Summary: A decade of research reveals how childhood adversity alters brain development and increases the risk of mental disorders and substance use. The researchers found that teenagers who experienced early adversity showed delays in cognitive control with abnormal brain activity in the community associated with self-regulation.
Connectivity between major brain regions is a stronger predictor of substance use than behavioral control, suggesting that neural patterns may indicate future risks. Despite these challenges, brain resilience often improves cognitive control functions in late adolescence, providing hope as it highlights opportunities for early intervention.
Important facts
Adversity and Brain Development: Childhood adversity is associated with delayed brain maturation in areas responsible for focus and self-regulation.
Source: Virginia Tech
While researchers have long played a role in human development, childhood abuse, poverty, and substance use, Virginia Tech’s Jungmeen Kim Spoon is pulling the curtain back on what actually happens inside the brains of affected young adults.
For the past decade, Kim Spoon and her colleague Brooks Casas have co-led to lead a research team that tracked brain function in teens. They found that adolescents who experienced childhood adversity showed abnormal brain activity during tasks that required focus and self-control.
This finding suggests delayed development in certain areas of the brain, which is associated with a higher risk of mental disorders in early adulthood and future substance use.
“Our findings show that early, unfavorable experiences can not only predict and affect mental health such as depression and anxiety, but also affect brain development,” says Kim Spoon, a professor of psychology.
The first study has recently published two journal articles. One is an article on developmental and psychopathology and a article on biological psychiatry and cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging. The former discusses findings related to abuse, brain development associated with cognitive control, and psychopathology. The latter focuses on connectivity between brain neural circuits as predictors of substance use initiation.
Jungmeen said that despite the well-documented relationship between adverse experiences and development of mental disorders, there was motivation for the study despite lack of available information about how adolescents were affected.
“By the age of 18, more than half of US adults experienced at least one type of adversity,” says Kim-Spoon, director of the JK Lifespan Development Lab at Virginia Tech.
“However, our understanding of how our brain and nervous system change over time and change the way we increase our vulnerability to mental health and substance use disorders remains very poor.”
She and her collaborators set out to investigate this in 2014 by recruiting rural, suburban and urban youth in Southwest Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Over 10 years, participants tracked brain function, neural precursors (neurobiological markers of the developing brain), and other developmental checkpoints through annual MRI scans, questionnaires, and neurocognitive tests.
The research team includes:
Professor at VTC’s Flarin Biomedical Institute, Professor at the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech College of Science, Professor at the late Warren Biokel, Professor at the Flarin Biomedical Institute, Professor at the Faculty of Science, Professor at the Faculty of Science, Professor at the Faculty of Science, Techtae-ho Lee, Professor at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Professor at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Institute of Biology
Participants’ family dynamics, decision-making skills, initiation and frequency of substance use, personality factors, and social relationships were also evaluated annually with the goal of providing a well-balanced view of factors affecting adolescents.
“Jungmeen and I can tackle troubling problems while pursuing answers to questions that are important to promote the development of healthier youth,” says Deater-Deckard.
“Our team utilizes cutting-edge quantitative modeling techniques to integrate complex arrays of data from many sources, including research, observation, and brain imaging. She has helped me understand the complex changes in health and function over time.”
Additionally, researchers observed adolescents who had no prior history of substance use in the same study samples between the ages of 14 and 21 each year over seven years. Their findings suggest that brain connections (patterns of connections between different parts of the brain rather than cognitively controlled behaviors) were the ability to achieve your goals and adapt your behavior to override automatic responses – were a stronger predictor of future substance use.
Specifically, strong connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (two brain regions important for cognitive control) was associated with the initiation of delayed substance use, and this connectivity pattern showed a significant decline one year before the initiation of substance use.
Some of the group’s findings also show brain elasticity. Although brain function in cognitive control is delayed in early adolescence after childhood abuse, findings suggest that we often “catch up” from mid- to late adolescence, suggesting neural plasticity and opportunities to help these young people.
“Performing more research into neuroplasticity in adolescents can shed light on the potential of the brain as a target for preventive interventions aimed at promoting resilient functioning in young people facing adversity,” Kim Spoon said.
