scholarly journals Towards a more inclusive and equitable developmental cognitive neuroscience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jazlyn Nketia ◽  
Dima Amso ◽  
Natalie Hiromi Brito
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Developmental Science ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Scientific Potential ◽  
And Function

Brain and cognitive development is a burgeoning area of scientific inquiry, with tremendous potential to better the lives of children. Large scale longitudinal neuroimaging studies offer opportunities for significant scientific advances in our understanding of developing brain structure and function. The proposed manuscript will focus on the scientific potential of the HEALthy Brain and Cognitive Development (HBCD) Study, highlighting what questions these data can and what they cannot answer about child development. Specifically, we caution against the misuse of these data for advancing de-contextualized and scientifically questionable narratives about the development of children from marginalized communities. We will focus on building and organizing a framework for interpreting HBCD data through the lens of sampling, cultural context, measurement, and developmental science theory. Our goal is to thoughtfully offer the scientific community opportunities to use the large scale and collaborative nature of HBCD to collectively revise practices in developmental science that to-date have not carefully considered their own role in perpetuating narratives that support systemic injustice.

scholarly journals Mental Health and Music Engagement: Review, Framework, and Guidelines for Future Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Gustavson ◽  
Peyton L Coleman ◽  
John Rehner Iversen ◽  
Hermine H M J L Maes ◽  
Reyna L Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Thought Disorders ◽  
Neurobiological Substrates ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
And Function ◽  
Future Work

Is engaging with music good for your mental health? This question has long been the topic of empirical clinical and nonclinical investigations, with studies indicating positive associations between music engagement and quality of life, reduced depression or anxiety symptoms, and less frequent substance use. However, many earlier investigations were limited by small populations and methodological limitations, and it has also been suggested that aspects of music engagement may even be associated with worse mental health outcomes. The purpose of this scoping review is first to summarize the existing state of music engagement and mental health studies, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. We focus on broad domains of mental health diagnoses including internalizing psychopathology (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses), externalizing psychopathology (e.g., substance use), and thought disorders (e.g., schizophrenia). Second, we propose a theoretical model to inform future work that describes the importance of simultaneously considering music-mental health associations at the levels of (1) correlated genetic and/or environmental influences versus (bi)directional associations, (2) interactions with genetic risk factors, (3) treatment efficacy, and (4) mediation through brain structure and function. Finally, we describe how recent advances in large-scale data collection, including genetic, neuroimaging, and electronic health record studies, allow for a more rigorous examination of these associations that can also elucidate their neurobiological substrates.

Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to Personality Disorders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Poppe ◽  
Angus W. MacDonald III
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
And Behavior

This chapter describes a cognitive neuroscience approach to understanding the psychological and neural processes that underlie personality and behavior. It explicates the utility of the cognitive neuroscience approach and the fundamental principles of the methods and how to interpret the findings. The chapter reviews the different neuroimaging tools and approaches that can be used to investigate brain structure and function. In doing so, it provides detailed information about what each method measures and how issues to consider when evaluating these measurements and their functional significance. The chapter provides the reader an appreciation of how understanding brain structure and function in vivo can serve as a bridge between molecular/genetic and symptom-based data to enrich the pathophysiology of personality disorders.

Beautiful minds (i.e., brains) and the neural basis of intelligence

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Haier ◽  
Rex E. Jung
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Phase ◽  
Empirical Framework

AbstractThe commentaries address conceptual issues ranging from our narrow focus on neuroimaging to the various definitions of intelligence. The integration of the P-FIT and data from cognitive neuroscience is particularly important and considerable consistency is found. Overall, the commentaries affirm that advances in neuroscience techniques have caused intelligence research to enter a new phase. The P-FIT is recognized as a reasonable empirical framework to test hypotheses about the relationship of brain structure and function with intelligence and reasoning.

scholarly journals Long-term prognosis and educational determinants of brain network decline in older adult individuals

Nature Aging ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micaela Y. Chan ◽  
Liang Han ◽  
Claudia A. Carreno ◽  
Ziwei Zhang ◽  
Rebekah M. Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Network Organization ◽  
College Degree ◽  
Functional Brain Network ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Longitudinal Imaging ◽  
Long Term Prognosis ◽  
And Function

