a high poverty neighborhood is associated with elevated risk for academic challenges and health problems. Here, we take a data-driven approach to exploring how measures of children's environments relate to the development of their brain structure and function in a community sample of children between the ages of 4 and 10 years. We constructed exposomes including measures of family socioeconomic status, children's exposure to adversity, and geocoded measures of neighborhood socioeconomic status, crime, and environmental toxins. We connected the exposome to two structural measures (cortical thickness and surface area, n = 170) and two functional measures (participation coefficient and clustering coefficient, n = 130). We found dense connections within exposome and brain layers and sparse connections between exposome and brain layers. Lower family income was associated with thinner visual cortex, consistent with the theory that accelerated development is detectable in early-developing regions. Greater neighborhood incidence of high blood lead levels was associated with greater segregation of the default mode network, consistent with evidence that toxins are deposited into the brain along the midline. Our study demonstrates the utility of multilayer network analysis to bridge environmental and neural explanatory levels to better understand the complexity of child development.

Sensitivity of cognitive function tests to acute hypoxia in healthy subjects: a systematic literature review

Acute exposure to hypoxia can lead to cognitive impairment. Therefore, hypoxia may become a safety concern for occupational or recreational settings at altitude. Cognitive tests are used as a tool to assess the degree to which hypoxia affects cognitive performance. However, so many different cognitive tests are used that comparing studies is challenging. This structured literature evaluation provides an overview of the different cognitive tests used to assess the effects of acute hypoxia on cognitive performance in healthy volunteers. Less frequently used similar cognitive tests were clustered and classified into domains. Subsequently, the different cognitive test clusters were compared for sensitivity to different levels of oxygen saturation. A total of 38 articles complied with the selection criteria, covering 86 different cognitive tests. The tests and clusters showed that the most consistent effects of acute hypoxia were found with the Stroop test (where 42% of studies demonstrated significant abnormalities). The most sensitive clusters were auditory/verbal memory: delayed recognition (83%); evoked potentials (60%); visual/spatial delayed recognition (50%); and sustained attention (47%). Attention tasks were not particularly sensitive to acute hypoxia (impairments in 0%-47% of studies). A significant hypoxia level-response relationship was found for the Stroop test (p = 0.001), as well as three clusters in the executive domain: inhibition (p = 0.034), reasoning/association (p = 0.019), and working memory (p = 0.024). This relationship shows a higher test sensitivity at more severe levels of hypoxia, predominantly below 80% saturation. No significant influence of barometric pressure could be identified in the limited number of studies where this was varied. This review suggests that complex and executive functions are particularly sensitive to hypoxia. Moreover, this literature evaluation provides the first step towards standardization of cognitive testing, which is crucial for a better understanding of the effects of acute hypoxia on cognition.

Sensory processing challenges as a novel link between early caregiving experiences and mental health

Early caregiving adversity (ECA) is associated with elevated psychological symptomatology. While neurobehavioral ECA research has focused on socioemotional and cognitive development, ECA may also increase risk for "low-level" sensory processing challenges. However, no prior work has compared how diverse ECA exposures differentially relate to sensory processing, or, critically, how this might influence psychological outcomes. We examined sensory processing challenges in 183 8-17-year-old youth with and without histories of institutional (orphanage) or foster caregiving, with a particular focus on sensory over-responsivity (SOR), a pattern of intensified responses to sensory stimuli that may negatively impact mental health. We further tested whether sensory processing challenges are linked to elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms common in ECA-exposed youth. Relative to nonadopted comparison youth, both groups of ECA-exposed youth had elevated sensory processing challenges, including SOR, and also had heightened internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, we found significant indirect effects of ECA on internalizing and externalizing symptoms through both general sensory processing challenges and SOR, covarying for age and sex assigned at birth. These findings suggest multiple forms of ECA confer risk for sensory processing challenges that may contribute to mental health outcomes, and motivate continuing examination of these symptoms, with possible long-term implications for screening and treatment following ECA.

Parental cognitive stimulation in preterm-born children's neurocognitive functioning during the preschool years: a systematic review

In the United States, survival rates for preterm neonates (<37 weeks of gestation) have tripled in recent years. In parallel, preterm-born children show poorer performance in neurocognitive functioning compared to their full-term peers (≥39 weeks of gestation), and biological models predicting preterm-born children's neurocognitive performance have been met with limited success, highlighting a need to focus on environmental factors. Thus, this systematic review examines the literature on parental cognitive stimulation in relation to preterm-born children's neurocognitive outcomes. Studies were considered for inclusion if they included a sample of preterm-born children, included a measure of parental cognitive stimulation, and included a measure of child neurocognitive performance. The databases searched were PubMed, PsychINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest, and Scopus. Eight studies were included (44 unique associations). Findings suggest that preterm-born children's language skills might be open to a wide range of qualitative and quantitative features of parental cognitive stimulation. Our findings suggest that parental cognitive stimulation matters for preterm-born children's neurocognitive performance. Future experiential models should examine the mechanistic roles of cognitive stimulation in relation to narrowed neurocognitive outcomes to better inform possible prevention and intervention efforts. IMPACT: This systematic review examines the literature on parental cognitive stimulation in relation to preterm-born children's neurocognitive outcomes. Our review demonstrates that preterm-born children's language skills might be open to a wide range of qualitative and quantitative features of parental cognitive stimulation. The emphasis on environmental factors might ultimately better inform possible prevention and intervention efforts for children at risk as they transition to formal schooling.

Association between adolescents' socioeconomic status and working memory updating functioning: Role of parental educational involvement

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is positively associated with executive functioning. This study tested whether parental educational involvement mediates this association. Two hundred and sixty, 12-15-year-old adolescents completed working memory updating (WMU) and general intelligence tasks, and questionnaires on SES and parental educational involvement. SES and WMU ability were positively associated; there was no difference between the fathers and mothers for three types of educational involvement. The mothers' behavioural involvement positively mediated the SES-WM updating association, whereas a negative mediation was observed for the mothers' intellectual involvement. The fathers' educational involvement did not play a significant mediating role. These results might inform interventions targeting educational involvement for enhancing the cognitive development of children from low SES families.

Prenatal environment is associated with the pace of cortical network development over the first three years of life

Environmental influences on brain structure and function during early development have been well-characterized. In pre-registered analyses, we test the theory that socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with differences in trajectories of intrinsic brain network development from birth to three years (n = 261). Prenatal SES is associated with developmental increases in cortical network segregation, with neonates and toddlers from lower-SES backgrounds showing a steeper increase in cortical network segregation with age, consistent with accelerated network development. Associations between SES and cortical network segregation occur at the local scale and conform to a sensorimotor-association hierarchy of cortical organization. SES-associated differences in cortical network segregation are associated with language abilities at two years, such that lower segregation is associated with improved language abilities. These results yield key insight into the timing and directionality of associations between the early environment and trajectories of cortical development.

Distinct Associations of Deprivation and Threat With Alterations in Brain Structure in Early Childhood

OBJECTIVE

The dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology hypothesizes deprivation and threat impact distinct neurobiological pathways, such as brain structure. This hypothesis has not been examined longitudinally or in young children. This study tested longitudinal associations between threat and deprivation measured in preschool and brain structure in childhood. It was hypothesized that threat would be associated with amygdala and hippocampal subcortical volume and deprivation would be associated with cortical thickness in association cortex.

