Pub Date : 2025-11-14DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101644
Julia Moser , Alyssa K. Labonte , Thomas J. Madison , Lana Hantzsch , Han H.N. Pham , Kimberly B. Weldon , M. Catalina Camacho , Rebecca F. Schwarzlose , Sanju Koirala , Jacob T. Lundquist , Sooyeon Sung , Cristian Morales Carrasco , Robert J.M. Hermosillo , Steven M. Nelson , Jed T. Elison , Damien A. Fair , Chad M. Sylvester
Adaptively responding to salient stimuli in the environment is a fundamental feature of cognitive development in early life, which is enabled by the developing brain. Understanding individual variability in how the brain supports this fundamental process is essential for uncovering neurodevelopmental trajectories and potential neurodevelopmental risks. In the present study, we used a precision functional imaging approach to probe activation in response to salient auditory stimuli and its relation to brain functional networks in individual infants. A minimum of 60 min of fMRI BOLD data with an auditory oddball paradigm were collected in ten infants with a mean postmenstrual age of 48 weeks. Results demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a precision functional imaging study to investigate individual specific responses to salient stimuli in infants. While responses to the auditory oddball were consistent across individuals in auditory processing areas, responses across the rest of the brain differed across individuals in their magnitude and time to peak. Individual specific response patterns appeared to be relatively stable and differed from other participant’s response patterns, despite fluctuations across runs. Commonalities and differences between individuals demonstrated in this sample contribute to our understanding of how the developing brain instantiates processing of salient stimuli. In this context, individual specific response patterns could be a promising target for biomarkers of normative brain and cognitive development.
{"title":"Precision functional neuroimaging reveals individually specific auditory responses in infants","authors":"Julia Moser , Alyssa K. Labonte , Thomas J. Madison , Lana Hantzsch , Han H.N. Pham , Kimberly B. Weldon , M. Catalina Camacho , Rebecca F. Schwarzlose , Sanju Koirala , Jacob T. Lundquist , Sooyeon Sung , Cristian Morales Carrasco , Robert J.M. Hermosillo , Steven M. Nelson , Jed T. Elison , Damien A. Fair , Chad M. Sylvester","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101644","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101644","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adaptively responding to salient stimuli in the environment is a fundamental feature of cognitive development in early life, which is enabled by the developing brain. Understanding individual variability in how the brain supports this fundamental process is essential for uncovering neurodevelopmental trajectories and potential neurodevelopmental risks. In the present study, we used a precision functional imaging approach to probe activation in response to salient auditory stimuli and its relation to brain functional networks in individual infants. A minimum of 60 min of fMRI BOLD data with an auditory oddball paradigm were collected in ten infants with a mean postmenstrual age of 48 weeks. Results demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a precision functional imaging study to investigate individual specific responses to salient stimuli in infants. While responses to the auditory oddball were consistent across individuals in auditory processing areas, responses across the rest of the brain differed across individuals in their magnitude and time to peak. Individual specific response patterns appeared to be relatively stable and differed from other participant’s response patterns, despite fluctuations across runs. Commonalities and differences between individuals demonstrated in this sample contribute to our understanding of how the developing brain instantiates processing of salient stimuli. In this context, individual specific response patterns could be a promising target for biomarkers of normative brain and cognitive development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101644"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624809","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 : 2025-11-08DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101643
Katie Mckinnon , Manuel Blesa Cábez , Melissa Thye , Selina Abel , Rebekah Smikle , Jean Skelton , Lorena Jiménez-Sánchez , Kadi Vaher , Gemma Sullivan , Amy Corrigan , Gayle Barclay , Charlotte Jardine , Iona Hamilton , Donna McIntyre , Yu Wei Chua , Ray Amir , Alan J. Quigley , Cheryl Battersby , Athanasios Tsanas , G. David Batty , James P. Boardman
Preterm birth and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with brain development in early life, but the contribution of each over time is uncertain. We examined the effects of gestational age (GA) and SES on white matter microstructure in the neonatal period and at five years.
