Brain connectivity and socioeconomic status at birth and externalizing symptoms at age 2 years
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Low childhood socioeconomic status (SES) predisposes individuals to altered trajectories of brain development and increased rates of mental illness. Brain connectivity at birth is associated with psychiatric outcomes. We sought to investigate whether SES at birth is associated with neonatal brain connectivity and if these differences account for socioeconomic disparities in infant symptoms at age 2 years that are predictive of psychopathology. Resting state functional MRI was performed on 75 full-term and 37 term-equivalent preterm newborns (n = 112). SES was characterized by insurance type, the Area Deprivation Index, and a composite score. Seed-based voxelwise linear regression related SES to whole-brain functional connectivity of five brain regions representing functional networks implicated in psychiatric illnesses and affected by socioeconomic disadvantage: striatum, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Lower SES was associated with differences in striatum and vlPFC connectivity. Striatum connectivity with frontopolar and medial PFC mediated the relationship between SES and behavioral inhibition at age 2 measured by the Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (n = 46). Striatum-frontopolar connectivity mediated the relationship between SES and externalizing symptoms. These results, convergent across three SES metrics, suggest that neurodevelopmental trajectories linking SES and mental illness may begin as early as birth.
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
Funders: March of Dimes Foundation, Dana Foundation, Cerebral Palsy International Research Foundation, Child Neurology Foundation, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, National Institutes of Health, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, H2020 European Research Council
Awards: G1599388212, ATTENTION AND RELATED FUNCTIONAL BRAIN NETWORKS IN PEDIATRIC ANXIETY DISORDERS, Influence of Physical Activity on Daily Positive Affect & Affective Neural Activity in Preschoolers, PREDICTING FETAL ACIDEMIA WITH INTRAPARTUM ELECTRONIC FETAL HEART RATE MONITORING, G3802757361, Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, THE PRETERM BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPE: TRAJECTORIES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY & CHANGES IN CEREBRAL CONNECTIVITY, UNDERSTANDING NEUROBEHAVIORAL DEFICITS IN PRETERM INFANTS THROUGH IMAGING, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH CENTER, PREDICTING CHILDHOOD OUTCOMES IN PRETERM INFANTS USING CEREBRAL CONNECTIVITY, G695384511, NINDS Center Core for Brain Imaging, G7860800203, PREDICTING PRESCHOOL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY WITH BRAIN CONNECTIVITY IN PRETERM NEONATES, Trajectories of Cortico-Cerebellar Connectivity, Social Competence, and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents Born Very Preterm, Longitudinal Development of Attention-Related Brain Networks from Birth to School-Age and Risk for Anxiety Disorders
OpenAlex ID: W3040425803