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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-09DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101672
Fiia Takio , Pilvi Peura , Akie Yada , Anniina Karonen , Pauliina Juntunen , Eeva Holmberg , Eeva Eskola , Elisabeth Nordenswan , Kirby Deater-Deckard , Eeva-Leena Kataja , Asko Tolvanen , Laura Perasto , Elina Mainela-Arnold , Elysia Poggi Davis , Hasse Karlsson , Linnea Karlsson , Saara Nolvi , Riikka Korja
Early executive function (EF) development is crucial for later cognitive and socioemotional outcomes, yet the role of environmental unpredictability, particularly in patterns of maternal sensory signals, remains underexplored. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the associations between unpredictability in maternal sensory signals and children’s early EF profiles from infancy through the preschool years. Using a population-based birth cohort, we observed a small but significant decrease in the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals over time. This suggests that caregiving predictability may increase as children develop. Nonetheless, within-individual unpredictability showed some stability across time. Importantly, lower unpredictability of maternal sensory signals was associated with membership in more favorable EF profiles, characterized by stronger working memory performance at age five. In contrast, children exposed to more unpredictable maternal sensory signals demonstrated poorer early EF development. These findings build on and extend prior work by modeling unpredictability of maternal sensory signals longitudinally beyond toddlerhood and linking it to children's EF development, highlighting the prolonged sensitivity of EFs to caregiving behavior. Our results underscore that unpredictability in caregiving behavior is a unique and critical factor in shaping early cognitive development and self-regulation. The findings align with emerging cross-species research indicating that patterns of sensory signals are vital not only for sensory processing but also for the development of higher-order cognitive functions. Together, these findings highlight the importance of addressing caregiving unpredictability in early interventions aimed at supporting children’s EF development.
{"title":"Unpredictable maternal signals and developmental profiles of child executive function from infancy to early childhood","authors":"Fiia Takio , Pilvi Peura , Akie Yada , Anniina Karonen , Pauliina Juntunen , Eeva Holmberg , Eeva Eskola , Elisabeth Nordenswan , Kirby Deater-Deckard , Eeva-Leena Kataja , Asko Tolvanen , Laura Perasto , Elina Mainela-Arnold , Elysia Poggi Davis , Hasse Karlsson , Linnea Karlsson , Saara Nolvi , Riikka Korja","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101672","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101672","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early executive function (EF) development is crucial for later cognitive and socioemotional outcomes, yet the role of environmental unpredictability, particularly in patterns of maternal sensory signals, remains underexplored. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the associations between unpredictability in maternal sensory signals and children’s early EF profiles from infancy through the preschool years. Using a population-based birth cohort, we observed a small but significant decrease in the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals over time. This suggests that caregiving predictability may increase as children develop. Nonetheless, within-individual unpredictability showed some stability across time. Importantly, lower unpredictability of maternal sensory signals was associated with membership in more favorable EF profiles, characterized by stronger working memory performance at age five. In contrast, children exposed to more unpredictable maternal sensory signals demonstrated poorer early EF development. These findings build on and extend prior work by modeling unpredictability of maternal sensory signals longitudinally beyond toddlerhood and linking it to children's EF development, highlighting the prolonged sensitivity of EFs to caregiving behavior. Our results underscore that unpredictability in caregiving behavior is a unique and critical factor in shaping early cognitive development and self-regulation. The findings align with emerging cross-species research indicating that patterns of sensory signals are vital not only for sensory processing but also for the development of higher-order cognitive functions. Together, these findings highlight the importance of addressing caregiving unpredictability in early interventions aimed at supporting children’s EF development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101672"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146078991","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 : 2026-01-08DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101670
Wanrou Hu , Jinming Xiao , Lei Li , Weixing Zhao , Yu Feng , Xiaolong Shan , Huafu Chen , Xujun Duan
The development of social cognition underpins significant implications for diagnosing and treating neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. This study investigates the dynamic neural organization of social cognition in children (n = 60, ages 3–10) and adults (n = 55) using a naturalistic fMRI paradigm that tracks continuous brain activity during real-world social interactions. We identify four distinct co-activation patterns (CAP) that reflect a functional hierarchy, ranging from basic sensory processing to complex social-cognitive integration. These brain state dynamics reveal significant developmental differences: children exhibit immature transitions, often bypassing intermediate states (e.g., salience-driven filtering, State 3) and prematurely shifting from early sensory encoding (State 1) to internally-directed integration (State 2). Moreover, during mentalizing and pain events, children show reduced modulation of sensory and perceptual brain states, indicating limited cognitive flexibility that is essential for social interaction. Structural equation modeling reveals a developmental cascade linking the maturation of sensory (State 1), perceptual filtering (State 3), and social-cognitive (State 2) processing states. This pathway is mediated by individual differences in Theory of Mind (ToM) development and further predicts empathic abilities. These findings advance our understanding of how brain state reorganization supports social cognitive maturation and offer new insights into neurodevelopmental disorders.