Participants included preterm and term children. Diffusion MRI was collected at term-equivalent age (n = 153 preterm, n = 90 term [127/243 female]) and from a subset at five years (n = 26 preterm, n = 32 term [22/58 female]). We assessed linear associations of GA, SES (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation [SIMD] and maternal education), and GA×SES interactions on fractional anisotropy (FA) using tract-based spatial statistics. We compared the proportion of voxels with significant associations between timepoints.
In preterm neonates, higher GA and higher maternal education, but not SIMD, were associated with higher FA (p corrected for family-wise error rate, pFWER < 0.05). GA-FA associations depended on maternal education and SIMD (β =|0.001–0.005|, p < 0.001). At five years, the strength and direction of GA-FA associations depended on SIMD (β =|0.013–0.028|, p < 0.001), but not maternal education. In term infants, lower SES was associated with higher FA at the neonatal timepoint only (pFWER < 0.05).
Preterm birth and SES both shape brain development at birth and continue to do so at five years. The SES measure most strongly associated with FA in preterm infants switches from a family-level (i.e. maternal education) to neighborhood-level (i.e. SIMD) measure between birth and five years, which suggests strategies to mitigate adverse effects of social inequalities on development may require adaptation as children grow.
{"title":"Preterm birth, socioeconomic status, and white matter development across childhood","authors":"Katie Mckinnon , Manuel Blesa Cábez , Melissa Thye , Selina Abel , Rebekah Smikle , Jean Skelton , Lorena Jiménez-Sánchez , Kadi Vaher , Gemma Sullivan , Amy Corrigan , Gayle Barclay , Charlotte Jardine , Iona Hamilton , Donna McIntyre , Yu Wei Chua , Ray Amir , Alan J. Quigley , Cheryl Battersby , Athanasios Tsanas , G. David Batty , James P. Boardman","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101643","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101643","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Preterm birth and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with brain development in early life, but the contribution of each over time is uncertain. We examined the effects of gestational age (GA) and SES on white matter microstructure in the neonatal period and at five years.</div><div>Participants included preterm and term children. Diffusion MRI was collected at term-equivalent age (n = 153 preterm, n = 90 term [127/243 female]) and from a subset at five years (n = 26 preterm, n = 32 term [22/58 female]). We assessed linear associations of GA, SES (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation [SIMD] and maternal education), and GA×SES interactions on fractional anisotropy (FA) using tract-based spatial statistics. We compared the proportion of voxels with significant associations between timepoints.</div><div>In preterm neonates, higher GA and higher maternal education, but not SIMD, were associated with higher FA (<em>p</em> corrected for family-wise error rate, <em>p</em><sub><em>FWER</em></sub> < 0.05). GA-FA associations depended on maternal education and SIMD (β =|0.001–0.005|, <em>p</em> < 0.001). At five years, the strength and direction of GA-FA associations depended on SIMD (β =|0.013–0.028|, <em>p</em> < 0.001), but not maternal education. In term infants, lower SES was associated with higher FA at the neonatal timepoint only (<em>p</em><sub><em>FWER</em></sub> < 0.05).</div><div>Preterm birth and SES both shape brain development at birth and continue to do so at five years. The SES measure most strongly associated with FA in preterm infants switches from a family-level (i.e. maternal education) to neighborhood-level (i.e. SIMD) measure between birth and five years, which suggests strategies to mitigate adverse effects of social inequalities on development may require adaptation as children grow.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101643"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145529190","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 : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101641
Halie A. Olson , Trevor K.M. Day , Kelly J. Hiersche , Brittany L. Manning , Holly Bradley , Soujin Choi , Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova , Sarah A. McCormick , Amy L. Conrad , Dustin Scheinost , Kelly A. Vaughn
Language develops rapidly over the infant and toddler period and has been a key area of research within the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience. Understanding the neural basis of early language development may help us predict delays or disorders, recommend early interventions, and provide a deeper mechanistic understanding of how the brain supports language learning. While the ontogeny of many cognitive functions can be studied in animal models, language development can only be studied in human children. Thus, functional neuroimaging is critical for uncovering the neural basis of language in early development. The purpose of this review is to take stock of some examples of what we have learned so far, and to explore some of the biggest open questions for the next phase of fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging research of language development.