METHOD

The study included T1-weighted scans from 72 children (5-10 years old, 54.2% female participants). Threat was measured by the presence of domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neighborhood violence. Deprivation was measured by the presence of neglect. Associations of deprivation or threat with brain structure were examined controlling for other dimension (deprivation or threat) and nuisance covariates using whole-brain vertex-wise analyses. Subcortical volume was extracted, and the same associations were examined using multiple regression.

RESULTS

Threat was associated with widespread decreases in cortical surface area across the prefrontal cortex and other regions. Threat was not associated with amygdala or hippocampal volume. Deprivation was associated with increased thickness in occipital cortex, insula, and cingulate.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest distinct associations of deprivation and threat on brain structure in early childhood. Threat is associated with widespread differences in surface area, and deprivation is associated with differences in cortical thickness. These observations are consistent with work in adolescence and adulthood and reflect how dimensions of adversity differentially impact neural structure.

Effects of physical activity interventions on executive function in older adults with dementia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

To date quantitative meta-analysis with large samples to investigate the effects and potential moderators of physical activity (PA) on executive function (EF) in older adults with dementia is insufficient. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis.

DESIGN

Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

PARTICIPANTS

Old people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or related dementia of varying types and severity as the primary diagnosis.

METHODS

PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies published from 01 January, 2010 to 01 March, 2022. The results of executive function were reported in all RCTs. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the size of effects. Subgroup analyses of three moderators (including the specific sub-domains of EF, exercise prescription variables, and sample characteristics) were performed.

RESULTS

Eighteen RCTs were included with a combined sample size of 1366. Overall, PA interventions improved overall EF (standardized mean difference [SMD]=0.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05 to 0.41, p<0.05). The EF sub-domain "planning" was significant moderator (SMD=0.31, 95%CI 0.11 to 1.51, p<0.01), but inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility were not significant. Regarding exercise prescription variables, type of resistance training; moderate intensity; total duration ≤24 weeks and short (once or twice a week) frequency improved overall EF performance. Session length may be a moderator. Regarding sample characteristics, old-old, AD and both dementia and AD had significant benefits.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

EF in older adults with AD or related dementia benefited from physical activity, and the benefit was affected by the type, intensity, total duration, frequency of exercise. Physical activity can be an alternative intervention in aging patients with dementia, to improve EF performance or prevent or EF decline.

Online Intervention for Caregivers of Children with Early Traumatic Brain Injury: Pilot Trial

OBJECTIVE

To assess the feasibility and acceptability of an online parenting-skills program for caregivers of young children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Positive parenting contributes to recovery following early TBI and social and emotional development in typically developing children. Yet, few interventions have been designed to support psychosocial recovery and subsequent development after early TBI.

METHODS

This study protocol was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05160194). We utilized an academic hospital's Trauma Registry to recruit caregivers of children, ages 0-4 years, previously hospitalized for TBI. The GROW intervention integrated six online learning modules with videoconference meetings with a coach to review and practice skills while receiving in vivo coaching and feedback. Interactive modules addressed strategies for responsive parenting, stimulating cognition, and managing parenting stress. Enrollment and retention rates served as feasibility metrics and satisfaction surveys assessed acceptability.

RESULTS

18 of 72 families contacted (25%) consented, and 11 of 18 (61%) completed the intervention and follow-up assessments. All participants rated the intervention as helpful and indicated that they would recommend the intervention to others. All endorsed a better understanding of brain injury and how to optimize their child's recovery and development. Both coaches rated intervention delivery as comparable to traditional face-to-face treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Low levels of uptake and initial engagement underscore the challenges of intervening with caregivers following early TBI, which likely were exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. High levels of acceptability and perceived benefit support the potential utility of GROW while highlighting the need to improve accessibility and early engagement.

Brain Structure Relations With Psychopathology Trajectories in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

OBJECTIVE

A general psychopathology (p) factor captures shared variation across mental disorders. Structural neural alterations have been associated with the p factor concurrently, but less is known about whether these alterations relate to within-person change in the p factor over time, especially during preadolescence, a period of neurodevelopmental changes.

METHOD

This study examined whether baseline brain structure was prospectively related to the trajectory of the p factor and specific forms of psychopathology over 2 years in 9,220 preadolescents (aged 9-10 at baseline) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Longitudinal multilevel models were conducted to determine whether baseline brain structure (volume, surface area, thickness) was associated with between-person differences and within-person change in the p factor (from a higher-order confirmatory factor model) and internalizing, externalizing, neurodevelopmental, somatization, and detachment factor scores (from a correlated factors model) over 3 study waves.

RESULTS

Smaller global volume and surface area, but not thickness, were associated with higher between-person levels of the p factor scores, which persisted over time. None of the brain structure measures were related to within-person change in the p factor scores. Lower baseline cortical thickness was associated with steeper decreases in internalizing psychopathology, which was driven by lower thickness within sensorimotor and temporal regions.

CONCLUSION

These novel results identify specific brain structure features that might contribute to transdiagnostic psychopathology development in preadolescence. Children with smaller total brain volume and surface area may be vulnerable to persistent general psychopathology during preadolescence. Cortical thinning reflective of pruning and myelination in sensorimotor and temporal brain regions specifically may protect against increases in internalizing, but not general psychopathology, during preadolescence.

Associations between neighborhood socioeconomic status, parental education, and executive system activation in youth

Socioeconomic status (SES) can impact cognitive performance, including working memory (WM). As executive systems that support WM undergo functional neurodevelopment during adolescence, environmental stressors at both individual and community levels may influence cognitive outcomes. Here, we sought to examine how SES at the neighborhood and family level impacts task-related activation of the executive system during adolescence and determine whether this effect mediates the relationship between SES and WM performance. To address these questions, we studied 1,150 youths (age 8-23) that completed a fractal n-back WM task during functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3T as part of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort. We found that both higher neighborhood SES and parental education were associated with greater activation of the executive system to WM load, including the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and precuneus. The association of neighborhood SES remained significant when controlling for task performance, or related factors like exposure to traumatic events. Furthermore, high-dimensional multivariate mediation analysis identified distinct patterns of brain activity within the executive system that significantly mediated the relationship between measures of SES and task performance. These findings underscore the importance of multilevel environmental factors in shaping executive system function and WM in youth.

A Prospective Evaluation of Infant Cerebellar-Cerebral Functional Connectivity in Relation to Behavioral Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosed based on social impairment, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Contemporary theories posit that cerebellar pathology contributes causally to ASD by disrupting error-based learning (EBL) during infancy. The present study represents the first test of this theory in a prospective infant sample, with potential implications for ASD detection.

Methods

Data from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (n = 94, 68 male) were used to examine 6-month cerebellar functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in relation to later (12/24-month) ASD-associated behaviors and outcomes. Hypothesis-driven univariate analyses and machine learning-based predictive tests examined cerebellar-frontoparietal network (FPN; subserves error signaling in support of EBL) and cerebellar-default mode network (DMN; broadly implicated in ASD) connections. Cerebellar-FPN functional connectivity was used as a proxy for EBL, and cerebellar-DMN functional connectivity provided a comparative foil. Data-driven functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging enrichment examined brain-wide behavioral associations, with post hoc tests of cerebellar connections.

