Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101686
Arielle Baskin-Sommers, Dominic Gearing, Jivesh Ramduny, Ziwei Zhang, Nick Townsend, Calvin Dupree, Charlotte Fink, Lily Horenkamp, Nicole R Karcher, Herry Patel, Emily C Kemp, Brooke A Moorman, Kelsey E Hagan, Chelsea Sawyers, Alexandra Potter, Leigh-Anne Cioffredi, Amy West, Allison Purcell, Oluchi Ibe, Dakota Kliamovich, Andrey P Anokhin, Robin L Aupperle, Sandra Brown, Duncan B Clark, John J Foxe, Dylan G Gee, Christine Larson, Erin McGlade, Bonnie J Nagel, Gretchen Neigh, Susan F Tapert, Hannah Giarrusso, Angelica Nunez, Jolene Tay, Katherine L McCurry, Maria Clara Albuquerque de Araujo, Deanna M Barch
This review synthesizes ten years of research utilizing data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, emphasizing how the study's comprehensive, longitudinal design supports a multivariate understanding of adolescent mental health. We focus on studies that have examined the collective or interacting relations of multiple factors to mental health in adolescents, as this unique dataset allows for examining more complex configurations of risk factors. We highlight key findings from ABCD data that have deepened our understanding of the risk factors shaping mental health outcomes in adolescence. Findings underscore the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and/or contextual factors on adolescent mental health. We conclude with a forward-looking discussion of emerging research priorities and opportunities to further leverage the ABCD dataset to inform developmental theory, prevention, and intervention efforts.
{"title":"What we have learned about adolescent mental health and where we are going after a decade with the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.","authors":"Arielle Baskin-Sommers, Dominic Gearing, Jivesh Ramduny, Ziwei Zhang, Nick Townsend, Calvin Dupree, Charlotte Fink, Lily Horenkamp, Nicole R Karcher, Herry Patel, Emily C Kemp, Brooke A Moorman, Kelsey E Hagan, Chelsea Sawyers, Alexandra Potter, Leigh-Anne Cioffredi, Amy West, Allison Purcell, Oluchi Ibe, Dakota Kliamovich, Andrey P Anokhin, Robin L Aupperle, Sandra Brown, Duncan B Clark, John J Foxe, Dylan G Gee, Christine Larson, Erin McGlade, Bonnie J Nagel, Gretchen Neigh, Susan F Tapert, Hannah Giarrusso, Angelica Nunez, Jolene Tay, Katherine L McCurry, Maria Clara Albuquerque de Araujo, Deanna M Barch","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101686","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This review synthesizes ten years of research utilizing data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, emphasizing how the study's comprehensive, longitudinal design supports a multivariate understanding of adolescent mental health. We focus on studies that have examined the collective or interacting relations of multiple factors to mental health in adolescents, as this unique dataset allows for examining more complex configurations of risk factors. We highlight key findings from ABCD data that have deepened our understanding of the risk factors shaping mental health outcomes in adolescence. Findings underscore the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and/or contextual factors on adolescent mental health. We conclude with a forward-looking discussion of emerging research priorities and opportunities to further leverage the ABCD dataset to inform developmental theory, prevention, and intervention efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"101686"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12892054/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146120745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101687
Maayan S Ziv, Monica E Ellwood-Lowe, Morgan Botdorf, Monami Nishio, Elizabeth Bonawitz, Allyson P Mackey
Curiosity scaffolds children's exploration and learning. Yet, the neural mechanisms of curiosity-modulated learning in children remain unclear. Here, we designed an fMRI task to test how curiosity, as defined by children's self-reported excitement about learning information, modulates memory and neural activity in 5- to 8-year-olds (n = 60 with behavioral data, n = 51 with fMRI). We observed greater learning when children reported more curiosity. In whole-brain analyses, high-curiosity was associated with greater activation in inferior frontal gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, the thalamus, and the putamen. Curiosity did not modulate activation in preregistered regions of interest (dorsal attention network, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens) but did modulate activation in an exploratory region of interest, the amygdala. Multivariate searchlight decoding revealed local activity patterns that reliably distinguished reported curiosity levels in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, angular gyrus, precuneus, and cerebellum. Together, these findings are consistent with prior work on curiosity-related activation during information receipt in adults, suggesting that neural systems that support curiosity-driven learning are already engaged in early childhood.