{"title":"Developmental organization of neural dynamics supporting social processing: Evidence from naturalistic fMRI in children and adults","authors":"Wanrou Hu , Jinming Xiao , Lei Li , Weixing Zhao , Yu Feng , Xiaolong Shan , Huafu Chen , Xujun Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101670","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101670","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of social cognition underpins significant implications for diagnosing and treating neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. This study investigates the dynamic neural organization of social cognition in children (<em>n</em> = 60, ages 3–10) and adults (<em>n</em> = 55) using a naturalistic fMRI paradigm that tracks continuous brain activity during real-world social interactions. We identify four distinct co-activation patterns (CAP) that reflect a functional hierarchy, ranging from basic sensory processing to complex social-cognitive integration. These brain state dynamics reveal significant developmental differences: children exhibit immature transitions, often bypassing intermediate states (e.g., salience-driven filtering, State 3) and prematurely shifting from early sensory encoding (State 1) to internally-directed integration (State 2). Moreover, during mentalizing and pain events, children show reduced modulation of sensory and perceptual brain states, indicating limited cognitive flexibility that is essential for social interaction. Structural equation modeling reveals a developmental cascade linking the maturation of sensory (State 1), perceptual filtering (State 3), and social-cognitive (State 2) processing states. This pathway is mediated by individual differences in Theory of Mind (ToM) development and further predicts empathic abilities. These findings advance our understanding of how brain state reorganization supports social cognitive maturation and offer new insights into neurodevelopmental disorders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101670"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145929006","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 : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101669
Sebastian C. Coleman , Natalie Rhodes , Simeon M. Wong , Karim Mithani , Nebras M. Warsi , Hrishikesh Suresh , Evdokia Anagnostou , Jennifer Crosbie , Russell Schachar , Jason P. Lerch , Margot J. Taylor , George M. Ibrahim
Attentional flexibility is a foundational component of human cognition and develops substantially throughout childhood. Although the neural activity supporting attentional flexibility has been well-characterised in adults, its developmental trajectory during childhood and adolescence remains poorly understood. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study brain network dynamics underlying attentional set-shifting. MEG data were collected from 63 participants aged 4 – 19 years, including 30 with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We applied dynamic network modes (DyNeMo), a multivariate generative modelling approach that infers a dynamic mixture of spectrally resolved “modes” that generate the observed data. We related the resulting mode dynamics to task condition (non-shift, implicit shift, explicit shift), reaction time (RT), accuracy, age and ADHD diagnosis. Greater attention shifting demands were associated with increased modulation of frontal theta and posterior alpha modes. Transient lapses in attention, indexed by slower RTs or incorrect responses, were likewise characterised by heightened modulation of these modes across all task conditions. Developmentally, older children showed higher overall activity in the frontal theta mode, and stronger post-stimulus modulation of both frontal theta and posterior alpha modes. No significant effects of ADHD diagnosis were observed on either behavioural performance or mode dynamics. Together, these findings provide mechanistic insight into large-scale network dynamics that support the maturation of attentional flexibility, and point to network signatures associated with momentary lapses in attention.