Results

Cerebellar-FPN and cerebellar-DMN connections did not demonstrate associations with ASD. Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging enrichment identified 6-month correlates of later ASD-associated behaviors in networks of a priori interest (FPN, DMN), as well as in cingulo-opercular (also implicated in error signaling) and medial visual networks. Post hoc tests did not suggest a role for cerebellar connections.

Conclusions

We failed to identify cerebellar functional connectivity-based contributions to ASD. However, we observed prospective correlates of ASD-associated behaviors in networks that support EBL. Future studies may replicate and extend network-level positive results, and tests of the cerebellum may investigate brain-behavior associations at different developmental stages and/or using different neuroimaging modalities.

Socioeconomic resources are associated with distributed alterations of the brain's intrinsic functional architecture in youth

Little is known about how exposure to limited socioeconomic resources (SER) in childhood gets "under the skin" to shape brain development, especially using rigorous whole-brain multivariate methods in large, adequately powered samples. The present study examined resting state functional connectivity patterns from 5821 youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, employing multivariate methods across three levels: whole-brain, network-wise, and connection-wise. Across all three levels, SER was associated with widespread alterations across the connectome. However, critically, we found that parental education was the primary driver of neural associations with SER. These parental education associations with the developing connectome exhibited notable concentrations in somatosensory and subcortical regions, and they were partially accounted for by home enrichment activities, child's cognitive abilities, and child's grades, indicating interwoven links between parental education, child stimulation, and child cognitive performance. These results add a new data-driven, multivariate perspective on links between household SER and the child's developing functional connectome.

The relationship between executive function, neurodevelopmental disorder traits, and academic achievement in university students

Difficulties with executive function have often been identified in individuals with various neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD). Additionally, in childhood and adolescence, executive functioning is an important predictor of academic achievement. However, less research has explored these relationships in adult students, and those with a high level of neurodevelopmental disorder traits but no clinical diagnosis. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess whether ASD, ADHD, and DCD traits can predict academic achievement in university students, and whether traits of these neurodevelopmental conditions moderate the relationship between executive function and academic achievement. Both neurotypical students and those with a clinical diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder were able to participate, with the majority being neurotypical. Participants completed four self-report questionnaires and provided a measure of academic achievement based on their university assignment results. Traits of ASD, ADHD, and DCD alone did not predict achievement, however, traits of ADHD and DCD significantly moderated the relationship between executive function and academic achievement. ASD traits did not significantly moderate this relationship. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Language development as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status to executive functioning development in preschool

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is related to disparities in the development of both language and executive functioning (EF) skills. Emerging evidence suggests that language development may precede and provide necessary scaffolding for EF development in early childhood. The present preregistered study investigates how these skills co-develop longitudinally in early childhood and whether language development explains the relationship between SES and EF development. A socioeconomically diverse sample of 305 children completed repeated assessments of language (sentence comprehension) and EF (cognitive flexibility, behavioral inhibition, and cognitive inhibition) at four waves spaced 9 months apart from ages 3 to 5 years. Bivariate latent curve models with structured residuals were estimated to disaggregate between-person and within-person components of stability and change. Results revealed bidirectional relationships between language and EF across all waves. However, at 3 years, language comprehension more strongly predicted EF than the reverse; yet by 5 years, the bidirectional effects across domains did not significantly differ. Children from higher-SES backgrounds exhibited higher initial language and EF skills than children from lower-SES families, though SES was not associated with either rate of growth. Finally, early language-mediated the association between SES and early EF skills, and this model outperformed a reverse direction mediation. Together, results suggest that EF development is driven by early language development, and that SES disparities in EF are explained, at least in part, by early differences in language comprehension. These findings have implications for early interventions to support children's language skills as a potential pathway to improving early EF development.

Association between executive functions and gross motor skills in overweight/obese and eutrophic preschoolers: cross-sectional study

Background

Preschool age (3–5 years old) is a crucial period for children to acquire gross motor skills and develop executive functions (EFs). However, the association between the qualitative gross motor skills and EFs remains unknown in preschoolers, especially among overweight and obese children.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional, exploratory, and quantitative study carried out on 49 preschool children, divided into two subgroups according to their body mass index (overweight/obese: 24; eutrophic [normal weight]: 25). The mean age was 4.59 years. More than half of the sample were boys (55%) and most of the mothers had completed high school (67%) and were class C socioeconomic level (63%). Gross motor skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2, while EFs were evaluated using Semantic verbal fluency (SVF), Tower of Hanoi (TH), Day/Night Stroop, and Delayed Gratification tests. Multiple linear regression models adjusted for sex, age, maternal education, socioeconomic status, quality of the home environment, and quality of the school environment using the stepwise method were executed, considering the cognitive tasks as independent variables and gross motor skills as dependent variable.

Results

The overweight/obese preschoolers showed worse locomotor skills than their eutrophic peers and below average gross motor quotient (GMQ). Overweight/obese girls performed worse in OC skills than boys with excess weight. SVF (number of errors) and TH (rule breaks) explained 57.8% of the variance in object control (OC) skills and 40.5% of the variance in GMQ (p < .05) in the overweight/obese children. Surprisingly, there was no significant association between any of the EF tasks and gross motor skills in the eutrophic children.

Conclusion

A relationship between EF tasks (number of errors in SVF and rule breaks in TH) and gross motor skills (OC and GMQ) was demonstrated in the overweight/obese preschoolers, indicating that worse cognitive flexibility, working memory, planning, and problem solving are associated with worse gross motor skills in this population when compared to eutrophic children.

Scene saliencies in egocentric vision and their creation by parents and infants

Across the lifespan, humans are biased to look first at what is easy to see, with a handful of well-documented visual saliences shaping our attention (e.g., Itti & Koch, 2001). These attentional biases may emerge from the contexts in which moment-tomoment attention occurs, where perceivers and their social partners actively shape bottom-up saliences, moving their bodies and objects to make targets of interest more salient. The goal of the present study was to determine the bottom-up saliences present in infant egocentric images and to provide evidence on the role that infants and their mature social partners play in highlighting targets of interest via these saliences. We examined 968 unique scenes in which an object had purposefully been placed in the infant's egocentric view, drawn from videos created by one-year-old infants wearing a head camera during toy-play with a parent. To understand which saliences mattered in these scenes, we conducted a visual search task, asking participants (n = 156) to find objects in the egocentric images. To connect this to the behaviors of perceivers, we then characterized the saliences of objects placed by infants or parents compared to objects that were otherwise present in the scenes. Our results show that body-centric properties, such as increases in the centering and visual size of the object, as well as decreases in the number of competing objects immediately surrounding it, both predicted faster search time and distinguished placed and unplaced objects. The present results suggest that the bottom-up saliences that can be readily controlled by perceivers and their social partners may most strongly impact our attention. This finding has implications for the functional role of saliences in human vision, their origin, the social structure of perceptual environments, and how the relation between bottom-up and top-down control of attention in these environments may support infant learning.

