Towards a more inclusive and equitable developmental cognitive neuroscience

Capturing the complexity of child behavior and caregiver-child interactions in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study using a rigorous and equitable approach

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. This article outlines methodological considerations and the decision-making process for measurement selection for child behavior, parenting/caregiver-child interactions, and the family/home environment for HBCD. The decision-making process is detailed, including formation of a national workgroup (WG-BEH) that focused on developmentally appropriate measures that take a rigorous and equitable approach and aligned with HBCD objectives. Multi-level-observational and caregiver-report measures were deemed necessary for capturing the desired constructs across multiple contexts while balancing the nuance of observational data with pragmatic considerations. WG-BEH prioritized developmentally sensitive, validated assessments with psychometrics supporting use in diverse populations and focused on mechanistic linkages and prediction of desired constructs. Other considerations included participant burden and retention, staff training needs, and cultural sensitivity. Innovation was permitted when it was grounded in evidence and filled key gaps. Finally, this article describes the rationale for the selected constructs (e.g., temperament, social-emotional development, parenting behaviors, family organization) and corresponding measures chosen for HBCD visits from early infancy through 17 months of age.

Investment, integration, and innovation: Fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion across the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study consortium

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. From the outset, the HBCD Study integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into its core mission, with key elements like an Associate Director for DEI, a DEI values statement, and establishing a DEI committee to help ensure sustainable progress for the future. The DEI Coordinating Committee supports DEI efforts impacting members of the HBCD consortium, study participants, and the analysis and dissemination of HBCD data. Committee members include representatives from every study site and workgroup which contributes to DEI integration throughout the study. Committee activities include reviewing all measures and protocols, creating accountability metrics, and supporting training opportunities for consortium members. Several successes and lessons have been learned through the Committee's activities like implementing consortium-wide unconscious bias training and changing the DEI leadership and committee structure. This article presents an overview of HBCD's DEI components within HBCD and provides examples of collaborative efforts between the DEI Coordinating Committee and other workgroups. The article concludes with plans for future activities and recommendations for other large consortia considering formal DEI structures.

Capturing the Heterogeneity of Word Learners by Analyzing Persons

Accurately capturing children's word learning abilities is critical for advancing our understanding of language development. Researchers have demonstrated that utilizing more complex statistical methods, such as mixed-effects regression and hierarchical linear modeling, can lead to a more complete understanding of the variability observed within children's word learning abilities. In the current paper, we demonstrate how a person-centered approach to data analysis can provide additional insights into the heterogeneity of word learning ability among children while also aiding researchers' efforts to draw individual-level conclusions. Using previously published data with 32 typically developing and 32 late-talking infants who completed a novel noun generalization (NNG) task to assess word learning biases (i.e., shape and material biases), we compare this person-centered method to three traditional statistical approaches: (1) a t-test against chance, (2) an analysis of variance (ANOVA), and (3) a mixed-effects regression. With each comparison, we present a novel question raised by the person-centered approach and show how results from the corresponding analyses can lead to greater nuance in our understanding of children's word learning capabilities. Person-centered methods, then, are shown to be valuable tools that should be added to the growing body of sophisticated statistical procedures used by modern researchers.

Development of human visual cortical function: A scoping review of task- and naturalistic-fMRI studies through the interactive specialization and maturational frameworks

Overarching theories such as the interactive specialization and maturational frameworks have been proposed to describe human functional brain development. However, these frameworks have not yet been systematically examined across the fMRI literature. Visual processing is one of the most well-studied fields in neuroimaging, and research in this area has recently expanded to include naturalistic paradigms that facilitate study in younger age ranges, allowing for an in-depth critical appraisal of these frameworks across childhood. To this end, we conducted a scoping review of 94 developmental visual fMRI studies, including both traditional experimental task and naturalistic studies, across multiple sub-domains (early visual processing, category-specific higher order processing, naturalistic visual processing). We found that across domains, many studies reported progressive development, but few studies describe regressive or emergent changes necessary to fit the maturational or interactive specialization frameworks. Our findings suggest a need for the expansion of developmental frameworks and clearer reporting of both progressive and regressive changes, along with well-powered, longitudinal studies.

