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Kumpulainen V, Copeland A, Pulli EP, Silver E, Kataja EL, Saukko E, Merisaari H, Lewis JD, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Tuulari JJ. Prenatal and Postnatal Maternal Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With White Matter Integrity in 5-Year-Olds in a Sex-Specific Manner. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 94:924-935. [PMID: 37220833 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal and postnatal maternal psychological distress predicts various detrimental consequences on social, behavioral, and cognitive development of offspring, especially in girls. Maturation of white matter (WM) continues from prenatal development into adulthood and is thus susceptible to exposures both before and after birth. METHODS WM microstructural features of 130 children (mean age, 5.36 years; range, 5.04-5.79 years; 63 girls) and their association with maternal prenatal and postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms were investigated with diffusion tensor imaging, tract-based spatial statistics, and regression analyses. Maternal questionnaires were collected during first, second, and third trimesters and at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) for depressive symptoms and Symptom Checklist-90 for general anxiety. Covariates included child's sex; child's age; maternal prepregnancy body mass index; maternal age; socioeconomic status; and exposures to smoking, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and synthetic glucocorticoids during pregnancy. RESULTS Prenatal second-trimester EPDS scores were positively associated with fractional anisotropy in boys (p < .05, 5000 permutations) after controlling for EPDS scores 3 months postpartum. In contrast, postpartum EPDS scores at 3 months correlated negatively with fractional anisotropy (p < .01, 5000 permutations) in widespread areas only in girls after controlling for prenatal second-trimester EPDS scores. Perinatal anxiety was not associated with WM structure. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that prenatal and postnatal maternal psychological distress is associated with brain WM tract developmental alterations in a sex- and timing-dependent manner. Future studies including behavioral data are required to consolidate associative outcomes for these alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Venla Kumpulainen
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
| | - Anni Copeland
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Elmo P Pulli
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Eero Silver
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Eeva-Leena Kataja
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Ekaterina Saukko
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Harri Merisaari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - John D Lewis
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Clinical Medicine, Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jetro J Tuulari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Boccia M, Teghil A, Raimo S, Di Vita A, Grossi D, Guariglia C, Palermo L. Neural substrates of interoceptive sensibility: An integrated study in normal and pathological functioning. Neuropsychologia 2023; 183:108504. [PMID: 36746344 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
In early studies interoception strictly referred to the awareness of visceral sensations, but recent theories have expanded this concept to denote the ongoing status of the body, including somatosensory feelings. Here, we integrated data from normal and pathological functioning to disclose neural underpinnings of interoceptive sensibility, taking into account the crucial distinction between visceral and somatosensory feelings. Twenty-seven healthy young individuals underwent structural MRI (including T1w images and DTI). Voxel-wise analyses of the gyrification index (GI) and fractional anisotropy (FA) data were performed to assess the relation between interoceptive sensibility and surface morphometry and anatomical connectivity. Thirty-three unilateral brain-damaged patients took part in this study for Voxel-Based Lesion-Symptom Mapping (VLSM) and track-wise hodological lesion-deficit analysis (TWH). All participants completed the Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ), a self-report tool assessing interoceptive sensibility of visceral (F1) and somatosensory feelings (F2). Tract-Based Spatial Statistics showed that F2 was positively associated with FA in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, cingulum, forceps, inferior longitudinal, fronto-occipital, superior longitudinal, and uncinate fasciculi; no significant association was detected for F1. However, F1 was positively associated with GI in the left anterior cingulate cortex. VLSM showed that F1 mainly relies on the right posterior insula, whereas F2 is related mostly to subcortical nuclei and surrounding white matter in the right hemisphere. Accordingly, patients with disconnection of the anterior thalamic projection, corticospinal tract, inferior fronto-occipital, inferior longitudinal, uncinate and superior longitudinal fasciculus III showed lower scores on F2. Overall, results support the dissociation between interoceptive sensibility of visceral and somatosensory feelings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy.