Structural covariance of the ventral visual stream predicts posttraumatic intrusion and nightmare symptoms: a multivariate data fusion analysis

Visual components of trauma memories are often vividly re-experienced by survivors with deleterious consequences for normal function. Neuroimaging research on trauma has primarily focused on threat-processing circuitry as core to trauma-related dysfunction. Conversely, limited attention has been given to visual circuitry which may be particularly relevant to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior work suggests that the ventral visual stream is directly related to the cognitive and affective disturbances observed in PTSD and may be predictive of later symptom expression. The present study used multimodal magnetic resonance imaging data (n = 278) collected two weeks after trauma exposure from the AURORA study, a longitudinal, multisite investigation of adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae. Indices of gray and white matter were combined using data fusion to identify a structural covariance network (SCN) of the ventral visual stream 2 weeks after trauma. Participant's loadings on the SCN were positively associated with both intrusion symptoms and intensity of nightmares. Further, SCN loadings moderated connectivity between a previously observed amygdala-hippocampal functional covariance network and the inferior temporal gyrus. Follow-up MRI data at 6 months showed an inverse relationship between SCN loadings and negative alterations in cognition in mood. Further, individuals who showed decreased strength of the SCN between 2 weeks and 6 months had generally higher PTSD symptom severity over time. The present findings highlight a role for structural integrity of the ventral visual stream in the development of PTSD. The ventral visual stream may be particularly important for the consolidation or retrieval of trauma memories and may contribute to efficient reactivation of visual components of the trauma memory, thereby exacerbating PTSD symptoms. Potentially chronic engagement of the network may lead to reduced structural integrity which becomes a risk factor for lasting PTSD symptoms.

Experience-driven plasticity and the emergence of psychopathology: A mechanistic framework integrating development and the environment into the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) model

Despite the clear importance of a developmental perspective for understanding the emergence of psychopathology across the life-course, such a perspective has yet to be integrated into the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) model. In this paper, we articulate a framework that incorporates developmentally specific learning mechanisms that reflect experience-driven plasticity as additional units of analysis in the existing RDoC matrix. These include both experience-expectant learning mechanisms that occur during sensitive periods of development and experience-dependent learning mechanisms that may exhibit substantial variation across development. Incorporating these learning mechanisms allows for clear integration not only of development but also environmental experience into the RDoC model. We demonstrate how individual differences in environmental experiences-such as early life adversity-can be leveraged to identify experience-driven plasticity patterns across development and apply this framework to consider how environmental experience shapes key biobehavioral processes that comprise the RDoC model. This framework provides a structure for understanding how affective, cognitive, social, and neurobiological processes are shaped by experience across development and ultimately contribute to the emergence of psychopathology. We demonstrate how incorporating an experience-driven plasticity framework is critical for understanding the development of many processes subsumed within the RDoC model, which will contribute to greater understanding of developmental variation in the etiology of psychopathology and can be leveraged to identify potential windows of heightened developmental plasticity when clinical interventions might be maximally efficacious. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessment of Parent Income and Education, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Child Brain Structure

IMPORTANCE

Although different aspects of socioeconomic status (SES) may represent distinct risk factors for poor mental health in children, knowledge of their differential and synergistic associations with the brain is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the independent associations between distinct SES factors and child brain structure.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

We used baseline data from participants aged 9 to 10 years in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. These data were collected from 21 US sites between September 2017 and August 2018. Study participants were recruited from schools to create a participant sample that closely reflects the US population.

EXPOSURES

Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using the area deprivation index. We also used data on total parent or caregiver educational attainment (in years) and household income-to-needs ratio.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess measures of cortical thickness, surface area, and subcortical volume.

RESULTS

Data from 8862 ABCD participants aged 9 to 10 years were analyzed. The mean (SD) age was 119.1 (7.5) months; there were 4243 girls (47.9%) and 4619 boys (52.1%). Data on race or ethnicity were available for 8857 of 8862 participants: 173 (2.0%) were Asian, 1099 (12.4%) were Black or African American, 1688 (19.1%) were Hispanic, 4967 (56.1%) were White, and 930 (10.5%) reported multiple races or ethnicities. Using 10-fold, within-sample split-half replication, we found that neighborhood disadvantage was associated with lower cortical thickness in the following brain regions (η2 = 0.004-0.009): cuneus (B [SE] = -0.099 [0.013]; P < .001), lateral occipital (B [SE] = -0.088 [0.011]; P < .001), lateral orbitofrontal (B [SE] = -0.072 [0.012]; P < .001), lingual (B [SE] = -0.104 [0.012]; P < .001), paracentral (B [SE] = -0.086 [0.012]; P < .001), pericalcarine (B [SE] = -0.077 [0.012]; P < .001), postcentral (B [SE] = -0.069 [0.012]; P < .001), precentral (B [SE] = -0.059 [0.011]; P < .001), rostral middle frontal (B [SE] = -0.076 [0.011]; P < .001), and superior parietal (B [SE] = -0.060 [0.011]; P < .001). Exploratory analyses showed that the associations of low educational attainment or neighborhood disadvantage and low cortical thickness were attenuated in the presence of a high income-to-needs ratio (η2 = 0.003-0.007).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that different SES indicators have distinct associations with children's brain structure. A high income-to-needs ratio may play a protective role in the context of neighborhood disadvantage and low parent or caregiver educational attainment. This study highlights the importance of considering the joint associations of different SES indicators in future work.

Neighborhood Disadvantage Associated With Blunted Amygdala Reactivity to Predictable and Unpredictable Threat in a Community Sample of Youth

BACKGROUND

Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage is a form of adversity associated with alterations in critical frontolimbic circuits involved in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Most work has focused on individual-level socioeconomic position, yet individuals living in deprived communities typically encounter additional environmental stressors that have unique effects on the brain and health outcomes. Notably, chronic and unpredictable stressors experienced in the everyday lives of youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may impact neural responsivity to uncertain threat.

METHODS

A community sample of children (N = 254) ages 8 to 15 years (mean = 12.15) completed a picture anticipation task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, during which neutral and negatively valenced photos were presented in a temporally predictable or unpredictable manner. Area Deprivation Index (ADI) scores were derived from participants' home addresses as an index of relative neighborhood disadvantage. Voxelwise analyses examined interactions of ADI, valence, and predictability on neural response to picture presentation.

RESULTS

There was a significant ADI × valence interaction in the middle temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Higher ADI was associated with less amygdala activation to negatively valenced images. ADI also interacted with predictability. Higher ADI was associated with greater activation of lingual and calcarine gyri for unpredictably presented stimuli. There was no three-way interaction of ADI, valence, and predictability.

CONCLUSIONS

Neighborhood disadvantage may impact how the brain perceives and responds to potential threats. Future longitudinal work is critical for delineating how such effects may persist across the life span and how health outcomes may be modifiable with community-based interventions and policies.