Parent attitudes towards data sharing in developmental science

Background

Data sharing in developmental science is increasingly encouraged, supported by funder and publisher mandates for open data access. Data sharing can accelerate discovery, link researchers with high quality analytic expertise to researchers with large datasets and democratise the research landscape to enable researchers with limited funding to access large sample sizes. However, there are also significant privacy and security concerns, in addition to conceptual and ethical considerations. These are particularly acute for developmental science, where child participants cannot consent themselves. As we move forward into a new era of data openness, it is essential that we adequately represent the views of stakeholder communities in designing data sharing efforts.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive survey of the opinions of 195 parents on data sharing in developmental science. Survey themes included how widely parents are willing to share their child's data, which type of organisations they would share the data with and the type of consent they would be comfortable providing.

Results

Results showed that parents were generally supportive of curated, but not open, data sharing. In addition to individual privacy and security concerns, more altruistic considerations around the purpose of research were important. Parents overwhelmingly supported nuanced consenting models in which preferences for particular types of data sharing could be changed over time. This model is different to that implemented in the vast majority of developmental science research and is contrary to many funder or publisher mandates.

Conclusions

The field should look to create shared repositories that implement features such as dynamic consent and mechanisms for curated sharing that allow consideration of the scientific questions addressed. Better communication and outreach are required to build trust in data sharing, and advanced analytic methods will be required to understand the impact of selective sharing on reproducibility and representativeness of research datasets.

Recommendations for the responsible use and communication of race and ethnicity in neuroimaging research

The growing availability of large-population human biomedical datasets provides researchers with unique opportunities to conduct rigorous and impactful studies on brain and behavioral development, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of neurodevelopment in diverse populations. However, the patterns observed in these datasets are more likely to be influenced by upstream structural inequities (that is, structural racism), which can lead to health disparities based on race, ethnicity and social class. This paper addresses the need for guidance and self-reflection in biomedical research on conceptualizing, contextualizing and communicating issues related to race and ethnicity. We provide recommendations as a starting point for researchers to rethink race and ethnicity choices in study design, model specification, statistical analysis and communication of results, implement practices to avoid the further stigmatization of historically minoritized groups, and engage in research practices that counteract existing harmful biases.

Sex, gender diversity, and brain structure in early adolescence

There remains little consensus about the relationship between sex and brain structure, particularly in early adolescence. Moreover, few pediatric neuroimaging studies have analyzed both sex and gender as variables of interest-many of which included small sample sizes and relied on binary definitions of gender. The current study examined gender diversity with a continuous felt-gender score and categorized sex based on X and Y allele frequency in a large sample of children ages 9-11 years old (N = 7195). Then, a statistical model-building approach was employed to determine whether gender diversity and sex independently or jointly relate to brain morphology, including subcortical volume, cortical thickness, gyrification, and white matter microstructure. Additional sensitivity analyses found that male versus female differences in gyrification and white matter were largely accounted for by total brain volume, rather than sex per se. The model with sex, but not gender diversity, was the best-fitting model in 60.1% of gray matter regions and 61.9% of white matter regions after adjusting for brain volume. The proportion of variance accounted for by sex was negligible to small in all cases. While models including felt-gender explained a greater amount of variance in a few regions, the felt-gender score alone was not a significant predictor on its own for any white or gray matter regions examined. Overall, these findings demonstrate that at ages 9-11 years old, sex accounts for a small proportion of variance in brain structure, while gender diversity is not directly associated with neurostructural diversity.

Early life stress and functional network topology in children

Brain networks are continuously modified throughout development, yet this plasticity can also make functional networks vulnerable to early life stress. Little is currently known about the effect of early life stress on the functional organization of the brain. The current study investigated the association between environmental stressors and network topology using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD®) Study. Hierarchical modeling identified a general factor of environmental stress, representing the common variance across multiple stressors, as well as four subfactors including familial dynamics, interpersonal support, neighborhood SES deprivation, and urbanicity. Functional network topology metrics were obtained using graph theory at rest and during tasks of reward processing, inhibition, and affective working memory. The general factor of environmental stress was associated with less specialization of networks, represented by lower modularity at rest. Local metrics indicated that general environmental stress was also associated with less efficiency in the subcortical-cerebellar and visual networks while showing greater efficiency in the default mode network at rest. Subfactors of environmental stress were associated with differences in specialization and efficiency in select networks. The current study illustrates that a wide range of stressors in a child's environment are associated with differences in brain network topology.