{"title":"Utilizing functional neuroimaging to study early language development","authors":"Halie A. Olson , Trevor K.M. Day , Kelly J. Hiersche , Brittany L. Manning , Holly Bradley , Soujin Choi , Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova , Sarah A. McCormick , Amy L. Conrad , Dustin Scheinost , Kelly A. Vaughn","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101641","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101641","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Language develops rapidly over the infant and toddler period and has been a key area of research within the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience. Understanding the neural basis of early language development may help us predict delays or disorders, recommend early interventions, and provide a deeper mechanistic understanding of how the brain supports language learning. While the ontogeny of many cognitive functions can be studied in animal models, language development can only be studied in human children. Thus, functional neuroimaging is critical for uncovering the neural basis of language in early development. The purpose of this review is to take stock of some examples of what we have learned so far, and to explore some of the biggest open questions for the next phase of fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging research of language development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101641"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145524558","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 : 2025-11-04DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101642
Alicja Brzozowska , Johanna Ruess , Regina Ori Stoeckl , Martina Arioli , Stefanie Hoehl
Research shows that the theta rhythm in infant electroencephalogram indexes learning processes and is a promising candidate for a marker of early cognitive development. However, a scarcity of studies investigating the stability of individual differences in theta activity in infancy, and a large variability in analytical approaches in existing research constrain the interpretations of research findings. In our large longitudinal study, we related three different indices of frontocentral theta activity (absolute and relative power, and an index of theta modulation by novel content) at 6 and 12 months to cognitive development level, language skills, and visual attention at 24 months. We found an increase in theta power over the course of novel information encoding at 6 and 12 months, replicating prior studies. Both absolute and relative theta power, but not theta modulation index, showed a large degree of stability in individual differences from 6 to 12 months. Finally, absolute theta power at 6 and 12 months was a positive predictor of the general cognitive level, but not of specific skills (selective attention, language) at 24 months. Of note, we observed similar effects for absolute power in the alpha frequency band, suggesting that the effects are not specific to the theta frequency band. Our results support the involvement of the theta rhythm in cognitive development in infancy and point to absolute power as the potentially most sensitive index of individual differences in theta activity.
{"title":"Theta activity as a marker of cognitive development in infancy: A longitudinal study across the first two years of life","authors":"Alicja Brzozowska , Johanna Ruess , Regina Ori Stoeckl , Martina Arioli , Stefanie Hoehl","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101642","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101642","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research shows that the theta rhythm in infant electroencephalogram indexes learning processes and is a promising candidate for a marker of early cognitive development. However, a scarcity of studies investigating the stability of individual differences in theta activity in infancy, and a large variability in analytical approaches in existing research constrain the interpretations of research findings. In our large longitudinal study, we related three different indices of frontocentral theta activity (absolute and relative power, and an index of theta modulation by novel content) at 6 and 12 months to cognitive development level, language skills, and visual attention at 24 months. We found an increase in theta power over the course of novel information encoding at 6 and 12 months, replicating prior studies. Both absolute and relative theta power, but not theta modulation index, showed a large degree of stability in individual differences from 6 to 12 months. Finally, absolute theta power at 6 and 12 months was a positive predictor of the general cognitive level, but not of specific skills (selective attention, language) at 24 months. Of note, we observed similar effects for absolute power in the alpha frequency band, suggesting that the effects are not specific to the theta frequency band. Our results support the involvement of the theta rhythm in cognitive development in infancy and point to absolute power as the potentially most sensitive index of individual differences in theta activity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101642"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472261","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 : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101640
Marta Korom , Marco McSweeney , Selin Zeytinoglu , Lucrezia Liuzzi , Daniel S. Pine , Nathan A. Fox , Katharina Kircanski
Reduced P3 amplitude during selective attention has been linked to depression in cross-sectional studies primarily with adults. Neurodevelopmental research has yet to examine relations between age-related changes in P3 amplitude, assessed across multiple time points, and the emergence of depressive and anxiety symptoms during adolescence, which may vary by sex. The present study addresses this gap by testing the effects of between- and within-person depressive symptoms, age, and sex on P3 amplitude during the Flanker task, across up to three age time points in a sample of adolescents (N = 190, ages ∼12, 15 and 18) at risk for developing internalizing symptoms. When depression was measured continuously without adjusting for age and sex, higher within-person depressive symptoms emerged as a significant predictor of reduced P3 amplitude. However, when age, sex, and depression (continuous or binary diagnostic status) were modeled together, only age and sex, but not depression, remained significant predictors of P3 amplitude. Specifically, P3 amplitude decreased with age, and males consistently exhibited higher P3 amplitudes than females, with stable age-related decrease across sexes. For anxiety, neither between- nor within-person symptoms were significantly associated with P3 amplitude, with or without age and sex included in the model. Similar to the findings for depression, however, age and sex were significant predictors of P3 amplitude. Thus, previous studies involving a single assessment of P3 amplitude and depression symptoms may be influenced by developmental factors.
