Social 'envirotyping' the ABCD study contextualizes dissociable brain organization and diverging outcomes

Area of Science:

• Developmental neuroscience
• Network neuroscience
• Adolescent brain development

Background:

• Social environment significantly influences adolescent brain development.
• Understanding brain-environment coupling is crucial for developmental outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify distinct social environment patterns ('social envirotypes') in adolescents.
• Examine associations between social envirotypes and brain functional connectivity.
• Investigate the developmental trajectories of social envirotypes and their outcome associations.

Main Methods:

• Hierarchical clustering of participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study to define social envirotypes.
• Network neuroscience tools to analyze whole-brain functional connectivity patterns.
• Longitudinal analysis of social envirotype changes and associated outcomes.

Main Results:

• Two focal social envirotypes, representing complementary social experiences, were identified, accounting for 89.3% of participants.
• Significant differences in brain functional connectivity were observed between social envirotypes, particularly in Default and Somatomotor Hand systems.
• Dynamic social envirotypes varied in stability and quality, with stability being a key predictor of developmental outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Social envirotypes represent a meaningful way to characterize adolescent social experiences.
• Distinct social envirotypes are associated with specific brain connectivity profiles.
• The stability of social envirotypes during adolescence is critical for predicting developmental trajectories and outcomes.