The promise and pitfalls of a strength-based approach to child poverty and neurocognitive development: Implications for policy

There has been significant progress in understanding the effects of childhood poverty on neurocognitive development. This progress has captured the attention of policymakers and promoted progressive policy reform. However, the prevailing emphasis on the harms associated with childhood poverty may have inadvertently perpetuated a deficit-based narrative, focused on the presumed shortcomings of children and families in poverty. This focus can have unintended consequences for policy (e.g., overlooking strengths) as well as public discourse (e.g., focusing on individual rather than systemic factors). Here, we join scientists across disciplines in arguing for a more well-rounded, "strength-based" approach, which incorporates the positive and/or adaptive developmental responses to experiences of social disadvantage. Specifically, we first show the value of this approach in understanding normative brain development across diverse human environments. We then highlight its application to educational and social policy, explore pitfalls and ethical considerations, and offer practical solutions to conducting strength-based research responsibly. Our paper re-ignites old and recent calls for a strength-based paradigm shift, with a focus on its application to developmental cognitive neuroscience. We also offer a unique perspective from a new generation of early-career researchers engaged in this work, several of whom themselves have grown up in conditions of poverty. Ultimately, we argue that a balanced strength-based scientific approach will be essential to building more effective policies.

Visual and cognitive processes contribute to age-related improvements in visual selective attention

Children (N = 103, 4-9 years, 59 females, 84% White, c. 2019) completed visual processing, visual feature integration (color, luminance, motion), and visual search tasks. Contrast sensitivity and feature search improved with age similarly for luminance and color-defined targets. Incidental feature integration improved more with age for color-motion than luminance-motion. Individual differences in feature search (β  = .11) and incidental feature integration (β  = .06) mediated age-related changes in conjunction visual search, an index of visual selective attention. These findings suggest that visual selective attention is best conceptualized as a series of developmental trajectories, within an individual, that vary by an object's defining features. These data have implications for design of educational and interventional strategies intended to maximize attention for learning and memory.

It takes a village: A multi-brain approach to studying multigenerational family communication

Grandparents play a critical role in child rearing across the globe. Yet, there is a shortage of neurobiological research examining the relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren. We employ multi-brain neurocomputational models to simulate how changes in neurophysiological processes in both development and healthy aging affect multigenerational inter-brain coupling - a neural marker that has been linked to a range of socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes. The simulations suggest that grandparent-child interactions may be paired with higher inter-brain coupling than parent-child interactions, raising the possibility that the former may be more advantageous under certain conditions. Critically, this enhancement of inter-brain coupling for grandparent-child interactions is more pronounced in tri-generational interactions that also include a parent, which may speak to findings that grandparent involvement in childrearing is most beneficial if the parent is also an active household member. Together, these findings underscore that a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of cross-generational interactions is vital, and that such knowledge can be helpful in guiding interventions that consider the whole family. We advocate for a community neuroscience approach in developmental social neuroscience to capture the diversity of child-caregiver relationships in real-world settings.

Sociodemographic reporting and sample composition over 3 decades of psychopathology research: A systematic review and quantitative synthesis

Although researchers seek to understand psychological phenomena in a population, quantitative research studies are conducted in smaller samples meant to represent the larger population of interest. This systematic review and quantitative synthesis considers reporting of sociodemographic characteristics and sample composition in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (now the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science) over the past 3 decades. Across k = 1,244 empirical studies, there were high and increasing rates of reporting of participant age/developmental stage and sex/gender, low but increasing reporting of socioeconomic status/income, and moderate and stable reporting of educational attainment. Rates of reporting of sexual orientation remained low and reporting of gender identity was essentially nonexistent. There were low to moderate but increasing rates of reporting of participant race and ethnicity. Approximately three-quarters of participants in studies over the past 3 decades were White, while the proportion of participants who were Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Hispanic/Latino was much lower. Approximately two-thirds of participants were female, with this proportion increasing over time. There were also notable differences in the proportion of study participants as a function of race and sex/gender for different forms of psychopathology. Basic science and theoretical psychopathology research must include sociodemographically diverse samples that are representative of and generalizable to the larger human population, while seeking to decrease stigma of psychopathology and increase mental health equity. Recommendations are made to increase sociodemographic diversity in psychopathology research and the scientific review/publication process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

What's Next? Advances and Challenges in Understanding How Environmental Predictability Shapes the Development of Cognitive Control

Forming predictions about what will happen next in the world happens early in development, without instruction, and across species. Some environments support more accurate predictions. These more predictable environments also support what appear to be positive developmental trajectories, including increases in cognitive control over thoughts and actions. Such consequences of predictable environments have broad-reaching implications for society and have been explained across ecological, psychological, computational, and neural frameworks. However, many challenges remain in understanding the effects of environmental predictability, including adaptive responses to unpredictable environments and the mechanisms underlying the effects of predictable environments on developmental trajectories. Future work addressing different dimensions of predictability -- across time scales, locations, actions, people, and outcomes -- and their interactions will advance the ability to understand, predict, and support developmental trajectories.