{"title":"Age and sex, but not depression or anxiety, predict P3 amplitude during adolescence","authors":"Marta Korom , Marco McSweeney , Selin Zeytinoglu , Lucrezia Liuzzi , Daniel S. Pine , Nathan A. Fox , Katharina Kircanski","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101640","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101640","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reduced P3 amplitude during selective attention has been linked to depression in cross-sectional studies primarily with adults. Neurodevelopmental research has yet to examine relations between age-related changes in P3 amplitude, assessed across multiple time points, and the emergence of depressive and anxiety symptoms during adolescence, which may vary by sex. The present study addresses this gap by testing the effects of between- and within-person depressive symptoms, age, and sex on P3 amplitude during the Flanker task, across up to three age time points in a sample of adolescents (N = 190, ages ∼12, 15 and 18) at risk for developing internalizing symptoms. When depression was measured continuously without adjusting for age and sex, higher within-person depressive symptoms emerged as a significant predictor of reduced P3 amplitude. However, when age, sex, and depression (continuous or binary diagnostic status) were modeled together, only age and sex, but not depression, remained significant predictors of P3 amplitude. Specifically, P3 amplitude decreased with age, and males consistently exhibited higher P3 amplitudes than females, with stable age-related decrease across sexes. For anxiety, neither between- nor within-person symptoms were significantly associated with P3 amplitude, with or without age and sex included in the model. Similar to the findings for depression, however, age and sex were significant predictors of P3 amplitude. Thus, previous studies involving a single assessment of P3 amplitude and depression symptoms may be influenced by developmental factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101640"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473636","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 : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101639
Yixin Wang , Robbie Fraser , Laika Aguinaldo , Tam T. Nguyen-Louie , Fiona C. Baker , Susan F. Tapert , Kilian M. Pohl
Early cannabis initiation during youth is associated with elevated risk for harmful substance use, mental disorders, and cognitive impairments. To account for the complexity behind cannabis use initiation, we performed a data-driven analysis across 151 measurements spanning seven domains from the individual, microsystem, and exosystem level of influences: biobehavior, cognition, brain MRI, family, peer, neighborhood and legal factors. Data were from 450 cannabis-naïve youths from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) (baseline age: 12–21 years). Within an 8-year period, 292 transitioned to first use and 163 to weekly use of cannabis. Random Survival Forest predicted age of first onset (C-index = 0.68; 95 % CI: [0.65,0.71]) and weekly onset (C-index = 0.69; 95 % CI: [0.67–0.71]) with an accuracy significantly higher than chance (i.e., C-index = 0.5). Its prediction patterns consisted of factors from all three levels of influence. The predictive pattern of first onset comprised 13 factors across six domains including lower positive thinking during stress coping, which correlated with earlier use (R²=0.023, p = 0.0090). Three variables were shared with the predictive pattern of weekly use onset: cannabis outlet density, access to alcohol at home, and more positive social expectations of alcohol use forecasting earlier onset (Initial Use: R²=0.031, p = 0.0027; Weekly Use: R²=0.023, p = 0.0090). Weekly use onset was predicted by only four factors suggesting that while many influences contribute to a youth trying cannabis, only a few key factors appear to facilitate escalation to habitual use, some of which represent promising targets for prevention programs.
