Puberty Timing and Cognitive Functioning: Insights from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Genetics

Background:

• Early puberty timing is linked to neurodevelopmental changes and mental health issues.
• The impact of puberty timing on cognitive abilities is not well understood.
• This study investigates the relationship between puberty timing and cognitive performance in adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between the timing of puberty and cognitive functioning in a large adolescent cohort.
• To explore potential causal links between puberty timing and executive functions using genetic data.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 10,174 participants in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
• Assessed cognitive performance across six tasks at baseline and 2- and 4-year follow-ups.
• Employed linear-mixed-regression models and Mendelian randomization with external Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) data.

Main Results:

• Earlier puberty timing correlated with lower scores on memory tasks (Picture Sequence Memory, List Sorting Working Memory) in both sexes.
• Poorer performance was observed in word list learning and recall associated with earlier puberty.
• Mendelian randomization suggested a causal link between later age at menarche and better executive functioning.

Conclusions:

• Findings support a causal association between earlier puberty timing and diminished cognitive performance.
• The observed effect sizes were small, suggesting limited clinical significance.
• Further research may clarify the nuanced relationship between pubertal development and cognitive trajectories.