Perinatal Factors and Neuroimaging Changes for Brain Maturation Among Adolescents

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biostatistics

Background:

• Brain maturation exhibits significant individual variability, especially during adolescence.
• Assessing longitudinal brain development trajectories is crucial for identifying deviations from normative patterns.
• Understanding factors influencing these trajectories, such as birth weight and psychopathology, is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the association between longitudinal changes in brain volumes and birth weight, gestational age, and psychopathology.
• To develop normative models for brain volumes using cross-sectional and longitudinal data.
• To assess individual deviations from expected brain growth trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, including neuroimaging data from 10,830 participants at baseline and 7,262 at follow-up.
• Developed conditional-longitudinal normative models to track individual brain volume changes over time.
• Analyzed associations between brain volume trajectories, birth weight, gestational age, and psychopathology scores.

Main Results:

• Lower birth weight was associated with decreased brain volumes over time across 27 brain regions.
• Increased psychopathology was linked to decreasing brain volumes across 37 brain regions.
• Individual-specific longitudinal centiles effectively captured deviations in brain development trajectories.

Conclusions:

• Conditional-longitudinal models provide valuable insights into individual brain maturation beyond static measures.
• Observed robust associations between birth weight, mental health symptoms, and individual brain trajectory deviations.
• Conditional-longitudinal modeling shows promise for applications in psychiatric neuroscience research.