{"title":"Multi-level patterns predict cannabis use onset among youth","authors":"Yixin Wang , Robbie Fraser , Laika Aguinaldo , Tam T. Nguyen-Louie , Fiona C. Baker , Susan F. Tapert , Kilian M. Pohl","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101639","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101639","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early cannabis initiation during youth is associated with elevated risk for harmful substance use, mental disorders, and cognitive impairments. To account for the complexity behind cannabis use initiation, we performed a data-driven analysis across 151 measurements spanning seven domains from the individual, microsystem, and exosystem level of influences: biobehavior, cognition, brain MRI, family, peer, neighborhood and legal factors. Data were from 450 cannabis-naïve youths from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) (baseline age: 12–21 years). Within an 8-year period, 292 transitioned to first use and 163 to weekly use of cannabis. Random Survival Forest predicted age of first onset (C-index = 0.68; 95 % CI: [0.65,0.71]) and weekly onset (C-index = 0.69; 95 % CI: [0.67–0.71]) with an accuracy significantly higher than chance (i.e., C-index = 0.5). Its prediction patterns consisted of factors from all three levels of influence. The predictive pattern of first onset comprised 13 factors across six domains including lower positive thinking during stress coping, which correlated with earlier use (R²=0.023, <em>p = 0.0090</em>). Three variables were shared with the predictive pattern of weekly use onset: cannabis outlet density, access to alcohol at home, and more positive social expectations of alcohol use forecasting earlier onset (Initial Use: R²=0.031, <em>p = 0.0027</em>; Weekly Use: R²=0.023, <em>p = 0.0090</em>). Weekly use onset was predicted by only four factors suggesting that while many influences contribute to a youth trying cannabis, only a few key factors appear to facilitate escalation to habitual use, some of which represent promising targets for prevention programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101639"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145496731","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 : 2025-10-27DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101638
Yanbin Niu , M. Catalina Camacho , Sanjana Ravi , Brandon Wallroff , Joshua Hageman , Jennifer Urbano Blackford , Kathryn L. Humphreys
Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental health conditions, often emerging early in life and leading to substantial impairments across the lifespan. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) plays a central role in threat processing and anxiety regulation, yet its early functional connectivity profile and links to early signs of anxiety remain poorly understood. The current study investigates intrinsic functional connectivity of the BNST in 1-month-old infants using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and explores its longitudinal association with anxiety symptoms later in infancy. We observe that early in development the BNST exhibits intrinsic connectivity with key subcortical regions, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventral striatum. However, connectivity patterns observed in human adults, including BNST–frontal cortex connectivity, were not observed in infants. Furthermore, weaker BNST–amygdala connectivity at 1 month was significantly associated with greater anxiety symptoms assessed at 18 months (β=-0.339, 95 % CI [-0.586, −0.093]), highlighting the potential role of early BNST connectivity in later anxiety-related behaviors. These findings provide the earliest evidence to date of BNST functional connectivity in human infancy and its prospective link to later anxiety symptoms, helping to fill a critical gap in our understanding of the early development of anxiety-related neural circuits.
{"title":"Intrinsic functional neurocircuitry of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in early infancy","authors":"Yanbin Niu , M. Catalina Camacho , Sanjana Ravi , Brandon Wallroff , Joshua Hageman , Jennifer Urbano Blackford , Kathryn L. Humphreys","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101638","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101638","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental health conditions, often emerging early in life and leading to substantial impairments across the lifespan. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) plays a central role in threat processing and anxiety regulation, yet its early functional connectivity profile and links to early signs of anxiety remain poorly understood. The current study investigates intrinsic functional connectivity of the BNST in 1-month-old infants using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and explores its longitudinal association with anxiety symptoms later in infancy. We observe that early in development the BNST exhibits intrinsic connectivity with key subcortical regions, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventral striatum. However, connectivity patterns observed in human adults, including BNST–frontal cortex connectivity, were not observed in infants. Furthermore, weaker BNST–amygdala connectivity at 1 month was significantly associated with greater anxiety symptoms assessed at 18 months (<em>β</em>=-0.339, 95 % CI [-0.586, −0.093]), highlighting the potential role of early BNST connectivity in later anxiety-related behaviors. These findings provide the earliest evidence to date of BNST functional connectivity in human infancy and its prospective link to later anxiety symptoms, helping to fill a critical gap in our understanding of the early development of anxiety-related neural circuits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101638"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145460419","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 : 2025-10-25DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101637
