Early infant white matter tract microstructure predictors of subsequent change in emotionality and emotional
Yicheng Zhang1,2, Layla Banihashemi1,2, Amelia Versace2
1University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, Pittsburgh, PA.
Insights
Early white matter microstructure in infants predicts changes in emotionality and regulation. Specific patterns in the forceps minor and cingulum bundle are linked to developing negative emotionality, positive emotionality, and soothability, offering potential biomarkers for early psychopathology.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Infancy involves rapid emotional development and changes in emotional regulation.
- Understanding the neural underpinnings of these changes is crucial for identifying early psychopathology.
- White matter (WM) tracts connect key emotion-related neural networks, influencing emotional development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how WM microstructure in specific tracts predicts developmental changes in infant emotionality and regulation.
- To explore the relationship between WM integrity and the emergence of negative emotionality (NE), positive emotionality (PE), and soothability.
- To identify potential early neural biomarkers for emotional and behavioral disorders.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess WM microstructure.
- Analyzed WM tracts including the forceps minor (FM), cingulum bundle (CB), and uncinate fasciculus (UF).
- Correlated WM features with caregiver-reported infant NE, PE, and soothability, controlling for sociodemographic factors.
Main Results:
- In 3-month-olds, specific microstructural features in the FM predicted increased NE, while those in the left CB predicted increased PE and soothability by 9 months.
- Higher neurite dispersion and lower fiber alignment in the FM were linked to greater increases in NE.
- Higher neurite density/dispersion and lower alignment in the left CB were associated with greater increases in PE and soothability.
- Findings were replicated in an independent sample, confirming the robustness of the associations.
Conclusions:
- Early infant WM microstructural features significantly support the development of emotionality and emotional regulation.
- Specific WM tract characteristics may serve as early predictive biomarkers for emotional and behavioral development.
- This research provides insights into the neural basis of early emotional development and psychopathology risk.
Abstract:
There are rapid changes in negative and positive emotionality (NE, PE) and emotional regulation (e.g., soothability) during the first year of life. Understanding the neural basis of these changes during maturation can enhance the understanding of the etiology of early psychopathology. Our goal was to determine how measures of white matter (WM) microstructure in tracts connecting key emotion-related neural networks, including the forceps minor (FM), cingulum bundle (CB), and uncinate fasciculus (UF) interconnecting the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and central executive network (CEN), can predict developmental change in infant emotionality and emotional regulation. We used Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) measures together with conventional diffusion tensor metrics to examine WM tract microstructure and fiber collinearity in the primary sample (n=95), and modeled each WM feature with caregiver-reported infant NE, PE, and soothability, with infant and caregiver sociodemographic factors as covariates. In 3-month infants, higher neurite dispersion and lower longitudinal fiber alignment in the FM were associated with a larger increase in NE from 3 to 9 months of age, suggesting that greater integration of the DMN, SN, and CEN leads to a larger subsequent increase in NE; while higher neurite density and dispersion as well as lower WM longitudinal alignment in the left CB were associated with a larger increase in PE, suggesting that greater integration within the CEN leads to increasing PE over time. In addition, higher neurite dispersion and lower WM longitudinal alignment in the left CB were associated with a larger increase in soothability. Associations among diffusion tensor measures and changes in infant emotionality and emotional regulation measures were replicated in an independent test sample (n=44). These findings suggest that early infant WM microstructural features support infant emotionality and emotional regulation development and could represent early biomarkers of future emotional and behavioral disorders.
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