Cortical Myelination in Toddlers and Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intracortical myelin is thought to play a significant role in the development of neural circuits and functional networks, with consistent evidence of atypical network connectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, little is known about the development of intracortical myelin in the first years of life in ASD, during the critical neurodevelopmental period when autism symptoms first emerge. Using T1-weighted (T1w) and T2-weighted (T2w) structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 21 young children with ASD and 16 typically developing (TD) children, ages 1.5 to 5.5 years, we demonstrate the feasibility of estimating intracortical myelin in vivo using the T1w/T2w ratio as a proxy. The resultant T1w/T2w maps were largely comparable with those reported in prior T1w/T2w studies in typically developing children and adults, and revealed no group differences between TD children and those with ASD. However, differential associations between T1w/T2w and age were identified in several early myelinated regions (e.g., visual, posterior cingulate, precuneus cortices) in the ASD and TD groups, with age-related increase in estimated myelin content across the toddler and preschool years detected in TD children, but not in children with ASD. The atypical age-related effects in intracortical myelin, suggesting a disrupted myelination in the first years of life in ASD, may be related to the aberrant brain network connectivity reported in young children with ASD in some of the same cortical regions and circuits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

School-aged children diagnosed with an FASD exhibit visuo-cortical network disturbance: A magnetoencephalography (MEG) study

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) often suffer from cognitive and neurobehavioral dysfunction throughout their lives, which may rise to a level of concern such that children receive a diagnosis under the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) umbrella. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) contributes direct insight into neural processing and functional connectivity measures with temporal precision to understand cortical processing disorders that manifest during development. The impairment of perception may become more consequential among school-aged children with an FASD in the process of intellectual functioning and behavioral maturation. Fifty participants with the age range of 8-13 years participated in our study following parental informed consent and child assent. For each participant, visual responses were recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while performing a prosaccade task with central stimuli (fovea centralis) and peripheral stimuli (left and right of central) presented on a screen, requiring participants to shift their gaze to the stimuli. After source analysis using minimum norm estimation (MNE), we investigated visual responses from each participant by measuring the latency and amplitude of visual evoked fields. Delayed peak latency of the visual response was identified in the primary visual area (calcarine fissure) and visual association areas (v2, v3) in young children with an FASD for both stimulus types (central and peripheral). But the difference in visual response latency was only statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) for the peripheral (right) stimulus. We also observed reduced amplitude (p ≤ 0.006) of visual evoked response in children with an FASD for the central stimulus type in both primary and visual association areas. Multiple visual areas show impairment in children with an FASD, with visual delay and conduction disturbance more prominent in response to peripheral stimuli. Children with an FASD also exhibit significantly reduced amplitude of neural activation to central stimuli. These sensory deficits may lead to slow cognitive processing speed through continued intra-cortical network disturbance in children with an FASD.

Measurement matters: An individual differences examination of family socioeconomic factors, latent dimensions of children's experiences, and resting state functional brain connectivity in the ABCD sample

The variation in experiences between high and low-socioeconomic status contexts are posited to play a crucial role in shaping the developing brain and may explain differences in child outcomes. Yet, examinations of SES and brain development have largely been limited to distal proxies of these experiences (e.g., income comparisons). The current study sought to disentangle the effects of multiple socioeconomic indices and dimensions of more proximal experiences on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in a sample of 7834 youth (aged 9-10 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. We applied moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) to establish measurement invariance among three latent environmental dimensions of experience (material/economic deprivation, caregiver social support, and psychosocial threat). Results revealed measurement biases as a function of child age, sex, racial group, family income, and parental education, which were statistically adjusted in the final MNLFA scores. Mixed-effects models demonstrated that socioeconomic indices and psychosocial threat differentially predicted variation in frontolimbic networks, and threat statistically moderated the association between income and connectivity between the dorsal and ventral attention networks. Findings illuminate the importance of reducing measurement biases to gain a more socioculturally-valid understanding of the complex and nuanced links between socioeconomic context, children's experiences, and neurodevelopment.

Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on early Executive Functions

Early executive functions (EFs) lay the foundations for academic and social outcomes. In this parent‐report study of 575 UK‐based 8‐ to 36 month olds (218 followed longitudinally), we investigate how variation in the home environment before and during the 2020 pandemic relates to infants’ emerging EFs. Parent‐infant enriching activities were positively associated with infant Cognitive Executive Function (CEF) (encompassing inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility). During the most‐restrictive UK lockdown—but not subsequently—socioeconomic status (SES) was positively associated with levels of parent‐infant enriching activities. Parents who regard fostering early learning, affection, and attachment as important were more likely to engage in parent‐infant enriching activities, yet there was no significant pathway from parental attitudes or SES to CEF via activities. Infant screen use was negatively associated with CEF and Regulation. Screen use fully mediated the effect of SES on CEF, and partially mediated the effect of SES on regulation. Parental attitudes toward early learning, affection, and attachment did not significantly influence screen use. These results indicate that although parental attitudes influence the development of early EFs, interventions targeting attitudes as a means of increasing enriching activities, and thus EF are likely to be less effective than reducing barriers to engaging in enriching activities.

Associations between Brain Structural Alterations, Executive Dysfunction, and General Psychopathology in a Healthy and Cross-Diagnostic Adult Patient Sample

BACKGROUND

A general psychopathology 'p' factor captures shared variance across mental disorders in diverse samples and may partly reflect executive dysfunction. Higher p factor scores have been related to structural alterations within the visual association cortex (VAC) and a cerebello-thalamo-cerebrocortical circuit (CTCC), both of which are important for executive control. Here, we tested replicability of these direct associations as well as the indirect role of executive functioning in a sample of healthy and cross-diagnostic adult patients.

METHODS

We conducted hypothesis-driven (i.e., region-of-interest) and exploratory whole-brain structural neuroimaging analyses using data from the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics study of 272 adults who met diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or were healthy controls. Using structural equation modeling, we examined direct and indirect relations between structural neural alterations (within regions-of-interest and regions identified from exploratory analyses) and p and executive function factors.

RESULTS

Higher levels of p were associated with decreased executive functioning and VAC grey matter volume, replicating previous research. In contrast, we failed to replicate prior negative relations between the p factor and CTCC structure. A significant indirect relation between VAC grey matter volume and p via executive function also emerged. Whole-brain analyses identified additional structural alterations in supplementary motor area/cingulate cortex, anterior corona radiata, and corpus callosum genu related to the p factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Executive dysfunction may be one mechanism underlying relations between brain structure and general psychopathology. Replication of VAC structural alterations related to p encourages further focus on this brain structure.

Early executive and school functioning: Protective roles of home environment by income

This study used data from the Family Life Project (N=1,227), a longitudinal study of child development. We tested a three-way interaction in which positive parenting and learning materials in the home from age 6-36 months and family income predicted children's executive functioning (EF) at 58 months. We also tested whether this interaction predicted early school functioning, specifically behavioral and academic skills in the 1^st grade. The interactive effects of positive parenting and learning materials differed by family income. For children in families of lower income, more learning materials and positive parenting predicted better EF, and in turn, better early school functioning. For children in families of higher income, only positive parenting significantly predicted EF, which in turn, predicted better early school functioning. Findings suggest that more targeted policy and program support for enrichment and positive parenting may bolster efforts to combat poverty.

Brain network coupling associated with cognitive performance varies as a function of a child's environment in the ABCD study

Prior research indicates that lower resting-state functional coupling between two brain networks, lateral frontoparietal network (LFPN) and default mode network (DMN), relates to cognitive test performance, for children and adults. However, most of the research that led to this conclusion has been conducted with non-representative samples of individuals from higher-income backgrounds, and so further studies including participants from a broader range of socioeconomic backgrounds are required. Here, in a pre-registered study, we analyzed resting-state fMRI from 6839 children ages 9-10 years from the ABCD dataset. For children from households defined as being above poverty (family of 4 with income > $25,000, or family of 5+ with income > $35,000), we replicated prior findings; that is, we found that better performance on cognitive tests correlated with weaker LFPN-DMN coupling. For children from households defined as being in poverty, the direction of association was reversed, on average: better performance was instead directionally related to stronger LFPN-DMN connectivity, though there was considerable variability. Among children in households below poverty, the direction of this association was predicted in part by features of their environments, such as school type and parent-reported neighborhood safety. These results highlight the importance of including representative samples in studies of child cognitive development.