Kathryn L. Humphreys, Lucy S. King
The brain’s remarkable plasticity during early development makes it highly responsive to environmental input, with early experiences having lasting effects on functioning and development. Both adversity and variations in normative caregiving experiences influence developmental trajectories. Accurately assessing these diverse experiences is crucial for understanding their role in shaping brain development, yet current measurement approaches face significant challenges that limit our ability to capture the complex, multidimensional nature of children's environmental exposures. This review examines seven key challenges in measuring early experiences: (1) Conflation of exposure and response, (2) Oversimplification of complex experiences, (3) Informant bias and reliability issues, (4) Biomarker overinterpretation and inferential leaps, (5) Limited ecological validity, (6) Genetic confounding, and (7) Limited generalizability across cultures and communities. We discuss how these limitations constrain our understanding of how diverse early experiences shape brain development and propose evidence-based approaches to address each challenge. Emerging frameworks that distinguish between different dimensions of adversity, technological advances in passive monitoring, and genetically-informed research designs offer promising paths forward. By advancing precise, high-dimensional approaches to measuring early experiences, researchers can improve understanding of fundamental neurodevelopmental processes while addressing questions of practical significance in education, mental health, and social policy.
{"title":"Measuring early experiences: Challenges and future directions","authors":"Kathryn L. Humphreys, Lucy S. King","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101637","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101637","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The brain’s remarkable plasticity during early development makes it highly responsive to environmental input, with early experiences having lasting effects on functioning and development. Both adversity and variations in normative caregiving experiences influence developmental trajectories. Accurately assessing these diverse experiences is crucial for understanding their role in shaping brain development, yet current measurement approaches face significant challenges that limit our ability to capture the complex, multidimensional nature of children's environmental exposures. This review examines seven key challenges in measuring early experiences: (1) Conflation of exposure and response, (2) Oversimplification of complex experiences, (3) Informant bias and reliability issues, (4) Biomarker overinterpretation and inferential leaps, (5) Limited ecological validity, (6) Genetic confounding, and (7) Limited generalizability across cultures and communities. We discuss how these limitations constrain our understanding of how diverse early experiences shape brain development and propose evidence-based approaches to address each challenge. Emerging frameworks that distinguish between different dimensions of adversity, technological advances in passive monitoring, and genetically-informed research designs offer promising paths forward. By advancing precise, high-dimensional approaches to measuring early experiences, researchers can improve understanding of fundamental neurodevelopmental processes while addressing questions of practical significance in education, mental health, and social policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101637"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145496697","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 : 2025-10-22DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101616
Fang Wang , Quynh Trang H. Nguyen , Blair Kaneshiro , Anthony M. Norcia , Bruce D. McCandliss
Progressive development of reading comprehension fluency from late childhood to early adolescence is remarkably linked to changes in the temporal dynamics of visual word recognition. EEG/ERP based measures of how an individual participant’s cortical timing for visual word recognition change over development are limited by low reliability. We present a novel approach to this challenge that individually models cortical latency to visual word forms by extracting phase values from Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) for each participant. The resulting precise and reliable timing information for neural signatures underlying visual word form processes help account for the development of fluent reading comprehension. Typically developing readers (), aged 8–15 years, viewed streams of four-character stimuli presented at 3 Hz, which evoked large significant power spikes from every participant. Linear phase by frequency functions across harmonics at 3, 6, and 9 Hz were consistent with a delay model, indicating a mean latency of 170 ms. Subject-level latencies revealed (a) high internal consistency (); (b) stability across variations in character-level (letters, unfamiliar pseudo-characters) and word-form level (words, nonwords, pseudofont strings) manipulations; (c) a linear relationship with age; and most remarkably, (d) a strong relationship with individual variation in the fluency of reading comprehension, that was (e) mediated by word naming speed. Results suggest a promising new approach for investigating the neural basis of reading development across several levels of processes, with temporal precision at the individual level that holds translational significance for promoting population-level fluency in reading comprehension.