AbstractOlder adults with lower education are at greater risk for dementia. It is unclear which brain changes lead to these outcomes. Longitudinal imaging-based measures of brain structure and function were examined in adult individuals (baseline age, 45–86 years; two to five visits per participant over 1–9 years). College degree completion differentiates individual-based and neighborhood-based measures of socioeconomic status and disadvantage. Older adults (~65 years and over) without a college degree exhibit a pattern of declining large-scale functional brain network organization (resting-state system segregation) that is less evident in their college-educated peers. Declining brain system segregation predicts impending changes in dementia severity, measured up to 10 years past the last scan date. The prognostic value of brain network change is independent of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related genetic risk (APOE status), the presence of AD-associated pathology (cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau, cortical amyloid) and cortical thinning. These results demonstrate that the trajectory of an individual’s brain network organization varies in relation to their educational attainment and, more broadly, is a unique indicator of individual brain health during older age.

scholarly journals Altered Hippocampal Epigenetic Regulation Underlying Reduced Cognitive Development in Response to Early Life Environmental Insults

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schachtschneider ◽  
Welge ◽  
Auvil ◽  
Chaki ◽  
Rund ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Respiratory Syndrome Virus ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Go Terms

The hippocampus is involved in learning and memory and undergoes significant growth and maturation during the neonatal period. Environmental insults during this developmental timeframe can have lasting effects on brain structure and function. This study assessed hippocampal DNA methylation and gene transcription from two independent studies reporting reduced cognitive development stemming from early life environmental insults (iron deficiency and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv) infection) using porcine biomedical models. In total, 420 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the reduced cognition and control groups, including genes involved in neurodevelopment and function. Gene ontology (GO) terms enriched for DEGs were associated with immune responses, angiogenesis, and cellular development. In addition, 116 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified, which overlapped 125 genes. While no GO terms were enriched for genes overlapping DMRs, many of these genes are known to be involved in neurodevelopment and function, angiogenesis, and immunity. The observed altered methylation and expression of genes involved in neurological function suggest reduced cognition in response to early life environmental insults is due to altered cholinergic signaling and calcium regulation. Finally, two DMRs overlapped with two DEGs, VWF and LRRC32, which are associated with blood brain barrier permeability and regulatory T-cell activation, respectively. These results support the role of altered hippocampal DNA methylation and gene expression in early life environmentally-induced reductions in cognitive development across independent studies.

scholarly journals Sex differences in the adult human brain: Evidence from 5,216 UK Biobank participants

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart J. Ritchie ◽  
Simon R. Cox ◽  
Xueyi Shen ◽  
Michael V. Lombardo ◽  
Lianne M. Reus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
Functional Connectome ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function

AbstractSex differences in the human brain are of interest, for example because of sex differences in the observed prevalence of psychiatric disorders and in some psychological traits. We report the largest single-sample study of structural and functional sex differences in the human brain (2,750 female, 2,466 male participants; 44-77 years). Males had higher volumes, surface areas, and white matter fractional anisotropy; females had thicker cortices and higher white matter tract complexity. There was considerable distributional overlap between the sexes. Subregional differences were not fully attributable to differences in total volume or height. There was generally greater male variance across structural measures. Functional connectome organization showed stronger connectivity for males in unimodal sensorimotor cortices, and stronger connectivity for females in the default mode network. This large-scale study provides a foundation for attempts to understand the causes and consequences of sex differences in adult brain structure and function.

scholarly journals Mental health and music engagement: review, framework, and guidelines for future studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Gustavson ◽  
Peyton L. Coleman ◽  
John R. Iversen ◽  
Hermine H. Maes ◽  
Reyna L. Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Thought Disorders ◽  
Neurobiological Substrates ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
And Function ◽  
Future Work

AbstractIs engaging with music good for your mental health? This question has long been the topic of empirical clinical and nonclinical investigations, with studies indicating positive associations between music engagement and quality of life, reduced depression or anxiety symptoms, and less frequent substance use. However, many earlier investigations were limited by small populations and methodological limitations, and it has also been suggested that aspects of music engagement may even be associated with worse mental health outcomes. The purpose of this scoping review is first to summarize the existing state of music engagement and mental health studies, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. We focus on broad domains of mental health diagnoses including internalizing psychopathology (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses), externalizing psychopathology (e.g., substance use), and thought disorders (e.g., schizophrenia). Second, we propose a theoretical model to inform future work that describes the importance of simultaneously considering music-mental health associations at the levels of (1) correlated genetic and/or environmental influences vs. (bi)directional associations, (2) interactions with genetic risk factors, (3) treatment efficacy, and (4) mediation through brain structure and function. Finally, we describe how recent advances in large-scale data collection, including genetic, neuroimaging, and electronic health record studies, allow for a more rigorous examination of these associations that can also elucidate their neurobiological substrates.