{"title":"Neural responses to state curiosity in young children.","authors":"Maayan S Ziv, Monica E Ellwood-Lowe, Morgan Botdorf, Monami Nishio, Elizabeth Bonawitz, Allyson P Mackey","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101687","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Curiosity scaffolds children's exploration and learning. Yet, the neural mechanisms of curiosity-modulated learning in children remain unclear. Here, we designed an fMRI task to test how curiosity, as defined by children's self-reported excitement about learning information, modulates memory and neural activity in 5- to 8-year-olds (n = 60 with behavioral data, n = 51 with fMRI). We observed greater learning when children reported more curiosity. In whole-brain analyses, high-curiosity was associated with greater activation in inferior frontal gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, the thalamus, and the putamen. Curiosity did not modulate activation in preregistered regions of interest (dorsal attention network, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens) but did modulate activation in an exploratory region of interest, the amygdala. Multivariate searchlight decoding revealed local activity patterns that reliably distinguished reported curiosity levels in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, angular gyrus, precuneus, and cerebellum. Together, these findings are consistent with prior work on curiosity-related activation during information receipt in adults, suggesting that neural systems that support curiosity-driven learning are already engaged in early childhood.</p>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"101687"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12882712/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146107927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101682
Rachel A. Bonney , Sarah L. Greenwood , Danielle Thompson , Monica N. Clarke-Smith , Saige C. Rasmussen , Grace E. Parolek , OgheneTejiri V. Smith , Haley R. Pulliam , Brittany K. Taylor
Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can accumulate to hazardous levels in homes. While previous work has shown that environmental toxicants negatively impact neurodevelopment, little is understood about how radon may affect critical cognitive functions like visuospatial attention, which is subserved by multispectral neural oscillatory dynamics across the developmentally-sensitive attention networks. This study explored the effects of chronic home radon exposure on the developmental trajectories of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention in youths. We recruited 118 youths aged 8-to-15 years-old to complete a visuospatial attention task during magnetoencephalography. Families completed a home radon test, and inattention and hyperactivity symptoms were measured using a self-report questionnaire. We found functionally relevant radon-related aberrations to beta dynamics within the left inferior frontal (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus. In both regions, children with higher radon exposure exhibited stronger beta responses as a function of age, which predicted slower reaction times. Age-related strengthening of beta responses in the IFG was also correlated with lesser attentional symptomology. These results suggest aberrant developmental trajectories of neural processing as a function of increasing radon exposure in critical attention regions, which may indicate compensatory activity to sustain performance and improve attentional stability despite chronic environmental insult.
{"title":"Chronic home radon exposure impacts the development of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention","authors":"Rachel A. Bonney , Sarah L. Greenwood , Danielle Thompson , Monica N. Clarke-Smith , Saige C. Rasmussen , Grace E. Parolek , OgheneTejiri V. Smith , Haley R. Pulliam , Brittany K. Taylor","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can accumulate to hazardous levels in homes. While previous work has shown that environmental toxicants negatively impact neurodevelopment, little is understood about how radon may affect critical cognitive functions like visuospatial attention, which is subserved by multispectral neural oscillatory dynamics across the developmentally-sensitive attention networks. This study explored the effects of chronic home radon exposure on the developmental trajectories of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention in youths. We recruited 118 youths aged 8-to-15 years-old to complete a visuospatial attention task during magnetoencephalography. Families completed a home radon test, and inattention and hyperactivity symptoms were measured using a self-report questionnaire. We found functionally relevant radon-related aberrations to beta dynamics within the left inferior frontal (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus. In both regions, children with higher radon exposure exhibited stronger beta responses as a function of age, which predicted slower reaction times. Age-related strengthening of beta responses in the IFG was also correlated with lesser attentional symptomology. These results suggest aberrant developmental trajectories of neural processing as a function of increasing radon exposure in critical attention regions, which may indicate compensatory activity to sustain performance and improve attentional stability despite chronic environmental insult.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101682"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101680
