Effects of early life stress on functional connectivity underlying cognitive flexibility across the lifespan

Early-life stress in childhood and adolescence is associated with altered functional brain network connectivity and cognitive abilities including attention, memory, and emotion regulation across the lifespan. Yet, how early-life stress affects functional connectivity and thus, cognitive flexibility across the lifespan, is understudied. Cognitive flexibility is a feature of cognition that allows people to selectively navigate between cognitive processes to produce suitable behavioral responses in a changing environment. Here, we briefly review evidence from neuroimaging and behavioral studies that illustrate how early-life stress may affect connectivity in networks implicated in cognitive flexibility (e.g., DMN, CEN, and SN). We propose a mechanism to explain how altered connectivity of these networks, as a result of early-life stress, could affect learning, motivation, and cognitive flexibility across development. We conclude with future directions for brain-behavior approaches, implications for intervention, and limitations within our model. This research could inform interventions to strengthen cognitive flexibility and learning in individuals exposed to early-life stress across their lifespan.