{"title":"The development of dynamic networks supporting attentional flexibility","authors":"Sebastian C. Coleman , Natalie Rhodes , Simeon M. Wong , Karim Mithani , Nebras M. Warsi , Hrishikesh Suresh , Evdokia Anagnostou , Jennifer Crosbie , Russell Schachar , Jason P. Lerch , Margot J. Taylor , George M. Ibrahim","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101669","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101669","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Attentional flexibility is a foundational component of human cognition and develops substantially throughout childhood. Although the neural activity supporting attentional flexibility has been well-characterised in adults, its developmental trajectory during childhood and adolescence remains poorly understood. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study brain network dynamics underlying attentional set-shifting. MEG data were collected from 63 participants aged 4 – 19 years, including 30 with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We applied dynamic network modes (DyNeMo), a multivariate generative modelling approach that infers a dynamic mixture of spectrally resolved “modes” that generate the observed data. We related the resulting mode dynamics to task condition (non-shift, implicit shift, explicit shift), reaction time (RT), accuracy, age and ADHD diagnosis. Greater attention shifting demands were associated with increased modulation of frontal theta and posterior alpha modes. Transient lapses in attention, indexed by slower RTs or incorrect responses, were likewise characterised by heightened modulation of these modes across all task conditions. Developmentally, older children showed higher overall activity in the frontal theta mode, and stronger post-stimulus modulation of both frontal theta and posterior alpha modes. No significant effects of ADHD diagnosis were observed on either behavioural performance or mode dynamics. Together, these findings provide mechanistic insight into large-scale network dynamics that support the maturation of attentional flexibility, and point to network signatures associated with momentary lapses in attention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101669"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145929008","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 : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101662
Avantika Mathur , Huijia Zheng , Yingying Wang , Marjolein Mues , James R. Booth
This preregistered Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) study aims to investigate the functional dissociation between left dorsal and ventral white matter tracts during language development. We examine the unique relations of dorsal tracts, including the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus, Arcuate Fasciculus, to phonological processing and ventral tracts, including the Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus, to semantic processing. Automatic Fiber Quantification was performed on DTI scans of 81 5-year-olds and 164 7-year-olds to map and segment white matter tracts. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between language skill and white matter integrity (measured via fractional anisotropy) of tracts at the node-level. In 5-year-olds, the results revealed that the tract integrity of the dorsal Arcuate Fasciculus tract (nodes 68–87) showed a unique positive relation with a standardized measure of phonological processing (i.e. Elision). In 7-year-olds, the tract integrity of the ventral Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus (nodes 41–57) showed a unique positive relation with a standardized measure of semantic processing (i.e. Word Classes). These findings suggest the importance of phonological processing during early language development (age 5) while during later stages (age 7), semantic mechanisms become more prominent.
