PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 1;97(1):64-72. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.07.019. Epub 2024 Jul 29.
Different types of early-life adversity (ELA) have been associated with children's brain structure and function. However, understanding the disparate influence of distinct adversity exposures on the developing brain remains a major challenge.
This study investigates the neural correlates of 10 robust dimensions of ELA identified through exploratory factor analysis in a large community sample of youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Brain age models were trained, validated, and tested separately on T1-weighted (n = 9524), diffusion tensor (n = 8834), and resting-state functional (n = 8233) magnetic resonance imaging data from two time points (mean age = 10.7 years, SD = 1.2, age range = 8.9-13.8 years).
Bayesian multilevel modeling supported distinct associations between different types of ELA exposures and younger- and older-looking brains. Dimensions generally related to emotional neglect, such as lack of primary and secondary caregiver support and lack of caregiver supervision, were associated with lower brain age gaps, i.e., younger-looking brains. In contrast, dimensions generally related to caregiver psychopathology, trauma exposure, family aggression, substance use and separation from biological parent, and socioeconomic disadvantage and neighborhood safety were associated with higher brain age gaps, i.e., older-looking brains.
The findings suggest that dimensions of ELA are differentially associated with distinct neurodevelopmental patterns, indicative of dimension-specific delayed and accelerated brain maturation.
不同类型的早期生活逆境（ELA）与儿童的大脑结构和功能有关。然而，理解不同逆境暴露对发育中大脑的不同影响仍然是一个主要挑战。
本研究通过探索性因素分析，在青少年大脑认知发展研究中的一个大型社区青年样本中，研究了 10 种强大的 ELA 类型的神经相关性。脑龄模型分别在两个时间点的 T1 加权（n=9524）、弥散张量（n=8834）和静息态功能（n=8233）磁共振成像数据上进行训练、验证和测试（平均年龄=10.7 岁，标准差=1.2，年龄范围=8.9-13.8 岁）。
贝叶斯多层次建模支持不同类型的 ELA 暴露与更年轻和更年长的大脑之间的不同关联。与情感忽视有关的维度，如缺乏主要和次要照顾者的支持以及缺乏照顾者的监督，与较小的脑龄差距相关，即更年轻的大脑。相比之下，与照顾者精神病理学、创伤暴露、家庭侵略、物质使用和与亲生父母分离以及社会经济劣势和邻里安全有关的维度与较大的脑龄差距相关，即更年长的大脑。
研究结果表明，ELA 的维度与不同的神经发育模式相关，表明特定维度的大脑成熟延迟和加速。