Supported by these results, several grants from the National Institutes of Health to Kimspoon and Casas, as well as the Virginia Institute for Social, Culture and Environment, Kimspoon and the research team will continue this work for another five years. As participants enter their 20s, teams focus on examining relationships, networks and social environments, understanding how youth contribute to how they navigate unique challenges in early adulthood.
“This longitudinal project was extremely rewarding, especially in terms of working with the wonderful hearts of Virginia Tech and the outside,” Kim Spoon said. “It was fun to look into what we can do to help young people grow healthier. It would be interesting to see what we can find in the next few years.”
By expanding this research, Kim Spoon and her collaborators can contribute to the development of effective resilience and protection strategies to support people at high risk of developing mental health and addiction problems.
Kim Spoon said he believes he has begun to better understand the factors that influence the mental health, substance use, and well-being of young people by examining how brain function and development interact with social and emotional dynamics and spirituality.
“No matter how we look at it, adverse experiences are difficult, but there are things we can do to help these young people get healthier, including parental support, education, and positive experiences with peer groups,” Kim Spoon said.
News on this neurodevelopment and childhood adversity research.
Author: Margaret Ashburn
Source: Virginia Tech
Contact: Margaret Ashburn – Virginia Tech
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Orimial Research: Open access.
“Psychopathology as a long-term sequelae of abuse and socioeconomic disadvantage: a perspective on neurocognitive development,” Kim-Spoon et al. Development and psychopathology
Open access.
“Neurosignatures of cognitive control predict the onset and frequency of future adolescent substance use,” Kim-Spoon et al. Biological psychiatry: Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
Abstract
Neural signatures of cognitive control predict the onset and frequency of future adolescent substance use
background
Adolescent substance use is a key predictor of future addiction and related disorders. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying drug use, the use of initiation and frequency during adolescence is important for early prevention and intervention.
method
Current longitudinal studies follow 91 drug-naive adolescents each year for seven years between the ages of 14 and 21 to identify potential neural precursors that predict the initiation and frequency of substance use. Cognitive control processes were examined using a multi-source interfering task to assess functional neural connectivity. A questionnaire was used to assess the frequency of substance use.
result
Stronger connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) at time 1 predicted delayed substance use. This shows a protective effect. This significant decline in DACC-DLPFC connection was observed one year before the onset of substance use. Conversely, decreased connectivity of DACC to the supplementary motor area and increased connectivity of the anterior insula to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and oblique horn muscle predicted a greater frequency of future substance use. These findings remain after managing demographic and socioeconomic covariates.
Conclusion
This study highlights the important role of cognitive control-related neural connectivity in predicting the initiation and frequency of substance use during adolescence. The results imply that efforts to enhance and monitor the development of top-down cognitive control systems in the brain from early adolescence are protective and can prevent progression to problematic substance use. Furthermore, for adolescents with increasing frequency of substance use, interventions may prove more effective by targeting the inputter acceptance process in cognitive control training.
Abstract
Psychopathology as a long-term sequelae of abuse and socioeconomic disadvantage: a perspective on neurocognitive development
Neuroscience research highlights the significant impact of adverse experiences on brain development. However, understanding of specific pathways that link harmful experiences accelerated or delayed with the ultimate contribution to psychopathology is limited.
Here we present new longitudinal data that predicts psychopathology in young adults, so that adolescent neurocognitive function is influenced by adverse experiences.
The sample included 167 participants (52%) who were rated during adolescence and young adulthood. Adverse experiences were measured by early abuse experiences and poor family socioeconomic status.
Cognitive control was assessed by neural activation and behavioral performance during multi-source interfering tasks. Psychopathology was measured by self-reported internalization and externalization symptoms.
Results showed that higher abuse predicted increased frontoparietal activation during cognitive control and showed delayed neurodevelopment, which predicted higher internalization and externalization symptoms.
Furthermore, higher abuse predicted a steep decline in frontoparietal activation throughout adolescence, indicating neuroplasticity of cognitive control-related brain development, which was associated with reduced internalizing symptoms.
Our results elucidate the important role of neurocognitive development in the process of linking adverse experiences with psychopathology. We discuss the findings and meanings of directions for future research on the effects of adverse experiences on brain development.