| | - Alice Teghil
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy
| | - Simona Raimo
- Department of Medical and Surgical in Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Vita
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Dario Grossi
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy
| | - Cecilia Guariglia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy
| | - Liana Palermo
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgical in Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Italy
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Glenn DE, Merenstein JL, Bennett IJ, Michalska KJ. Anxiety symptoms and puberty interactively predict lower cingulum microstructure in preadolescent Latina girls. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20755. [PMID: 36456602 PMCID: PMC9713745 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24803-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Preadolescence is a period of increased vulnerability for anxiety, especially among Latina girls. Reduced microstructure (fractional anisotropy; FA) of white matter tracts between limbic and prefrontal regions may underlie regulatory impairments in anxiety. However, developmental research on the association between anxiety and white matter microstructure is mixed, possibly due to interactive influences with puberty. In a sample of 39 Latina girls (8-13 years), we tested whether pubertal stage moderated the association between parent- and child-reported anxiety symptoms and FA in the cingulum and uncinate fasciculus. Parent- but not child-reported anxiety symptoms predicted lower cingulum FA, and this effect was moderated by pubertal stage, such that this association was only significant for prepubertal girls. Neither anxiety nor pubertal stage predicted uncinate fasciculus FA. These findings suggest that anxiety is associated with disruptions in girls' cingulum white matter microstructure and that this relationship undergoes maturational changes during puberty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana E. Glenn
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
| | - Jenna L. Merenstein
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA ,grid.26009.3d0000 0004 1936 7961Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC USA
| | - Ilana J. Bennett
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
| | - Kalina J. Michalska
- grid.266097.c0000 0001 2222 1582Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
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Nakua H, Hawco C, Forde NJ, Jacobs GR, Joseph M, Voineskos AN, Wheeler AL, Lai MC, Szatmari P, Kelley E, Liu X, Georgiades S, Nicolson R, Schachar R, Crosbie J, Anagnostou E, Lerch JP, Arnold PD, Ameis SH. Cortico-amygdalar connectivity and externalizing/internalizing behavior in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:1963-1979. [PMID: 35469103 PMCID: PMC9232404 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02483-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Background Externalizing and internalizing behaviors contribute to clinical impairment in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Although associations between externalizing or internalizing behaviors and cortico-amygdalar connectivity have been found in clinical and non-clinical pediatric samples, no previous study has examined whether similar shared associations are present across children with different NDDs. Methods Multi-modal neuroimaging and behavioral data from the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Network were used. POND participants aged 6–18 years with a primary diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as typically developing children (TDC) with T1-weighted, resting-state fMRI or diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and parent-report Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) data available, were analyzed (total n = 346). Associations between externalizing or internalizing behavior and cortico-amygdalar structural and functional connectivity indices were examined using linear regressions, controlling for age, gender, and image-modality specific covariates. Behavior-by-diagnosis interaction effects were also examined. Results No significant linear associations (or diagnosis-by-behavior interaction effects) were found between CBCL-measured externalizing or internalizing behaviors and any of the connectivity indices examined. Post-hoc bootstrapping analyses indicated stability and reliability of these null results. Conclusions The current study provides evidence towards an absence of a shared linear relationship between internalizing or externalizing behaviors and cortico-amygdalar connectivity properties across a transdiagnostic sample of children with different primary NDD diagnoses and TDC. Different methodological approaches, including incorporation of multi-dimensional behavioral data (e.g., task-based fMRI) or clustering approaches may be needed to clarify complex brain-behavior relationships relevant to externalizing/internalizing behaviors in heterogeneous clinical NDD populations. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00429-022-02483-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hajer Nakua
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Colin Hawco
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Natalie J Forde
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Grace R Jacobs
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Michael Joseph
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
| | - Aristotle N Voineskos
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Anne L Wheeler
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Peter Szatmari
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Kelley
- Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada
| | - Xudong Liu
- Department of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada
| | | | - Rob Nicolson
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Russell Schachar
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jennifer Crosbie
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Evdokia Anagnostou
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jason P Lerch
- Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Paul D Arnold
- The Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Genetics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Stephanie H Ameis
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Abstract