The Ecological Resilience Framework: The Justice Ambassadors Youth Council as a model for community-based resilience

We present an 'Ecological Resilience Framework' (ERF) to demonstrate how resilience is created through the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council (JAYC) program. JAYC is a platform in which New York government representatives collaboratively learn and develop policy solutions alongside emerging adults who are criminal legal system impacted and reside in predominantly Black and Hispanic communities characterized by chronically high levels of poverty, violence, and incarceration. We focus our work on the process of developing resilience in the context of structural social inequity and injustice. We argue that resilience can best be understood in the context of the adversity to which it is a response, not as an isolated individual quality. Therefore, resilience science is at its best when it incorporates a multi-disciplinary scientific perspective, one that addresses a continuum from individual- to community- to society-level physical, cognitive, relationship, and mental health variables. To demonstrate how our ERF incorporates this approach, we outline how JAYC not only supports young adult participants in understanding their individual life trajectories and narrative identity, but also actively connects them within a diverse social network of mentors and to various opportunities that support a healthy transition to adult resilience.

Socioeconomic Status and Reading Development: Moving from "Deficit" to "Adaptation" in Neurobiological Models of Experience-Dependent Learning

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the strongest predictors of student reading outcomes, and these disparities have persisted for decades. Relatedly, two underlying skills that are required for successful reading-oral language and executive function (EF)-are also the two neurocognitive domains most affected by SES. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on how SES influences the neurobiology of language, EF, and their intersection, including the proximal factors that drive these relationships. We then consider the burgeoning evidence that SES systematically moderates certain brain-behavior relationships for language and EF, underscoring the importance of considering context in investigations of the neurobiological underpinnings of reading development. Finally, we discuss how disparities in reading may be conceptualized as neurobiological adaptations to adversity rather than deficit models. We conclude by suggesting that by harnessing children's stress-adapted relative strengths to support reading development, we may address opportunity gaps both ethically and efficaciously.

Associations between maternal stress and infant resting brain activity among families residing in poverty in the U.S

Growing evidence suggests that maternal experiences of stress shape children's functional brain activity in the first years of life. Individuals living in poverty are more likely to experience stress from a variety of sources. However, it is unclear how stress is related to resting brain activity among children born into poverty. The present study examines whether infants born into households experiencing poverty show differences in brain activity associated with maternal reports of experiencing stress. The analytic sample comprised 247 mother-infant dyads who completed maternal questionnaires characterizing stress, and for whom recordings of infant resting brain activity were obtained at 1 year of age (M=12.93 months, SD=1.66; 50% female). Mothers (40% Black, non-Hispanic, 40% Hispanic, 12% White, non-Hispanic) who reported higher stress had infants who showed more resting brain activity in the lower end of the frequency spectrum (relative theta power) and less resting brain activity in the middle range of the frequency spectrum (relative alpha power). While statistically detectable at the whole-brain level, follow-up exploratory analyses revealed that these effects were most apparent in electrodes over frontal and parietal regions of the brain. These findings held after adjusting for a variety of potentially confounding variables. Altogether, the present study suggests that, among families experiencing low economic resources, maternal reports of stress are associated with differences in patterns of infant resting brain activity during the first year of life.

Intergenerational Transmission of Maternal Childhood Maltreatment Prior to Birth: Effects on Human Fetal Amygdala Functional Connectivity

OBJECTIVE

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a potent risk factor for developing psychopathology later in life. Accumulating research suggests that the influence is not limited to the exposed individual but may also be transmitted across generations. In this study, we examine the effect of CM in pregnant women on fetal amygdala-cortical function, prior to postnatal influences.

METHOD

Healthy pregnant women (N = 89) completed fetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) scans between the late second trimester and birth. Women were primarily from low socioeconomic status households with relatively high CM. Mothers completed questionnaires prospectively evaluating prenatal psychosocial health and retrospectively evaluating trauma from their own childhood. Voxelwise functional connectivity was calculated from bilateral amygdala masks.

RESULTS

Connectivity of the amygdala network was relatively higher to left frontal areas (prefrontal cortex and premotor) and relatively lower to right premotor area and brainstem areas in fetuses of mothers exposed to higher CM. These associations persisted after controlling for maternal socioeconomic status, maternal prenatal distress, measures of fetal motion, and gestational age at the time of scan and at birth.