Jenna H. Chin , Madeleine K. Wyburd , Vladislav Ayzenberg , Laurie Bayet , Berkin Bilgic , Emily M. Chen , Yuting Chen , Áine Dineen , Shohei Fujita , Janelle Liu , Yohan Jun , M. Catalina Camacho , Lilla Zöllei
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into everyday tasks and work environments. However, its adoption in medical image analysis has progressed more slowly due to high clinical stakes, limited availability of labeled data, and substantial variability in imaging protocols and population. These challenges are further pronounced in the field of fetal, infant, and toddler (FIT) neuroimaging, where datasets are especially scarce and subject to large amounts of anatomical variability. However, deep learning (DL), a specific method within machine learning, which is itself a subfield of AI, has emerged as a powerful framework to adapt to the challenges of medical image analysis. This review is written for the broad FIT research community, including clinicians, neuroscientists, and develop mental scientists who may not have formal training in AI. To make the material accessible, we provide a concise overview of DL concepts before reviewing a selected, and non-exhaustive, list of applications of DL in FIT neuroimaging, including structural image analysis, enhancement of data acquisition, modeling of cognitive and perceptual processes, and automated video tagging. In closing, we discuss best practices for data curation, ongoing challenges, and opportunities for future research.
{"title":"Deep learning in fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging research","authors":"Jenna H. Chin , Madeleine K. Wyburd , Vladislav Ayzenberg , Laurie Bayet , Berkin Bilgic , Emily M. Chen , Yuting Chen , Áine Dineen , Shohei Fujita , Janelle Liu , Yohan Jun , M. Catalina Camacho , Lilla Zöllei","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101680","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101680","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into everyday tasks and work environments. However, its adoption in medical image analysis has progressed more slowly due to high clinical stakes, limited availability of labeled data, and substantial variability in imaging protocols and population. These challenges are further pronounced in the field of fetal, infant, and toddler (FIT) neuroimaging, where datasets are especially scarce and subject to large amounts of anatomical variability. However, deep learning (DL), a specific method within machine learning, which is itself a subfield of AI, has emerged as a powerful framework to adapt to the challenges of medical image analysis. This review is written for the broad FIT research community, including clinicians, neuroscientists, and develop mental scientists who may not have formal training in AI. To make the material accessible, we provide a concise overview of DL concepts before reviewing a selected, and non-exhaustive, list of applications of DL in FIT neuroimaging, including structural image analysis, enhancement of data acquisition, modeling of cognitive and perceptual processes, and automated video tagging. In closing, we discuss best practices for data curation, ongoing challenges, and opportunities for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101680"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146078992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101681
Kevin Mammeri , Guillaume Legendre , Fiona Journal , Nathalie Fernandez , Helene Ruppen-Maret , Joanny Combey , Sophie Schwartz , Virginie Sterpenich
Brain maturation and sleep patterns evolve throughout childhood, intricately influencing cognitive functions. However, it remains unclear whether changes in sleep and cognition follow similar or distinct trajectories as a function of age and gender during childhood. We included 61 healthy children (30 boys and 31 girls), aged 5–12 years old, who completed a visual memory task and a sustained attention to response task (SART), before and after undergoing one night of polysomnography at home. Our findings revealed large age-related associations in girls, with N3 and REM durations decreasing and sleep spindle frequency during N2 increasing across development. Conversely, these patterns were not observed in boys. Moreover, a significant interaction showed a shift in delta power topography from posterior to anterior regions in girls compared to boys. Alongside these sleep changes, girls exhibited a predominant excitatory pattern of brain activity during wakefulness as evidenced by a reduction in resting EEG slope. Regarding cognition, we found a large correlation between the increase in sleep spindle frequency in girls and morning accuracy on the SART. Overnight memory consolidation did not vary with age or gender. Taken together, these findings suggest an earlier onset of brain maturation in girls, reflected by less deep sleep, faster sleep spindles, frontal shift in delta power, and greater cortical excitability during wakefulness. This pattern in girls challenges the notion that developmental modifications of sleep are minimal during childhood. How closely may these changes relate to puberty or timing remain to be established in future longitudinal studies.