{"title":"The association of dorsal and ventral white matter tracts with phonological and semantic processing of language in 5- to 7-year-old children","authors":"Avantika Mathur , Huijia Zheng , Yingying Wang , Marjolein Mues , James R. Booth","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101662","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101662","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This preregistered Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) study aims to investigate the functional dissociation between left dorsal and ventral white matter tracts during language development. We examine the unique relations of dorsal tracts, including the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus, Arcuate Fasciculus, to phonological processing and ventral tracts, including the Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus, to semantic processing. Automatic Fiber Quantification was performed on DTI scans of 81 5-year-olds and 164 7-year-olds to map and segment white matter tracts. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between language skill and white matter integrity (measured via fractional anisotropy) of tracts at the node-level. In 5-year-olds, the results revealed that the tract integrity of the dorsal Arcuate Fasciculus tract (nodes 68–87) showed a unique positive relation with a standardized measure of phonological processing (i.e. Elision). In 7-year-olds, the tract integrity of the ventral Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus (nodes 41–57) showed a unique positive relation with a standardized measure of semantic processing (i.e. Word Classes). These findings suggest the importance of phonological processing during early language development (age 5) while during later stages (age 7), semantic mechanisms become more prominent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101662"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145913750","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 : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101665
Benjamin M. Rosenberg , João F. Guassi Moreira , Adriana S. Méndez Leal , Natalie M. Saragosa-Harris , Elizabeth Gaines , Wesley J. Meredith , Clare F. McCann , Saché M. Coury , Yael Waizman , Emilia Ninova , Jennifer A. Silvers
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Previous institutionalization is associated with elevated functional connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and amygdala during aversive learning” [Dev. Cognit. Neurosci. 76 (2025), 101617]","authors":"Benjamin M. Rosenberg , João F. Guassi Moreira , Adriana S. Méndez Leal , Natalie M. Saragosa-Harris , Elizabeth Gaines , Wesley J. Meredith , Clare F. McCann , Saché M. Coury , Yael Waizman , Emilia Ninova , Jennifer A. Silvers","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101665","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101665","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101665"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145935613","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 : 2025-12-31DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101668
M. Fiona Molloy , Aman Taxali , Mike Angstadt , Katherine Toda-Thorne , Katherine L. McCurry , Alexander Weigard , Omid Kardan , Camille Lehrmann , Joshua Vens , Cleanthis Michael , Mary M. Heitzeg , Chandra Sripada
Previous cross-sectional studies demonstrated that reduced sleep is associated with widespread changes in the brain’s intrinsic functional architecture. The present study extends this work by clarifying links between sleep and the developing brain during adolescence both longitudinally (across two years) and directionally (does reduced sleep cause connectivity changes or are connectivity changes the cause of reduced sleep?). Our novel approach combines the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a longitudinal observational study of 11,878 youth, and a second sample of 76 adult participants scanned after a typical night of sleep and after a sleep deprivation causal manipulation. First, in the ABCD dataset, we identified a robust and generalizable neurosignature of reduced sleep. Second, in an independent sample of ABCD participants, we demonstrate that greater reductions in sleep duration across two years are significantly related to greater expression of this neurosignature. Third, in the sleep deprivation dataset, we show that expression of the ABCD reduced sleep neurosignature is significantly increased within individuals following sleep deprivation, and that neurosignatures of reduced sleep from the two samples exhibit significant spatial correspondence. These results clarify links between sleep and the developing brain and provide novel evidence that changes in sleep produce characteristic brain functional connectivity changes across adolescence.
{"title":"Decreased sleep is linked longitudinally and directionally to alterations in the brain’s intrinsic functional architecture","authors":"M. Fiona Molloy , Aman Taxali , Mike Angstadt , Katherine Toda-Thorne , Katherine L. McCurry , Alexander Weigard , Omid Kardan , Camille Lehrmann , Joshua Vens , Cleanthis Michael , Mary M. Heitzeg , Chandra Sripada","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101668","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101668","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous cross-sectional studies demonstrated that reduced sleep is associated with widespread changes in the brain’s intrinsic functional architecture. The present study extends this work by clarifying links between sleep and the developing brain during adolescence both <em>longitudinally</em> (across two years) and <em>directionally</em> (does reduced sleep cause connectivity changes or are connectivity changes the cause of reduced sleep?). Our novel approach combines the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a longitudinal observational study of 11,878 youth, and a second sample of 76 adult participants scanned after a typical night of sleep and after a sleep deprivation causal manipulation. First, in the ABCD dataset, we identified a robust and generalizable neurosignature of reduced sleep. Second, in an independent sample of ABCD participants, we demonstrate that greater reductions in sleep duration across two years are significantly related to greater expression of this neurosignature. Third, in the sleep deprivation dataset, we show that expression of the ABCD reduced sleep neurosignature is significantly increased within individuals following sleep deprivation, and that neurosignatures of reduced sleep from the two samples exhibit significant spatial correspondence. These results clarify links between sleep and the developing brain and provide novel evidence that changes in sleep produce characteristic brain functional connectivity changes across adolescence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"78 ","pages":"Article 101668"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145898074","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