CONCLUSION

Pregnant women's experiences of CM are associated with offspring brain development in utero. The strongest effects were found in the left hemisphere, potentially indicating lateralization of the effects of maternal CM on the fetal brain. This study suggests that the time frame of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease research should be extended to exposures from mothers' childhood, and indicates that the intergenerational transmission of trauma may occur prior to birth.

Fetal Frontolimbic Connectivity Prospectively Associates With Aggression in Toddlers

Background

Aggression is a major public health concern that emerges early in development and lacks optimized treatment, highlighting need for improved mechanistic understanding regarding the etiology of aggression. The present study leveraged fetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify candidate neurocircuitry for the onset of aggressive behaviors before symptom emergence.

Methods

Pregnant mothers were recruited during the third trimester of pregnancy to complete a fetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Mothers subsequently completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess child aggression at 3 years postpartum (n = 79). Independent component analysis was used to define frontal and limbic regions of interest.

Results

Child aggression was not related to within-network connectivity of subcortical limbic regions or within-medial prefrontal network connectivity in fetuses. However, weaker functional coupling between the subcortical limbic network and medial prefrontal network in fetuses was prospectively associated with greater maternal-rated child aggression at 3 years of age even after controlling for maternal emotion dysregulation and toddler language ability. We observed similar, but weaker, associations between fetal frontolimbic functional connectivity and toddler internalizing symptoms.

Conclusions

Neural correlates of aggressive behavior may be detectable in utero, well before the onset of aggression symptoms. These preliminary results highlight frontolimbic connections as potential candidate neurocircuitry that should be further investigated in relation to the unfolding of child behavior and psychiatric risk.

OWLET: An automated, open-source method for infant gaze tracking using smartphone and webcam recordings

Groundbreaking insights into the origins of the human mind have been garnered through the study of eye movements in preverbal subjects who are unable to explain their thought processes. Developmental research has largely relied on in-lab testing with trained experimenters. This constraint provides a narrow window into infant cognition and impedes large-scale data collection in families from diverse socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds. Here we introduce a new open-source methodology for automatically analyzing infant eye-tracking data collected on personal devices in the home. Using algorithms from computer vision, machine learning, and ecological psychology, we develop an online webcam-linked eye tracker (OWLET) that provides robust estimation of infants' point of gaze from smartphone and webcam recordings of infant assessments in the home. We validate OWLET in a large sample of 7-month-old infants (N = 127) tested remotely, using an established visual attention task. We show that this new method reliably estimates infants' point-of-gaze across a variety of contexts, including testing on both computers and mobile devices, and exhibits excellent external validity with parental-report measures of attention. Our platform fills a significant gap in current tools available for rapid online data collection and large-scale assessments of cognitive processes in infants. Remote assessment addresses the need for greater diversity and accessibility in human studies and may support the ecological validity of behavioral experiments. This constitutes a critical and timely advance in a core domain of developmental research and in psychological science more broadly.

Sex, gender diversity, and brain structure in children ages 9 to 11 years old

There remains little consensus about the relationship between sex and brain structure, particularly in childhood. Moreover, few pediatric neuroimaging studies have analyzed both sex and gender as variables of interest - many of which included small sample sizes and relied on binary definitions of gender. The current study examined gender diversity with a continuous felt-gender score and categorized sex based on X and Y allele frequency in a large sample of children ages 9-11 years-old (N=7693). Then, a statistical model-building approach was employed to determine whether gender diversity and sex independently or jointly relate to brain morphology, including subcortical volume, cortical thickness, gyrification, and white matter microstructure. The model with sex, but not gender diversity, was the best-fitting model in 75% of gray matter regions and 79% of white matter regions examined. The addition of gender to the sex model explained significantly more variance than sex alone with regard to bilateral cerebellum volume, left precentral cortical thickness, as well as gyrification in the right superior frontal gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus, and several regions in the left parietal lobe. For mean diffusivity in the left uncinate fasciculus, the model with sex, gender, and their interaction captured the most variance. Nonetheless, the magnitude of variance accounted for by sex was small in all cases and felt-gender score was not a significant predictor on its own for any white or gray matter regions examined. Overall, these findings demonstrate that at ages 9-11 years-old, sex accounts for a small proportion of variance in brain structure, while gender diversity is not directly associated with neurostructural diversity.