{"title":"Cortical latency predicts reading fluency from late childhood to early adolescence","authors":"Fang Wang , Quynh Trang H. Nguyen , Blair Kaneshiro , Anthony M. Norcia , Bruce D. McCandliss","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101616","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101616","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Progressive development of reading comprehension fluency from late childhood to early adolescence is remarkably linked to changes in the temporal dynamics of visual word recognition. EEG/ERP based measures of how an individual participant’s cortical timing for visual word recognition change over development are limited by low reliability. We present a novel approach to this challenge that individually models cortical latency to visual word forms by extracting phase values from Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) for each participant. The resulting precise and reliable timing information for neural signatures underlying visual word form processes help account for the development of fluent reading comprehension. Typically developing readers (<span><math><mrow><mi>n</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>68</mn></mrow></math></span>), aged 8–15 years, viewed streams of four-character stimuli presented at 3 Hz, which evoked large significant power spikes from every participant. Linear phase by frequency functions across harmonics at 3, 6, and 9 Hz were consistent with a delay model, indicating a mean latency of 170 ms. Subject-level latencies revealed (a) high internal consistency (<span><math><mrow><mi>r</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>.</mo><mn>94</mn></mrow></math></span>); (b) stability across variations in character-level (letters, unfamiliar pseudo-characters) and word-form level (words, nonwords, pseudofont strings) manipulations; (c) a linear relationship with age; and most remarkably, (d) a strong relationship with individual variation in the fluency of reading comprehension, that was (e) mediated by word naming speed. Results suggest a promising new approach for investigating the neural basis of reading development across several levels of processes, with temporal precision at the individual level that holds translational significance for promoting population-level fluency in reading comprehension.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101616"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145500276","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 : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101636
Jialiang Guo , Yuanjun Kong , Bingkun Li , Xiangsheng Luo , Chen Dang , Jipeng Huang , Xuye Yuan , Li Sun , Yan Song
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems with visual selective attention. The present study explored the phase coherence connectivity of theta oscillations in 76 typically developing (TD) children and 85 medication-naive children with ADHD (7–13 years) while they performed a visual search task. We identified distinct coherence modulation patterns in the theta frequency band in the TD and ADHD groups, with weaker coherence between the frontal and target-contralateral posterior areas than between the frontal and target-ipsilateral posterior areas. TD children demonstrated significant coherence modulation between frontal and right posterior (FRP) areas, whereas children with ADHD showed predominant modulation between frontal and left posterior (FLP) areas. Trials with greater FLP modulation were associated with faster responses in the ADHD group and more stable responses in the TD group. FLP modulation increased with age in TD children. These findings indicate that the theta coherence modulation between the frontal and posterior areas may reflect the efficient suppression of bottom-up sensory processing to prioritize top-down control. Compared with TD children, children with ADHD develop distinct specialized brain networks for visual attention. The FLP modulation in children with ADHD may signify compensatory maturation of neural networks involved in visual attention processes.
{"title":"Distinct theta oscillation coherence patterns during visual selective attention in children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder","authors":"Jialiang Guo , Yuanjun Kong , Bingkun Li , Xiangsheng Luo , Chen Dang , Jipeng Huang , Xuye Yuan , Li Sun , Yan Song","doi":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101636","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101636","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems with visual selective attention. The present study explored the phase coherence connectivity of theta oscillations in 76 typically developing (TD) children and 85 medication-naive children with ADHD (7–13 years) while they performed a visual search task. We identified distinct coherence modulation patterns in the theta frequency band in the TD and ADHD groups, with weaker coherence between the frontal and target-contralateral posterior areas than between the frontal and target-ipsilateral posterior areas. TD children demonstrated significant coherence modulation between frontal and right posterior (FRP) areas, whereas children with ADHD showed predominant modulation between frontal and left posterior (FLP) areas. Trials with greater FLP modulation were associated with faster responses in the ADHD group and more stable responses in the TD group. FLP modulation increased with age in TD children. These findings indicate that the theta coherence modulation between the frontal and posterior areas may reflect the efficient suppression of bottom-up sensory processing to prioritize top-down control. Compared with TD children, children with ADHD develop distinct specialized brain networks for visual attention. The FLP modulation in children with ADHD may signify compensatory maturation of neural networks involved in visual attention processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49083,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101636"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145363560","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}
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