Abstract
Animal and human studies have shown that both early-life traumatic events and ongoing stress episodes affect neurodevelopment, however, it remains unclear whether and how they modulate normative adolescent neuro-maturational trajectories. We characterized effects of early-life (age 0–5) and ongoing stressors (age 14–17) on longitudinal changes (age 14 to17) in grey matter volume (GMV) of healthy adolescents (n = 37). Timing and stressor type were related to differential GMV changes. More personal early-life stressful events were associated with larger developmental reductions in GMV over anterior prefrontal cortex, amygdala and other subcortical regions; whereas ongoing stress from the adolescents’ social environment was related to smaller reductions over the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. These findings suggest that early-life stress accelerates pubertal development, whereas an adverse adolescent social environment disturbs brain maturation with potential mental health implications: delayed anterior cingulate maturation was associated with more antisocial traits – a juvenile precursor of psychopathy.
Highlights
Adolescence is a critical developmental stage during which a cascade of biological changes leads to profound structural modifications in the brain
We account for the fact that children of different ages are predominantly sensitive to different social environments – the relationship with parents has a profound impact during early childhood[28,29], whereas peer relationships become increasingly important during adolescence with poor relations forming a potent stress-factor in that time-window[30,31]
A similar direction, but different type of grey matter volume (GMV) changes occurred in the amygdala – more negative personal early-life events were associated with a lack of growth in this region between ages 14 and 17
Summary
Adolescence is a critical developmental stage during which a cascade of biological changes leads to profound structural modifications in the brain. We consider two distinct stressor categories, that is personal negative life events (such as illness, parental divorce, etc.) and adverse social environments For the latter, we account for the fact that children of different ages are predominantly sensitive to different social environments – the relationship with parents has a profound impact during early childhood[28,29], whereas peer relationships become increasingly important during adolescence with poor relations forming a potent stress-factor in that time-window[30,31]. This study disambiguates cerebral effects of early childhood events from current pubertal stress, evoked by personal and by social circumstances, on neurodevelopmental trajectories Those trajectories are estimated from a structural index of brain development (GMV) measured between mid and late adolescence in 37 adolescents tested at 14 and 17 years of age (Fig. 1). We consider the behavioral relevance of the longitudinal GMV changes observed in adolescents and focus on traits known to provide risk factors for the occurrence of psychopathology later in life, that is callous unemotional traits and internalizing symptoms[4,33,34]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