MindingMe: A Feasibility Study on Conducting Neuroimaging Research Among Diverse Groups

BACKGROUND

Neuroimaging tools, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, are useful in understanding differences in brain activity that predict behavior change. Designing interventions based on brain activity and response may enhance current self-management regimens. Yet, diverse groups, such as Black women with chronic illness, have historically been left out of neuroimaging research.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to assess (a) the feasibility of conducting neuroimaging research among Black women with hypertension and (b) the predictors of willingness to participate in future studies.

METHODS

A survey designed to assess interest in participating in neuroimaging research was distributed through a Facebook campaign targeting Metro-Detroit Blacks with hypertension. A 10-minute, 44-item survey queried the women regarding their perspectives related to participation in neuroimaging studies. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict willingness to participate in a future study; they included a range of predictors: demographic indicators, history of blood pressure diagnosis, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and availability of a support person who could accompany the participant to a future study session.

RESULTS

Two hundred fifty-seven Black women completed the survey. On average, the women were 59 years old, had been diagnosed with hypertension for 14 years, and had a systolic blood pressure of 141 mmHg. Participants were willing to travel 40 miles to participate, and many preferred to drive a personal vehicle. Some women were claustrophobic (20%) or had metal in their bodies (13%) and, therefore, would likely be ineligible to participate in neuroimaging studies. Some were nervous about the "small space" of a scanner, but others stated they would "enjoy participating" and wanted to "help future people…get well." Women who had a support person to attend their appointment with them were almost 4 times more likely to state they would participate in future studies. Those who had been diagnosed with hypertension for more than 11 years (the median) were almost 3 times more likely to report interest in participating in a future study than those participants who had been diagnosed with hypertension for 11 years or less.

DISCUSSION

Black women with hypertension were interested and eligible to participate in neuroimaging research. Despite some of the facilitators and barriers we identified, the women in our sample were interested in participating in future studies. The presence of a support person and length of time with a hypertension diagnosis are important predictors of willingness to participate in a future study.

Responding to joint attention as a developmental catalyst: Longitudinal associations with language and social responsiveness

Joint attention (JA), infants' ability to engage in triadic attention with another person and a separate object or event, emerges in infancy. Responding to joint attention (RJA) develops earlier than initiating joint attention (IJA) and may benefit from a reconceptualization from a competence to a skill that varies in performance. Investigating associations between RJA performance and important skills of toddlerhood such as language, social responsiveness, and executive function (EF) in typically developing samples can better elucidate how RJA may serve as a developmental precursor to later dimensional skills, with implications for both typical and atypical development. Here, 210 (82% White) infants completed the Dimensional Joint Attention Assessment (DJAA), a naturalistic play-based assessment of RJA, at 8-15 months. At 16-38 months social responsiveness, verbal ability, and EF were assessed. Multilevel models showed that DJAA scores were associated with later verbal abilities and parent-reported social responsiveness. Exploratory analyses showed trend-level associations between RJA and EF. Results establish the content validity of the DJAA as a measure of RJA, and longitudinal associations with later verbal ability and social responsiveness. Future work should examine EF emergence and consolidation, and RJA and later EF associations.

Why doesn't executive function training improve academic achievement? Rethinking individual differences, relevance, and engagement from a contextual framework

Performance on lab assessments of executive functions predicts academic achievement and other positive life outcomes. A primary goal of research on executive functions has been to design interventions that improve outcomes like academic achievement by improving executive functions. These interventions typically involve extensive practice on abstract lab-based tasks and lead to improvements on these practiced tasks. However, interventions rarely improve performance on non-practiced tasks and rarely benefit outcomes like academic achievement. Contemporary frameworks of executive function development suggest that executive functions develop and are engaged within personal, social, historical, and cultural contexts. Abstract lab-based tasks do not well-capture the real-world contexts that require executive functions and should not be expected to provide generalized benefits outside of the lab. We propose a perspective for understanding individual differences in performance on executive function assessments that focuses on contextual influences on executive functions. We extend this contextual approach to training executive function engagement, rather than training executive functions directly. First, interventions should incorporate task content that is contextually relevant to the targeted outcome. Second, interventions should encourage engaging executive functions through reinforcement and contextual relevance, which may better translate to real-world outcomes than training executive functions directly. While such individualized executive functions interventions do not address systemic factors that greatly impact outcomes like academic achievement, given the extensive resources devoted to improving executive functions, we hypothesize that interventions designed to encourage children's engagement of executive functions hold more promise for impacting real-world outcomes than interventions designed to improve executive function capacities.