{"title":"Age and gender-related neurophysiological changes in sleep and wake states during childhood","authors":"Kevin Mammeri , Guillaume Legendre , Fiona Journal , Nathalie Fernandez , Helene Ruppen-Maret , Joanny Combey , Sophie Schwartz , Virginie Sterpenich","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Brain maturation and sleep patterns evolve throughout childhood, intricately influencing cognitive functions. However, it remains unclear whether changes in sleep and cognition follow similar or distinct trajectories as a function of age and gender during childhood. We included 61 healthy children (30 boys and 31 girls), aged 5–12 years old, who completed a visual memory task and a sustained attention to response task (SART), before and after undergoing one night of polysomnography at home. Our findings revealed large age-related associations in girls, with N3 and REM durations decreasing and sleep spindle frequency during N2 increasing across development. Conversely, these patterns were not observed in boys. Moreover, a significant interaction showed a shift in delta power topography from posterior to anterior regions in girls compared to boys. Alongside these sleep changes, girls exhibited a predominant excitatory pattern of brain activity during wakefulness as evidenced by a reduction in resting EEG slope. Regarding cognition, we found a large correlation between the increase in sleep spindle frequency in girls and morning accuracy on the SART. Overnight memory consolidation did not vary with age or gender. Taken together, these findings suggest an earlier onset of brain maturation in girls, reflected by less deep sleep, faster sleep spindles, frontal shift in delta power, and greater cortical excitability during wakefulness. This pattern in girls challenges the notion that developmental modifications of sleep are minimal during childhood. How closely may these changes relate to puberty or timing remain to be established in future longitudinal studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101681"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101678
Vera Mateus , Ana Carolina Santos , Ana Ganho Ávila , Mónica Sobral , Ana Osório , Sara Cruz
Joint attention, or the infant’s ability to coordinate their attention with a social partner towards an object, emerges around 9 months of age and becomes more frequent during the second year of life. Previous studies, especially with adults, highlight the involvement of several networks of the social brain in the processing of joint attention stimuli. This work aims to systematically review the literature on the neural correlates of joint attention in infants aged 8–24 months of age. Four databases were searched for empirical studies published in English from inception to July 2024 (updated in May 2025). Sixteen studies were included, using electroencephalography (EEG, n = 11), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS; n = 3), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; n = 2) to assess brain activation mainly in typically developing infants. EEG studies suggest a pattern of cortical activity in frontal, central and parietal regions of the infants’ brain, alpha-band desynchronization and larger amplitude of the negative central component in response to joint attention stimuli. fNIRS studies found increased activation in the superior temporal sulcus-temporoparietal junction and prefrontal regions of the brain. One fMRI study showed correlations between initiating joint attention and the functional connectivity in brain networks: visual, dorsal attention and default mode networks. In contrast, another study found no relation between left posterior superior temporal cortex connectivity and infant social communication. Findings highlight the importance of investigating the neural mechanisms underlying joint attention in infancy, and their contribution as early indicators of typical and atypical development.