Neural mechanisms underlying the income-achievement gap: The role of the ventral visual stream

Children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households on average exhibit lower academic achievement than their higher-SES peers. We investigated a novel hypothesis that differences in early-developing sensory networks-specifically the ventral visual stream (VVS), which is involved in processing visual stimuli-contribute to SES-related disparities in executive functions (EF) and academic outcomes. We used fMRI to investigate SES-related differences in neural function in children (6-8 years, n = 62) during two attentional tasks involving attention to visual information: cued attention and memory-guided attention. Recruitment of VVS during both tasks was associated with EF and academic achievement, and SES-related differences in VVS activation during cued attention were marginally explained by differences in cognitive stimulation. VVS activation during cued attention mediated SES-related differences in academic achievement. Finally, the link between VVS activation during both tasks and academic achievement was mediated by differences in EF. We extend previous work by highlighting that: (i) early-developing visual processing regions play a role in supporting complex attentional processes, (ii) childhood SES is associated with VVS function, which is explained in part by SES-related differences in cognitive stimulation and (iii) provide preliminary evidence that individual differences in VVS function may play a role in the emergence of the income-achievement gap.

The Value of Dimensional Models of Early Experience: Thinking Clearly About Concepts and Categories

We review the three prevailing approaches-specificity, cumulative risk, and dimensional models-to conceptualizing the developmental consequences of early-life adversity and address fundamental problems with the characterization of these frameworks in a recent Perspectives on Psychological Science piece by Smith and Pollak. We respond to concerns raised by Smith and Pollak about dimensional models of early experience and highlight the value of these models for studying the developmental consequences of early-life adversity. Basic dimensions of adversity proposed in existing models include threat/harshness, deprivation, and unpredictability. These models identify core dimensions of early experience that cut across the categorical exposures that have been the focus of specificity and cumulative risk approaches (e.g., abuse, institutional rearing, chronic poverty); delineate aspects of early experience that are likely to influence brain and behavioral development; afford hypotheses about adaptive and maladaptive responses to different dimensions of adversity; and articulate specific mechanisms through which these dimensions exert their influences, conceptualizing experience-driven plasticity within an evolutionary-developmental framework. In doing so, dimensional models advance specific falsifiable hypotheses, grounded in neurodevelopmental and evolutionary principles, that are supported by accumulating evidence and provide fertile ground for empirical studies on early-life adversity.

The Value of Dimensional Models of Early Experience: Thinking Clearly About Concepts and Categories

We review the three prevailing approaches-specificity, cumulative risk, and dimensional models-to conceptualizing the developmental consequences of early-life adversity and address fundamental problems with the characterization of these frameworks in a recent Perspectives on Psychological Science piece by Smith and Pollak. We respond to concerns raised by Smith and Pollak about dimensional models of early experience and highlight the value of these models for studying the developmental consequences of early-life adversity. Basic dimensions of adversity proposed in existing models include threat/harshness, deprivation, and unpredictability. These models identify core dimensions of early experience that cut across the categorical exposures that have been the focus of specificity and cumulative risk approaches (e.g., abuse, institutional rearing, chronic poverty); delineate aspects of early experience that are likely to influence brain and behavioral development; afford hypotheses about adaptive and maladaptive responses to different dimensions of adversity; and articulate specific mechanisms through which these dimensions exert their influences, conceptualizing experience-driven plasticity within an evolutionary-developmental framework. In doing so, dimensional models advance specific falsifiable hypotheses, grounded in neurodevelopmental and evolutionary principles, that are supported by accumulating evidence and provide fertile ground for empirical studies on early-life adversity.

Frontal-posterior functional imbalance and aberrant function developmental patterns in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. There remain significant gaps in understanding the neural trajectory across development in SZ. A major research focus is to clarify the developmental functional changes of SZ and to identify the specific timing, the specific brain regions, and the underlying mechanisms of brain alterations during SZ development. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) characterizing brain function was collected and analyzed on humans with SZ (hSZ) and healthy controls (HC) cross-sectionally, and methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) rats, a neurodevelopmental model of SZ, and vehicle rats longitudinally from adolescence to adulthood. Metabolomic and proteomic profiling in adult MAM rats and vehicle rats was examined and bioanalyzed. Compared to HC or adult vehicle rats, similar ReHo alterations were observed in hSZ and adult MAM rats, characterized by increased frontal (medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices) and decreased posterior (visual and associated cortices) ReHo. Longitudinal analysis of MAM rats showed aberrant ReHo patterns as decreased posterior ReHo in adolescence and increased frontal and decreased posterior ReHo in adulthood. Accordingly, it was suggested that the visual cortex was a critical locus and adolescence was a sensitive window in SZ development. In addition, metabolic and proteomic alterations in adult MAM rats suggested that central carbon metabolism disturbance and mitochondrial dysfunction were the potential mechanisms underlying the ReHo alterations. This study proposed frontal-posterior functional imbalance and aberrant function developmental patterns in SZ, suggesting that the adolescent visual cortex was a critical locus and a sensitive window in SZ development. These findings from linking data between hSZ and MAM rats may have a significant translational contribution to the development of effective therapies in SZ.

Neurodevelopment of the association cortices: Patterns, mechanisms, and implications for psychopathology

The human brain undergoes a prolonged period of cortical development that spans multiple decades. During childhood and adolescence, cortical development progresses from lower-order, primary and unimodal cortices with sensory and motor functions to higher-order, transmodal association cortices subserving executive, socioemotional, and mentalizing functions. The spatiotemporal patterning of cortical maturation thus proceeds in a hierarchical manner, conforming to an evolutionarily rooted, sensorimotor-to-association axis of cortical organization. This developmental program has been characterized by data derived from multimodal human neuroimaging and is linked to the hierarchical unfolding of plasticity-related neurobiological events. Critically, this developmental program serves to enhance feature variation between lower-order and higher-order regions, thus endowing the brain's association cortices with unique functional properties. However, accumulating evidence suggests that protracted plasticity within late-maturing association cortices, which represents a defining feature of the human developmental program, also confers risk for diverse developmental psychopathologies.

Similar but distinct - Effects of different socioeconomic indicators on resting state functional connectivity: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®

Early socioeconomic status (SES) has consistently been associated with child health and cognitive outcomes, in addition to alterations in brain function and connectivity. The goal of the present study was to probe the effects of different facets of SES (parent education, income, and neighborhood disadvantage), that likely represent varying aspects of the environment, on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). We investigated this question in a large sample of 9475 children (aged 9–10 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Specifically, we analyzed the association between household SES (parent education, income-to-needs ratio) and neighborhood disadvantage, and system-level rsFC using within-sample split-half replication. We then tested whether the associations were unique to each SES measure, and whether household SES and neighborhood disadvantage had interactive effects on rsFC. SES measures had both common and distinct effects on rsFC, with sensory-motor systems (e.g., sensorimotor network) and cognitive networks (e.g., front-parietal network) particularly implicated. Further, the association between neighborhood disadvantage and sensorimotor network connectivity was less pronounced in the presence of high income-to-needs. Findings demonstrate that different facets of SES have distinct and interacting effects on rsFC, highlighting the importance of considering different indicators when studying the effects of SES on the brain.

