The long-term associations between parental behaviors, cognitive function and brain activation in adolescence

The connecting brain in context: How adolescent plasticity supports learning and development

Puberty initiates significant neurobiological changes that amplify adolescents' responsiveness to their environment, facilitating neural adaptation through processes like synaptic pruning, myelination, and neuronal reorganization. This heightened neuroplasticity, combined with their burgeoning social curiosity and appetite for risk, propels adolescents to explore diverse new environments and forge social bonds. Such exploration can accelerate experiential learning and the formation of social networks as adolescents prepare for adult independence. This review examines the complex interplay between adolescent neuroplasticity, environmental influences, and learning processes, synthesizing findings from recent studies that illustrate how factors such as social interactions, school environments, and neighborhood contexts influence both the transient activation and enduring organization of the developing brain. We advocate for incorporating social interaction into adolescent-tailored interventions, leveraging their social plasticity to optimize learning and development during this critical phase. Going forward, we discuss the importance of longitudinal studies that employ multimodal approaches to characterize the dynamic interactions between development and environment, highlighting recent advancements in quantifying environmental impacts in studies of developmental neuroscience. Ultimately, this paper provides an updated synopsis of adolescent neuroplasticity and the environment, underscoring the potential for environmental enrichment programs to support healthy brain development and resilience at this critical development stage.

Parental Deprivation- and Threat-Based Factors Associated with Youth Emotion-Based Neurocircuitry and Externalizing Behavior: A Systematic Review

Parental factors, including negative parenting practices (e.g., family conflict, low monitoring), parental depression, and parental substance use, are associated with externalizing behaviors among youth. However, the ways in which these parental factors are associated with youth brain function and consequent externalizing behavior has been less studied. Both the dimensional and stress acceleration models provide frameworks for understanding how parental factors may be associated with frontolimbic and frontoparietal networks implicated in emotional attention and regulation processes. The current review builds upon this work by examining how deprivation- and threat-based parental factors are associated with youth neurocircuitry involved in emotional functioning and externalizing behaviors. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was completed and included five studies assessing parenting behaviors, six studies assessing parental depressive symptoms and/or diagnosis, and 12 studies assessing parental history of substance use. Synthesis of reviewed studies discusses support for the dimensional and stress acceleration models within the context of deprivation and threat. Further, a limited number of studies tested (i.e., six studies) and supported (i.e., three studies) youth neural structure and function as a mediator of the association between parental factors and youth externalizing behavior. Specific recommendations for future work include more deliberate planning related to sample composition, improved clarity related to parental constructs, consistency in methodology, and longitudinal study design in order to better understand associations between contextual parental influences and youth neural and behavioral functioning.

Associations of parent-adolescent closeness with P3 amplitude, frontal theta, and binge drinking among offspring with high risk for alcohol use disorder

BACKGROUND

Parents impact their offspring's brain development, neurocognitive function, risk, and resilience for alcohol use disorder (AUD) via both genetic and socio-environmental factors. Individuals with AUD and their unaffected children manifest low parietal P3 amplitude and low frontal theta (FT) power, reflecting heritable neurocognitive deficits associated with AUD. Likewise, children who experience poor parenting tend to have atypical brain development and greater rates of alcohol problems. Conversely, positive parenting can be protective and critical for normative development of self-regulation, neurocognitive functioning and the neurobiological systems subserving them. Yet, the role of positive parenting in resiliency toward AUD is understudied and its association with neurocognitive functioning and behavioral vulnerability to AUD among high-risk offspring is less known. Using data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism prospective cohort (N = 1256, mean age [SD] = 19.25 [1.88]), we investigated the associations of closeness with mother and father during adolescence with offspring P3 amplitude, FT power, and binge drinking among high-risk offspring.

METHODS

Self-reported closeness with mother and father between ages 12 and 17 and binge drinking were assessed using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism. P3 amplitude and FT power were assessed in response to target stimuli using a Visual Oddball Task.

RESULTS

Multivariate multiple regression analyses showed that closeness with father was associated with larger P3 amplitude (p = 0.002) and higher FT power (p = 0.01). Closeness with mother was associated with less binge drinking (p = 0.003). Among male offspring, closeness with father was associated with larger P3 amplitude, but among female offspring, closeness with mother was associated with less binge drinking. These associations remained statistically significant with father's and mothers' AUD symptoms, socioeconomic status, and offspring impulsivity in the model.

CONCLUSIONS

Among high-risk offspring, closeness with parents during adolescence may promote resilience for developing AUD and related neurocognitive deficits albeit with important sex differences.