共同注意力，或婴儿与社会伙伴协调注意力的能力，大约在9个月大时出现，并在生命的第二年变得更加频繁。先前的研究，特别是针对成人的研究，强调了社会大脑的几个网络参与了联合注意刺激的处理。本研究旨在系统回顾8-24月龄婴儿联合注意的神经相关文献。检索了四个数据库，检索了从成立到2024年7月（更新于2025年5月）以英文发表的实证研究。纳入16项研究，主要使用脑电图（EEG, n = 11）、功能近红外光谱（fNIRS, n = 3）和功能磁共振成像（fMRI, n = 2）评估典型发育婴儿的脑激活。脑电图研究表明，在联合注意刺激下，婴儿大脑的额叶、中央和顶叶皮层活动模式，α波段不同步，负中枢成分振幅较大。近红外光谱研究发现，大脑的颞上沟-颞顶叶交界处和前额叶区域的激活增加。一项功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究显示，启动联合注意与大脑网络（视觉、背侧注意和默认模式网络）的功能连接之间存在相关性。相比之下，另一项研究发现左侧后颞上皮层连通性与婴儿社会沟通没有关系。研究结果强调了研究婴儿期联合注意的神经机制的重要性，以及它们作为典型和非典型发育的早期指标的贡献。
{"title":"Neural correlates of joint attention in infants aged 8–24 months: A systematic review","authors":"Vera Mateus , Ana Carolina Santos , Ana Ganho Ávila , Mónica Sobral , Ana Osório , Sara Cruz","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Joint attention, or the infant’s ability to coordinate their attention with a social partner towards an object, emerges around 9 months of age and becomes more frequent during the second year of life. Previous studies, especially with adults, highlight the involvement of several networks of the social brain in the processing of joint attention stimuli. This work aims to systematically review the literature on the neural correlates of joint attention in infants aged 8–24 months of age. Four databases were searched for empirical studies published in English from inception to July 2024 (updated in May 2025). Sixteen studies were included, using electroencephalography (EEG, <em>n</em> = 11), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS; <em>n</em> = 3), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; <em>n</em> = 2) to assess brain activation mainly in typically developing infants. EEG studies suggest a pattern of cortical activity in frontal, central and parietal regions of the infants’ brain, alpha-band desynchronization and larger amplitude of the negative central component in response to joint attention stimuli. fNIRS studies found increased activation in the superior temporal sulcus-temporoparietal junction and prefrontal regions of the brain. One fMRI study showed correlations between initiating joint attention and the functional connectivity in brain networks: visual, dorsal attention and default mode networks. In contrast, another study found no relation between left posterior superior temporal cortex connectivity and infant social communication. Findings highlight the importance of investigating the neural mechanisms underlying joint attention in infancy, and their contribution as early indicators of typical and atypical development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101678"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101679
Madelyn G. Nance , Winnie R. Chang , Chad Aldridge , Jennifer Burnsed , Kevin Pelphrey , Santina Zanelli , Meghan H. Puglia
Premature infants often experience hypoxia and require prolonged ventilation, which can trigger systemic inflammation, damage the developing brain, and increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Early intervention is key for ensuring optimal outcomes for those with ASD; thus emphasizing the critical importance of accurately identifying infants at risk as early as possible. Here, infants underwent electroencephalography during social (held) and nonsocial (not held) resting state conditions to assess brain signal variability, saliva collection to determine inflammation, calculation of a novel Prognostic Respiratory Intensity Scoring Metric (PRISM) to assess the burden of respiratory support, and ASD testing in toddlerhood. Higher PRISM scores were associated with increased brain signal entropy during the nonsocial resting state. However, this association was not observed in the social resting state condition – particularly for male babies. Interestingly in female infants, we saw that the relationship between brain signal entropy and PRISM scores were potentially mediated by cytokines. Notably, the interaction between nonsocial resting state brain signal entropy, sex, and PRISM scores predicted risk of developing ASD with 88 % accuracy. These non-invasive measures can identify infants at the highest risk for an ASD diagnosis before discharge.