Head and eyes: Looking behavior in 12- to 24-month-old infants

This study demonstrates evidence for a foundational process underlying active vision in older infants during object play. Using head-mounted eye-tracking and motion capture, looks to an object are shown to be tightly linked to and synchronous with a stilled head, regardless of the duration of gaze, for infants 12 to 24 months of age. Despite being a developmental period of rapid and marked changes in motor abilities, the dynamic coordination of head stabilization and sustained gaze to a visual target is developmentally invariant during the examined age range. The findings indicate that looking with an aligned head and eyes is a fundamental property of human vision and highlights the importance of studying looking behavior in freely moving perceivers in everyday contexts, opening new questions about the role of body movement in both typical and atypical development of visual attention.

Within-person changes in basal cortisol and caregiving modulate executive attention across infancy

One pathway by which environments of socioeconomic risk are thought to affect cognitive development is through stress physiology. The biological systems underpinning stress and attention undergo a sensitive period of development during infancy. Psychobiological theory emphasizes a dynamic pattern of context-dependent development, however, research has yet to examine how basal cortisol and attention dynamically covary across infancy in ecologically valid contexts. Thus, to address these gaps, we leveraged longitudinal, multilevel analytic methods to disentangle between- from within-person associations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and executive attention behaviors across infancy. We use data from a large longitudinal sample (N = 1,292) of infants in predominantly low-income, nonurban communities at 7-, 15-, and 24-months of age. Using multilevel models, we investigated longitudinal associations of infant attention and basal cortisol levels and examined caregiving behaviors as moderators of this relationship. Results indicated a negative between- and within-person association between attention and cortisol across infancy and a within-person moderation by caregiver responsiveness. In other words, on the within-person level, higher levels of cortisol were concomitantly associated with lower infant attention across the first 2 years of life. However, variation in the caregiver's level of responsiveness either buffered or sensitized the executive attention system to the negative effects of physiological stress.

Mechanisms linking socioeconomic status and academic achievement in early childhood: Cognitive stimulation and language

There is a strong positive association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement. This disparity may, in part, be explained by differences in early environmental experiences and language development. Cognitive stimulation-including language exposure, access to learning materials, caregiver involvement in children's learning, and variety of experiences-varies by SES and may link SES to language development. Childhood language development in turn is associated with academic achievement. In the current longitudinal study of 101 children (60-75 months), SES was positively associated with cognitive stimulation and performance on language measures. Cognitive stimulation mediated the association between SES and children's language. Furthermore, children's language mediated the association between SES and academic achievement 18 months later. In addition to addressing broader inequalities in access to resources that facilitate caregivers' abilities to provide cognitive stimulation, cognitive stimulation itself could be targeted in future interventions to mitigate SES-related disparities in language and academic achievement.

Effects of Exercise Training Interventions on Executive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Chronic exercise training has been shown be to positively associated with executive function (EF) in older adults. However, whether the exercise training effect on EF is affected by moderators including the specific sub-domain of EF, exercise prescription variables, and sample characteristics remains unknown.

Objectives

This systematic and meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigated the effects of exercise training on EF in older adults and explored potential moderators underlying the effects of exercise training on EF.

Methods

In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, the electronic databases MEDLINE (PubMed) and EMBASE (Scopus) were searched from January 2003 to November 2019. All studies identified for inclusion were peer-reviewed and published in English. To be included, studies had to report findings from older (> 55 years old), cognitively normal adults or adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) randomized to an exercise training or a control group. The risk of bias in each study was appraised using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Fixed-effects models were used to compare the effects of exercise training and control conditions on EF assessed at baseline and post-intervention. In addition, subgroup analyses were performed for three moderators (i.e., the specific sub-domain of EF, exercise prescription variables, and sample characteristics).

Results

Thirty-three RCTs were included. Overall, exercise training was associated with a significant small improvement in EF [Q(106) = 260.09, Hedges’ g = 0.21; p < 0.01]. The EF sub-domain moderator was not significant [Q(2) = 4.33, p > 0.05], showing that the EF improvement in response to exercise is evident for measures of inhibition, updating, and shifting. Regarding exercise prescription variables, results were significantly moderated by frequency of exercise training [Q(1) = 10.86, p < 0.05], revealing that effect sizes (ESs) were larger for moderate frequency (g = 0.31) as compared to low frequency exercise (g = 0.15). The results also showed type of exercise training moderated the ESs [Q(4) = 26.18, p < 0.05], revealing that ESs were largest for other forms of exercise (g = 0.44), followed by Tai Chi and yoga (g = 0.38), resistance exercise (g = 0.22), aerobic exercise (g = 0.14), and combined exercise (g = 0.10). In addition, The results showed moderated length of training the ESs [Q(2) = 16.64, p < 0.05], revealing that ESs were largest for short length (g = 0.32), followed by mid length (g = 0.26) and long length (g = 0.09). No significant difference in effects was observed as a function of exercise intensity [Q(1) = 2.87 p > 0.05] and session time [Q(2) = 0.21, p > 0.05]. Regarding sample characteristics, the results were significantly moderated by age [Q(2) = 20.64, p < 0.05], with significant benefits for young-old (55–65 years old) (g = 0.30) and mid-old (66–75 years old) (g = 0.25), but no effect on EF for old-old (more than 75 years old). The results were also significantly moderated by physical fitness levels [Q(1) = 10.80, p < 0.05], revealing that ESs were larger for sedentary participants (g = 0.33) as compared to physically fit participants (g = 0.16). In addition, results were also significantly moderated by cognitive status [Q(1) = 11.44, p < 0.05], revealing that ESs were larger for participants with cognitively normal (g = 0.26) as compared to those with mild cognitive impairment (g = 0.08). No significant differences in effects were observed as a function of sex [Q(2) = 5.38, p > 0.05].

Conclusions

Exercise training showed a small beneficial effect on EF in older adults and the magnitude of the effect was different across some moderators.

All contexts are not created equal: Social stimuli win the competition for organizing reinforcement learning in 9-month-old infants

Previous work has shown that infants as young as 8 months of age can use certain features of the environment, such as the shape or color of visual stimuli, as cues to organize simple inputs into hierarchical rule structures, a robust form of reinforcement learning that supports generalization of prior learning to new contexts. However, especially in cluttered naturalistic environments, there are an abundance of potential cues that can be used to structure learning into hierarchical rule structures. It is unclear how infants determine what features constitute a higher-order context to organize inputs into hierarchical rule structures. Here, we examine whether 9-month-old infants are biased to use social stimuli, relative to non-social stimuli, as a higher-order context to organize learning of simple visuospatial inputs into hierarchical rule sets. Infants were presented with four face/color-target location pairings, which could be learned most simply as individual associations. Alternatively, infants could use the faces or colorful backgrounds as a higher-order context to organize the inputs into simpler color-location or face-location rules, respectively. Infants were then given a generalization test designed to probe how they learned the initial pairings. The results indicated that infants appeared to use the faces as a higher-order context to organize simpler color-location rules, which then supported generalization of learning to new face contexts. These findings provide new evidence that infants are biased to organize reinforcement learning around social stimuli.