scholarly journals The connectome predicts resting state functional connectivity across the Drosophila brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell H Turner ◽  
Kevin Mann ◽  
Thomas R. Clandinin
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function

Connectomic datasets have emerged as invaluable tools for understanding neural circuits in many systems. What constraints does the connectome place on information processing and routing in a large scale neural circuit? For mesoscale brain networks, the relationship between cell and synaptic level connectivity and brain function is not well understood. Here, we use data from the Drosophila connectome in conjunction with whole-brain in vivo imaging to relate structural and functional connectivity in the central brain. We find that functional connectivity is strongly associated with the strength of both direct and indirect anatomical pathways. We also show that some brain regions, including the mushroom body and central complex, show considerably higher functional connectivity to other brain regions than is predicted based on their direct anatomical connections. We find several key topological similarities between mesoscale brain networks in flies and mammals, revealing conserved principles relating brain structure and function.

scholarly journals A transfer-learning approach for first-year developmental infant brain segmentation using deep neural networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Wang ◽  
Fateme Sadat Haghpanah ◽  
Natalie Aw ◽  
Andrew Laine ◽  
Jonathan Posner
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Brain Segmentation ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Mri Scans ◽  
Infant Brain ◽  
And Function ◽  
Hippocampus Segmentation

AbstractThe months between birth and age 2 are increasingly recognized as a period critical for neuro-development, with potentially life-long implications for cognitive functioning. However, little is known about the growth trajectories of brain structure and function across this time period. This is in large part because of insufficient approaches to analyze infant MRI scans at different months, especially brain segmentation. Addressing technical gaps in infant brain segmentation would significantly improve our capacity to efficiently measure and identify relevant infant brain structures and connectivity, and their role in long-term development. In this paper, we propose a transfer-learning approach based on convolutional neural network (CNN)-based image segmentation architecture, QuickNAT, to segment brain structures for newborns and 6-month infants separately. We pre-trained QuickNAT on auxiliary labels from a large-scale dataset, fine-tuned on manual labels, and then cross-validated the model’s performance on two separate datasets. Compared to other commonly used methods, our transfer-learning approach showed superior segmentation performance on both newborns and 6-month infants. Moreover, we demonstrated improved hippocampus segmentation performance via our approach in preterm infants.

Associations between prenatal stress, anxiety and depression and child behavioural and cognitive development. Is it causal?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivette Glover ◽  
Thomas G. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Prenatal Stress ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Perinatal Period ◽  
Biological Psychiatry ◽  
Maternal Mood ◽  
Rat Pups ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Prenatally Stressed ◽  
And Function

I (V.G.) first got to know Channi at the inaugural Indian Biological Psychiatry meeting In Bombay over 20 years ago. I was working on monoamine oxidase at the time. It was my first trip to India and his first to Bombay for several decades. We spent much time talking together, and by the end of it, as well as visiting temples, the Gateway of India, and the Elephanta Caves. Channi had persuaded me to carry out research on maternal mood in the perinatal period, the effects on the child, and the underlying biological mechanisms. This I have been doing ever since. Thus for me, like many others, Channi changed the direction of my career. His infectious enthusiasm, and very wide range of interests, have directed and inspired world research in perinatal psychiatry. There is now considerable evidence from both human and animal studies that the children of stressed, anxious, or depressed mothers are more likely to experience a range of neurodevelopmental problems than the children of unstressed mothers. (Glover 2011; O’Donnell et al. 2009; Talge et al. 2007; Van den Bergh et al. 2007,). With animal studies it is much easier to establish that these associations are causal. Newborn rat pups of prenatally stressed mothers can be cross-fostered to non-stressed mothers on the first day after birth, with control pups of unstressed mothers cross-fostered also. This can establish that any differences in outcome are caused by stress in the prenatal period. Many such studies have shown that there are definite fetal programming effects of prenatal stress on behaviour, cognitive development, the hypothalamuspituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, and brain structure and function of the offspring (e.g. Henry et al. 1994; Weinstock 2001, 2008; Afadlal et al. 2010). The nature of the effects can be affected by the timing of the exposure in gestation, the type of the stress, the strain of the animal, the age at which the offspring was tested, and the sex of the offspring (Weinstock 2008), The effects of prenatal stress on the offspring can often be mimicked by giving the stress hormone corticosterone, or a synthetic glucocorticoid, to the pregnant animal (Matthews 2000; Afadlal et al. 2009).

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