{"title":"From Breath to Brain: NICU respiratory interventions and bedside brain signal entropy predict later autism risk","authors":"Madelyn G. Nance , Winnie R. Chang , Chad Aldridge , Jennifer Burnsed , Kevin Pelphrey , Santina Zanelli , Meghan H. Puglia","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101679","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101679","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Premature infants often experience hypoxia and require prolonged ventilation, which can trigger systemic inflammation, damage the developing brain, and increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Early intervention is key for ensuring optimal outcomes for those with ASD; thus emphasizing the critical importance of accurately identifying infants at risk as early as possible. Here, infants underwent electroencephalography during social (held) and nonsocial (not held) resting state conditions to assess brain signal variability, saliva collection to determine inflammation, calculation of a novel Prognostic Respiratory Intensity Scoring Metric (PRISM) to assess the burden of respiratory support, and ASD testing in toddlerhood. Higher PRISM scores were associated with increased brain signal entropy during the nonsocial resting state. However, this association was not observed in the social resting state condition – particularly for male babies. Interestingly in female infants, we saw that the relationship between brain signal entropy and PRISM scores were potentially mediated by cytokines. Notably, the interaction between nonsocial resting state brain signal entropy, sex, and PRISM scores predicted risk of developing ASD with 88 % accuracy. These non-invasive measures can identify infants at the highest risk for an ASD diagnosis before discharge.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101679"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101673
Sonya V. Troller-Renfree , Molly A. Costanzo , Greg J. Duncan , Katherine Magnuson , Lisa A. Gennetian , Hirokazu Yoshikawa , Sarah R. Black , Debra S. Karhson , Michael K. Georgieff , Jennifer Mize Nelson , Timothy D. Nelson , Nathan A. Fox , Kimberly G. Noble
Early childhood poverty is associated with neurodevelopmental differences, but causal evidence linking income to brain development is sparse. In the present study, we examine whether four years of monthly unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing low income cause differences in their preschoolers’ brain activity. Shortly after giving birth, mothers were randomized to receive $333/month or $20/month for the first several years of their child’s life as a part of the Baby’s First Years study. Here we report on the impact of these cash gifts on resting brain electric activity recorded at 4 years of age as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). We find no impact on our primary preregistered outcome (an aggregated index of mid-to-high-frequency brain activity) or our secondary preregistered outcome frontal gamma power. We did find, in additional exploratory analyses that were part of our pre-registered analytic plan, that preschoolers in the high-cash gift group had higher alpha power compared to those in the low-cash gift group. There were no differences in theta, beta, or gamma power between groups. Although the primary and secondary preregistered outcomes showed no group differences our exploratory analyses provide some evidence for impacts on children’s alpha power during the preschool years, although this evidence needs further investigation and replication.
{"title":"The impact of a monthly unconditional cash transfer on child brain activity: A 4-year follow-up","authors":"Sonya V. Troller-Renfree , Molly A. Costanzo , Greg J. Duncan , Katherine Magnuson , Lisa A. Gennetian , Hirokazu Yoshikawa , Sarah R. Black , Debra S. Karhson , Michael K. Georgieff , Jennifer Mize Nelson , Timothy D. Nelson , Nathan A. Fox , Kimberly G. Noble","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101673","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101673","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early childhood poverty is associated with neurodevelopmental differences, but causal evidence linking income to brain development is sparse. In the present study, we examine whether four years of monthly unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing low income cause differences in their preschoolers’ brain activity. Shortly after giving birth, mothers were randomized to receive $333/month or $20/month for the first several years of their child’s life as a part of the Baby’s First Years study. Here we report on the impact of these cash gifts on resting brain electric activity recorded at 4 years of age as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). We find no impact on our primary preregistered outcome (an aggregated index of mid-to-high-frequency brain activity) or our secondary preregistered outcome frontal gamma power. We did find, in additional exploratory analyses that were part of our pre-registered analytic plan, that preschoolers in the high-cash gift group had higher alpha power compared to those in the low-cash gift group. There were no differences in theta, beta, or gamma power between groups. Although the primary and secondary preregistered outcomes showed no group differences our exploratory analyses provide some evidence for impacts on children’s alpha power during the preschool years, although this evidence needs further investigation and replication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101673"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101674
Bianca Santi , Matthew Soza , Greta Tuckute , Aalok Sathe , Evelina Fedorenko , Halie Olson
Creating engaging language stimuli suitable for children can be difficult and time-consuming. To simplify and accelerate the process, we developed an automated pipeline that combines existing audio generation and animation tools to generate customizable audiovisual stimuli from text input. The pipeline consists of two components: the first uses Google Cloud Text-to-Speech to generate audio stimuli from text, and the second uses Adobe Character Animator to create video stimuli in which an animated character “speaks” the audio with speech-aligned mouth movements. We evaluated the pipeline with two stimulus sets, including an acoustic comparison between generated audio stimuli and existing human-recorded stimuli. The pipeline is efficient, taking less than 2 min to generate each audiovisual stimulus, and fewer than 9 % of stimuli needed to be regenerated. The audio generation component is particularly fast, taking less than 1 s per stimulus. By leveraging automated tools for language stimulus creation, this pipeline can facilitate developmental research on language and other domains of cognition, especially in cognitive neuroscience studies that require large numbers of stimuli.