Physical Discipline, Deprivation, and Differential Risk of Developmental Delay Across 17 Countries

OBJECTIVE

Parenting behaviors have been studied largely in isolation with regard to child development in cross-national contexts. We examine and compare the relative strength of association between physical discipline and deprivation with risk of children's socioemotional and cognitive developmental delay in a cross-national sample.

METHOD

The sample was drawn from the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Analyses used observations with data on parental physical discipline, parenting behaviors associated with deprivation, and child developmental outcomes. The present analysis included 29,792 children aged 36-59 months across 17 countries. Using the Early Child Development Index, risk for cognitive or socioemotional developmental delay was indicated if a child could not accomplish 2 or more items within that specific subdomain. Overall risk for delay was indicated if a child was at risk in either subdomain. Associations among discipline, deprivation, and delay were assessed using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

Five of the 7 exposures were associated with risk of overall developmental delay. Physical discipline (odds ratio [OR] = 1.49 [95% CI = 1.39, 1.59]; p < .001) had the largest association with risk for socioemotional delay. Not having books (OR = 1.62 [95% CI = 1.42, 1.84]; p < .001) and not counting with the child (OR = 1.47 [95% CI = 1.32, 1.64]; p < .001) had the largest associations with risk of cognitive delay.

CONCLUSION

The exposures of physical discipline and deprivation measured here have distinct associations with risk of socioemotional and cognitive delay cross-nationally. Programmatic and clinical interventions should seek to act on adversities that are relevant to the targeted delay.

Capturing Environmental Dimensions of Adversity and Resources in the Context of Poverty Across Infancy Through Early Adolescence: A Moderated Nonlinear Factor Model

Income, education, and cumulative-risk indices likely obscure meaningful heterogeneity in the mechanisms through which poverty impacts child outcomes. This study draws from contemporary theory to specify multiple dimensions of poverty-related adversity and resources, with the aim of better capturing these nuances. Using data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292), we leveraged moderated nonlinear factor analysis (Bauer, 2017) to establish group- and longitudinally invariant environmental measures from infancy to early adolescence. Results indicated three latent factors-material deprivation, psychosocial threat, and sociocognitive resources-were distinct from each other and from family income. Each was largely invariant across site, racial group, and development and showed convergent and discriminant relations with age-twelve criterion measures. Implications for ensuring socioculturally valid measurements of poverty are discussed.

Sensitive periods in executive function development

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive processes that support flexible goal pursuit. Healthy development of EFs during childhood is critical for later life outcomes including health, wealth and educational attainment. As such it is crucial to understand how EFs can be supported and protected against insult. Here we examine whether there are sensitive periods in the development of EFs, by drawing on deprivation and enrichment studies in humans. While there is suggestive evidence that pre-6 months of age constitutes a sensitive period for EF development, given the higher-order nature of EF, we argue for the possibility of multiple sensitive periods of constituent processes. We identify relevant future questions and outline a research agenda to systematically test for sensitive period in EF development.

Socioeconomic status and race as social determinants of health to be considered in clinical use of pre-season vestibular and oculomotor tests for concussion

BACKGROUND

Aside from racial and socioeconomic disparities in computerized neurocognitive testing and symptomology, there is a scarcity of research representing more diverse populations on other widely used tests for concussion, including vestibular and visual assessment.

AIM

The aim of the study was to investigate if racial and socioeconomic differences exist on baseline vestibular/ocular motor screening (VOMS) and King-Devick (K-D) test performance in high school student-athletes.

METHODS

A total of 670 participants (66.1% White, 33.9% Black) with a mean age of 15.43±1.2 years were administered a baseline VOMS, average Near Point of Convergence (NPC) distance, and K-D test. The exposure variables included race (White or Black) and socioeconomic status (SES), defined as free and reduced lunch status (FRL or No-FRL). FRL status was determined by each participant's school SES. The outcome variables consisted of baseline VOMS item symptom provocation scores, average NPC distance, and K-D baseline time. A series of Mann-Whitney U tests were performed for K-D baseline time, NPC distance, and VOMS items with FRL status or race as a between-subject factor. Two multivariable linear regressions were run to assess the association of (1) K-D baseline times using FRL, race, sex, and corrected vision as variables in the model and (2) average NPC distance using FRL, race, sex, and corrected vision as variables in the model.

RESULTS

When adjusting for multiple comparisons, FRL athletes had slower (worse) K-D times (P<0.001) than non-FRL athletes. Black athletes had significantly lower mean NPC distance compared to White athletes at baseline (P=0.02) and FRL status athletes reported a significantly greater (worse) mean symptom provocation following the visual motion sensitivity item on the VOMS (P=0.02); however, these findings were no longer significant following adjustments for multiple comparisons. No differences were noted for any remaining VOMS items. The first model explained 3.9% of the total variance of K-D baseline times, whereas the second model was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Racial and SES differences existed on average NPC distance and the K-D test at baseline. Possible explanations for group differences may be neurobiological, anatomical, and/or disparity in nature. With a higher probability of undiagnosed and uncorrected vision impairment, vestibular dysfunction, and saccadic eye tracking deficits likely to be more apparent as a consequence of poverty or health inequities, it is important that healthcare providers, especially those that diagnose and treat concussions, understand that performance on the VOMS and K-D tests at baseline may be subject to sociodemographic factors of SES and race.

RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS

To provide the most culturally competent care, clinicians should consider sociodemographic variables of race and SES as social determinants of health worthy of attention on objective and subjective measures of baseline concussion assessment.

Cognitive Stimulation as a Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status With Executive Function: A Longitudinal Investigation

Executive functions (EF), including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, vary as a function of socioeconomic status (SES), with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds having poorer performance than their higher SES peers. Using observational methods, we investigated cognitive stimulation in the home as a mechanism linking SES with EF. In a sample of 101 children aged 60-75 months, cognitive stimulation fully mediated SES-related differences in EF. Critically, cognitive stimulation was positively associated with the development of inhibition and cognitive flexibility across an 18-month follow-up period. Furthermore, EF at T1 explained SES-related differences in academic achievement at T2. Early cognitive stimulation-a modifiable factor-may be a desirable target for interventions designed to ameliorate SES-related differences in cognitive development and academic achievement.

Distinct aspects of the early environment contribute to associative memory, cued attention, and memory-guided attention: Implications for academic achievement

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with numerous aspects of cognitive development and disparities in academic achievement. The specific environmental factors that contribute to these disparities remain poorly understood. We used observational methods to characterize three aspects of the early environment that may contribute to SES-related differences in cognitive development: violence exposure, cognitive stimulation, and quality of the physical environment. We evaluated the associations of these environmental characteristics with associative memory, cued attention, and memory-guided attention in a sample of 101 children aged 60-75 months. We further investigated whether these specific cognitive abilities mediated the association between SES and academic achievement 18 months later. Violence exposure was specifically associated with poor associative memory, but not cued attention or memory-guided attention. Cognitive stimulation and higher quality physical environment were positively associated with cued attention accuracy, but not after adjusting for all other environmental variables. The quality of the physical environment was associated with memory-guided attention accuracy. Of the cognitive abilities examined, only memory-guided attention contributed to SES-related differences in academic achievement. These findings suggest specificity in how particular aspects of early environmental experience scaffold different types of attention and memory subserved by distinct neural circuits and shed light on a novel cognitive-developmental mechanism underlying SES-related disparities in academic achievement.