Increasing diversity in developmental cognitive neuroscience: A roadmap for increasing representation in pediatric neuroimaging research

Understanding of human brain development has advanced rapidly as the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience (DCN) has matured into an established scientific discipline. Despite substantial progress, DCN lags behind other related disciplines in terms of diverse representation, standardized reporting requirements for socio-demographic characteristics of participants in pediatric neuroimaging studies, and use of intentional sampling strategies to more accurately represent the socio-demographic, ethnic, and racial composition of the populations from which participants are sampled. Additional efforts are needed to shift DCN towards a more inclusive field that facilitates the study of individual differences across a variety of cultural and contextual experiences. In this commentary, we outline and discuss barriers within our current scientific practice (e.g., research methods) and beliefs (i.e., what constitutes good science, good scientists, and good research questions) that contribute to under-representation and limited diversity within pediatric neuroimaging studies and propose strategies to overcome those barriers. We discuss strategies to address barriers at intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, systemic, and structural levels. Highlighting strength-based models of inclusion and recognition of the value of diversity in DCN research, along with acknowledgement of the support needed to diversify the field is critical for advancing understanding of neurodevelopment and reducing health inequities.

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.

Developmental Considerations for Understanding Perceptions and Impacts of Identity-Related Differences: Focusing on Adolescence

Biological psychiatry, similar to many other scientific fields, is grappling with the challenge of revising its practices with an eye toward promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity. One arena in which much of this work will have significant impact is in developmental science generally and the study of adolescence specifically. Adolescence is a critical period during human development during which important social, neural, and cognitive maturation processes take place. It is also a time marked by risky behaviors and the onset of a range of mental disorders. Social and developmental research has provided insight into the cognitive and neural processes by which perceptions of identity-related differences emerge. Clinical research aimed at understanding how individuals from diverse backgrounds navigate the transition period of adolescence is critical for identifying the unique factors underlying risk and resilience in minoritized populations. Taking a developmental perspective, we review processes by which the brain understands group differences and how the developmental timing of this can influence antecedents of psychological distress. We close with a call to action, pointing to important understudied areas within the field of biological psychiatry that are critical for supporting mental health among diverse adolescent populations.

Socioeconomic dissociations in the neural and cognitive bases of reading disorders

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) strongly predicts disparities in reading development, yet it is unknown whether early environments also moderate the cognitive and neurobiological bases of reading disorders (RD) such as dyslexia, the most prevalent learning disability. SES-diverse 6-9-year-old children (n = 155, half with RD) completed behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks engaging phonological and orthographic processing, which revealed corresponding double-dissociations in neurocognitive deficits. At the higher end of the SES spectrum, RD was most strongly explained by differences in phonological skill and corresponding activation in left inferior frontal and temporoparietal regions during phonological processing-widely considered the "core deficit" of RD. However, at the lower end of the SES spectrum, RD was most strongly explained by differences in rapid naming skills and corresponding activation in left temporoparietal and fusiform regions during orthographic processing. Findings indicate that children's early environments systematically moderate the neurocognitive systems underlying RD, which has implications for assessment and treatment approaches to reduce SES disparities in RD outcomes. Further, results suggest that reliance on high-SES convenience samples may mask critical heterogeneity in the foundations of both typical and disordered reading development.

The brain in social context: A systematic review of substance use and social processing from adolescence to young adulthood

Substance use escalates between adolescence and young adulthood, and most experimentation occurs among peers. To understand underlying mechanisms, research has focused on neural response during relevant psychological processes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research provides a wealth of information about brain activity when processing monetary rewards; however, most studies have used tasks devoid of social stimuli. Given that adolescent neurodevelopment is sculpted by the push-and-pull of peers and emotions, identifying neural substrates is important for intervention. We systematically reviewed 28 fMRI studies examining substance use and neural responses to stimuli including social reward, emotional faces, social influence, and social stressors. We found substance use was positively associated with social-reward activity (e.g., in the ventral striatum), and negatively with social-stress activity (e.g., in the amygdala). For emotion, findings were mixed with more use linked to heightened response (e.g., in amygdala), but also with decreased response (e.g., in insula). For social influence, evidence supported both positive (e.g., cannabis and nucleus accumbens during conformity) and negative (e.g., polydrug and ventromedial PFC during peers' choices) relations between activity and use. Based on the literature, we offer recommendations for future research on the neural processing of social information to better identify risks for substance use.