{"title":"An automated pipeline for efficiently generating standardized, child-friendly audiovisual language stimuli","authors":"Bianca Santi , Matthew Soza , Greta Tuckute , Aalok Sathe , Evelina Fedorenko , Halie Olson","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creating engaging language stimuli suitable for children can be difficult and time-consuming. To simplify and accelerate the process, we developed an automated pipeline that combines existing audio generation and animation tools to generate customizable audiovisual stimuli from text input. The pipeline consists of two components: the first uses Google Cloud Text-to-Speech to generate audio stimuli from text, and the second uses Adobe Character Animator to create video stimuli in which an animated character “speaks” the audio with speech-aligned mouth movements. We evaluated the pipeline with two stimulus sets, including an acoustic comparison between generated audio stimuli and existing human-recorded stimuli. The pipeline is efficient, taking less than 2 min to generate each audiovisual stimulus, and fewer than 9 % of stimuli needed to be regenerated. The audio generation component is particularly fast, taking less than 1 s per stimulus. By leveraging automated tools for language stimulus creation, this pipeline can facilitate developmental research on language and other domains of cognition, especially in cognitive neuroscience studies that require large numbers of stimuli.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101674"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145979538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101671
Michelle Shaul , Sarah Whittle , Niousha Dehestani , Timothy J. Silk , Nandita Vijayakumar
Early life adversity (ELA) has been linked to shifts in developmental pace. This study examined whether brain maturity during early adolescence was influenced by ELA, and whether it explained the relationship between ELA and mental health problems. A sample (n = 7658, 46 % female) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study was utilized, with data collected at three time points spanning 9–14 years of age. Exposure to threat, psychosocial deprivation, household instability, and socioeconomic stress were measured at baseline. A predictive model of normative brain development (brain age) trained on a large independent lifespan sample was applied to structural neuroimaging data from the second timepoint. Brain-age-gap (BAG) – the difference between model predicted brain age and chronological age – was tested as a mediator of adversity exposure and internalizing/externalizing problems at the third timepoint. A more positive BAG was associated with more externalizing problems, but hypothesized associations between adversity and BAG were not significant. Sex moderation of these pathways suggests adversity may differentially affect the pace of brain development for males and females, which uniquely explains vulnerability to externalizing problems. The findings highlight the importance of examining sex-specific effects of adversity on adolescent development and mental health.
{"title":"Dimensional adversity, brain-age, & mental health: Differences in male and female adolescents","authors":"Michelle Shaul , Sarah Whittle , Niousha Dehestani , Timothy J. Silk , Nandita Vijayakumar","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101671","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101671","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early life adversity (ELA) has been linked to shifts in developmental pace. This study examined whether brain maturity during early adolescence was influenced by ELA, and whether it explained the relationship between ELA and mental health problems. A sample (<em>n</em> = 7658, 46 % female) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study was utilized, with data collected at three time points spanning 9–14 years of age. Exposure to threat, psychosocial deprivation, household instability, and socioeconomic stress were measured at baseline. A predictive model of normative brain development (brain age) trained on a large independent lifespan sample was applied to structural neuroimaging data from the second timepoint. Brain-age-gap (BAG) – the difference between model predicted brain age and chronological age – was tested as a mediator of adversity exposure and internalizing/externalizing problems at the third timepoint. A more positive BAG was associated with more externalizing problems, but hypothesized associations between adversity and BAG were not significant. Sex moderation of these pathways suggests adversity may differentially affect the pace of brain development for males and females, which uniquely explains vulnerability to externalizing problems. The findings highlight the importance of examining sex-specific effects of adversity on adolescent development and mental health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101671"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146012475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号