IMPORTANCE High levels of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) are associated with widespread behavioral and cognitive problems as well as structural alterations of the brain. However, it remains unclear whether low levels of PAE affect brain structure and function, and prior studies generally have not had well-matched control populations (eg, for sociodemographic variables). OBJECTIVE To compare structural brain alterations and behavioral changes in children with lower levels of PAE with those of well-matched controls with no PAE. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this cross-sectional study, participants were selected from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. Children with PAE were compared with controls matched for age, sex, family income, maternal educational level, and caregiver status. Neither group had prenatal exposure to other adverse substances (eg, tobacco, cannabis, illicit drugs). Data were collected from September 1, 2016, to November 15, 2018, and analyzed from October 14, 2020, to February 14, 2022. EXPOSURES Diffusion tensor imaging, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) administration. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Fractional anisotropy (FA); mean, axial, and radial diffusivity from diffusion tensor imaging; brain functional signal variations from functional MRI; and several scores, including internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, from the CBCL. Spearman correlation coefficients between diffusion tensor imaging and functional MRI measures and the CBCL scores were calculated. RESULTS A total of 270 children were included in the analysis (mean [SD] age, 9.86 [0.46] years; 141 female [52.2%] and 129 male [47.8%]), consisting of 135 children with PAE (mean [SD] age, 9.85 [0.65] years; 73 female [54.1%] and 62 male [45.9%]) (mean exposure, 1 drink/wk) and 135 unexposed controls (mean [SD] age, 9.87 [0.04] years; 68 female [50.4%] and 67 male [49.6%]). Children with PAE had lower mean (SD) FA in white matter of the left postcentral (0.35 [0.05] vs 0.36 [0.04]; mean difference, -0.02 [95% CI, -0.03 to -0.01]), left inferior parietal (0.31 [0.07] vs 0.33 [0.06]; mean difference, -0.03 [95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01]), left planum temporale (0.26 [0.04] vs 0.28 [0.03]; mean difference, -0.02 [95% CI, -0.03 to -0.01]), left inferior occipital (0.30 [0.07] vs 0.32 [0.05]; mean difference, -0.03 [95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01]), and right middle occipital (0.30 [0.04] vs 0.31 [0.04]; mean difference, -0.01 [95% CI, -0.02 to -0.01]) areas compared with controls, and higher FA in the gray matter of the putamen (0.22 [0.03] vs 0.21 [0.02]; mean difference, 0.01 [95% CI, 0.005-0.02]). Externalizing behavior scores were higher (worse) in children with PAE than in controls (mean [SD], 45.2 [9.0] vs 42.8 [9.0]; mean difference, 2.39 [95% CI, 0.30-4.47]). Several of these regions had significant group-behavior interactions, such that the higher FA was associated with less problematic behaviors in controls (ρ range, -0.24 to -0.08) but no associations were present in the PAE group (ρ range, 0.02-0.16). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this cross-sectional study, children with low levels of PAE had lower FA and more behavioral problems compared with a well-matched control group. These results suggest that PAE, even in small amounts, has a measurable effect on brain structure in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangyu Long
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Catherine Lebel
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Gallant C, Good D. Examining the role of neuropsychology in community-based pediatric mental health care. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY: CHILD 2022; 12:104-121. [PMID: 35184633 DOI: 10.1080/21622965.2022.2038169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Numerous investigations have demonstrated a link between neuropsychological functioning and mental health. Children with a history of neurological compromise are more vulnerable to mental illness and there is a growing literature indicating that neurocognitive functioning predicts psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. However, not much is known about how neuropsychological information is utilized in community-based mental health care. Thus, we examined what neuropsychological information is available to pediatric centers and how neuropsychological functioning relates to treatment outcomes in these settings. Two content analyses were conducted to identify mental health indicators across different intake sources and these results were compared to a structured intake. Further, a series of standardized neurocognitive and neuroemotional measures were completed and these indices were correlated with treatment outcomes. Qualitative results confirmed that neuropsychological factors are often overlooked when utilizing current approaches and that observable symptoms are a primary focus of treatment. Additionally, neurocognitive deficits were associated with self-reported interpersonal difficulties and caregivers' reports of externalizing; however, only caregiver-reported externalizing challenges correlated with treatment outcomes. Importantly, neurocognitive challenges were associated with long-term treatment responses, suggesting that these factors may be an important therapeutic target. Collectively, these findings indicate a need to incorporate neuropsychological factors in pediatric mental health treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlyn Gallant
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
| | - Dawn Good
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
- Centre for Neuroscience, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
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Brennan D, Wu T, Fan J. Morphometrical Brain Markers of Sex Difference. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:3641-3649. [PMID: 33774662 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Revised: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Many major neuropsychiatric pathologies, some of which appear in adolescence, show differentiated prevalence, onset, and symptomatology across the biological sexes. Therefore, mapping differences in brain structure between males and females during this critical developmental period may provide information about the neural mechanisms underlying the dimorphism of these pathologies. Utilizing a large dataset collected through the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, we investigated the differences of adolescent (9-10 years old) male and female brains (n = 8325) by using a linear Support-Vector Machine Classifier to predict sex based on morphometry and image intensity values of structural brain imaging data. The classifier correctly classified the sex of 86% individuals with the insula, the precentral and postcentral gyri, and the pericallosal sulcus as the most discernable features. These results demonstrate the existence of complex, yet robustly measurable morphometrical brain markers of sex difference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Brennan
- Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Tingting Wu
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA
| | - Jin Fan
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA
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Kathrin B, Michael A H, Ines W, Kerstin H. The relation between sigma power and internalizing problems across development. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 135:302-310. [PMID: 33524677 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Internalizing problems are characterized by deficits in emotion processing and regulation. They are among the most common problems in children and adolescents and mark an increased risk for depressive and anxiety disorders in later life. First evidence suggests that sleep alterations are related to the development and/or persistence of mood and anxiety disorders in children, adolescents, and adults. Most recently, data from clinical samples showed that brain activity in the sigma frequency band (9-16 Hz, i.e. sleep spindle frequency) is associated with internalizing problems in children and adolescents. However, less is known about the association between sigma power and internalizing problems in healthy participants within this age group. Here, we re-analyzed longitudinal data (25 healthy subjects (18 females) at two time points (T1: childhood mean age: 9.52 ± 0.77; T2: adolescence mean age: 16.08 ± 0.91) by correlating sigma power with measures for internalizing problems. Moreover, we calculated sigma power ratios (frontal/central, frontal/parietal, frontal/occipital) to examine whether these measures would reflect developmental changes more accurately. We found that higher values of internalizing problems at T1 were related to a lower decrease in sigma power from T1 to T2 at frontal and central derivations. Furthermore, higher values of internalizing problems at T1 as well as at T2 were related to higher sigma power ratios at T2. We suggest that sigma power may reflect maturational processes (e.g. network efficiency, integrity) related to the development of internalizing problems. In particular, a stronger decrease in frontal sigma power from childhood to adolescence may indicate a healthier development. Thus, our results emphasize the role of sigma power as a useful marker for internalizing problems during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bothe Kathrin
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Hahn Michael A
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Wilhelm Ines
- Translational Psychiatry Unit (TPU), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Hoedlmoser Kerstin
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
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Lichtin RD, Merz EC, He X, Desai PM, Simon KR, Melvin SA, Maskus EA, Noble KG. Material hardship, prefrontal cortex-amygdala structure, and internalizing symptoms in children. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 63:364-377. [PMID: 32754912 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Material hardship, or difficulty affording basic resources such as food, housing, utilities, and health care, increases children's risk for internalizing problems. The uncinate fasciculus (UNC) and two of the gray matter regions it connects-the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala-may play important roles in the neural mechanisms underlying these associations. We investigated associations among material hardship, UNC microstructure, OFC and amygdala structure, and internalizing symptoms in children. Participants were 5-9-year-old children (N = 94, 61% female) from socioeconomically diverse families. Parents completed questionnaires assessing material hardship and children's internalizing symptoms. High-resolution, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (n = 51), and diffusion tensor imaging (n = 58) data were acquired. UNC fractional anisotropy (FA), medial OFC surface area, and amygdala gray matter volume were extracted. Greater material hardship was significantly associated with lower UNC FA, smaller amygdala volume, and higher internalizing symptoms in children, after controlling for age, sex, and family income-to-needs ratio. Lower UNC FA significantly mediated the association between material hardship and internalizing symptoms in girls but not boys. These findings are consistent with the notion that material hardship may lead to altered white matter microstructure and gray matter structure in neural networks critical to emotion processing and regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca D Lichtin
- Department of Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Emily C Merz
- Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Xiaofu He
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pooja M Desai
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Katrina R Simon
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Samantha A Melvin
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Elaine A Maskus
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kimberly G Noble
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Andre QR, Geeraert BL, Lebel C. Brain structure and internalizing and externalizing behavior in typically developing children and adolescents. Brain Struct Funct 2019; 225:1369-1378. [PMID: 31701264 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01973-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Mental health problems often emerge in adolescence and are associated with reduced gray matter thickness or volume in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and limbic system and reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD) of white matter linking these regions. However, few studies have investigated whether internalizing and externalizing behavior are associated with brain structure in children and adolescents without mental health disorders, which is important for understanding the progression of symptoms. 67 T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging datasets were obtained from 48 typically developing participants aged 6-16 years (37M/30F; 19 participants had two visits). Volume was calculated in the prefrontal and limbic structures, and diffusion parameters were assessed in limbic white matter. Linear mixed effects models were used to compute associations between brain structure and internalizing and externalizing behavior, assessed using the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2) Parent Rating Scale. Internalizing behavior was positively associated with MD of the bilateral cingulum. Gender interactions were found in the cingulum, with stronger positive relationships between MD and internalizing behavior in females. Externalizing behavior was negatively associated with FA of the left cingulum, and the left uncinate fasciculus showed an age-behavior interaction. No relationships between behavior and brain volumes survived multiple comparison correction. These results show altered limbic white matter FA and MD related to sub-clinical internalizing and externalizing behavior and further our understanding of neurological markers that may underlie risk for future mental health disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quinn R Andre
- Medical Science Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Bryce L Geeraert
- Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Catherine Lebel
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. .,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. .,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. .,Alberta Children's Hospital, 28 Oki Dr NW, Calgary, AB, T3B 6A8, Canada.
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