Key considerations for child and adolescent MRI data collection

Cognitive neuroimaging researchers' ability to infer accurate statistical conclusions from neuroimaging depends greatly on the quality of the data analyzed. This need for quality control is never more evident than when conducting neuroimaging studies with children and adolescents. Developmental neuroimaging requires patience, flexibility, adaptability, extra time, and effort. It also provides us a unique, non-invasive way to understand the development of cognitive processes, individual differences, and the changing relations between brain and behavior over the lifespan. In this discussion, we focus on collecting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, as it is one of the more complex protocols used with children and youth. Through our extensive experience collecting MRI datasets with children and families, as well as a review of current best practices, we will cover three main topics to help neuroimaging researchers collect high-quality datasets. First, we review key recruitment and retention techniques, and note the importance for consistency and inclusion across groups. Second, we discuss ways to reduce scan anxiety for families and ways to increase scan success by describing the pre-screening process, use of a scanner simulator, and the need to focus on participant and family comfort. Finally, we outline several important design considerations in developmental neuroimaging such as asking a developmentally appropriate question, minimizing data loss, and the applicability of public datasets. Altogether, we hope this article serves as a useful tool for those wishing to enter or learn more about developmental cognitive neuroscience.

A practical guide for researchers and reviewers using the ABCD Study and other large longitudinal datasets

As the largest longitudinal study of adolescent brain development and behavior to date, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® has provided immense opportunities for researchers across disciplines since its first data release in 2018. The size and scope of the study also present a number of hurdles, which range from becoming familiar with the study design and data structure to employing rigorous and reproducible analyses. The current paper is intended as a guide for researchers and reviewers working with ABCD data, highlighting the features of the data (and the strengths and limitations therein) as well as relevant analytical and methodological considerations. Additionally, we explore justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts as they pertain to the ABCD Study and other large-scale datasets. In doing so, we hope to increase both accessibility of the ABCD Study and transparency within the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience.

Hidden talents in context: Cognitive performance with abstract versus ecological stimuli among adversity-exposed youth

Adversity-exposed youth tend to score lower on cognitive tests. However, the hidden talents approach proposes some abilities are enhanced by adversity, especially under ecologically relevant conditions. Two versions of an attention-shifting and working memory updating task-one abstract, one ecological-were administered to 618 youth (M_age  = 13.62, SD_age  = 0.81; 48.22% female; 64.56% White). Measures of environmental unpredictability, violence, and poverty were collected to test adversity × task version interactions. There were no interactions for attention shifting. For working memory updating, youth exposed to violence and poverty scored lower than their peers with abstract stimuli but almost just as well with ecological stimuli. These results are striking compared to contemporary developmental science, which often reports lowered performance among adversity-exposed youth.

The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity

This study demonstrates the causal impact of a poverty reduction intervention on early childhood brain activity. Data from the Baby’s First Years study, a randomized control trial, show that a predictable, monthly unconditional cash transfer given to low-income families may have a causal impact on infant brain activity. In the context of greater economic resources, children’s experiences changed, and their brain activity adapted to those experiences. The resultant brain activity patterns have been shown to be associated with the development of subsequent cognitive skills.

Early childhood poverty is a risk factor for lower school achievement, reduced earnings, and poorer health, and has been associated with differences in brain structure and function. Whether poverty causes differences in neurodevelopment, or is merely associated with factors that cause such differences, remains unclear. Here, we report estimates of the causal impact of a poverty reduction intervention on brain activity in the first year of life. We draw data from a subsample of the Baby’s First Years study, which recruited 1,000 diverse low-income mother–infant dyads. Shortly after giving birth, mothers were randomized to receive either a large or nominal monthly unconditional cash gift. Infant brain activity was assessed at approximately 1 y of age in the child’s home, using resting electroencephalography (EEG; n = 435). We hypothesized that infants in the high-cash gift group would have greater EEG power in the mid- to high-frequency bands and reduced power in a low-frequency band compared with infants in the low-cash gift group. Indeed, infants in the high-cash gift group showed more power in high-frequency bands. Effect sizes were similar in magnitude to many scalable education interventions, although the significance of estimates varied with the analytic specification. In sum, using a rigorous randomized design, we provide evidence that giving monthly unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing poverty in the first year of their children’s lives may change infant brain activity. Such changes reflect neuroplasticity and environmental adaptation and display a pattern that has been associated with the development of subsequent cognitive skills.