Brain Networks and Their Association with Psychiatric Traits During Adolescence

Adolescence is a key period for neural changes, including maturation of the brain's cognitive networks. This period is also associated with increased vulnerability to psychopathology. The aim of this application is to combine brain functional imaging data with cognitive and behavioral information to provide an integrative framework that quantifies the dynamic reconfiguration of the brain connectome across cognitive states from adolescence to adulthood and improve our understanding of the link between the brain functional connectome and psychopathology, in adolescents.

Specific Aims

• (Aim 1) Identify developmental changes in the spatial reconfiguration of brain networks by cognitive states. We will collect data during both resting-state and task-based fMRI to identify the major cognitive networks and assess their spatial reconfiguration across the distinct cognitive states.
•  (Aim 2) Quantify developmental alterations in the functional interactions across networks and cognitive states. We will quantify the functional interactions among the major brain networks during different cognitive states. We will identify how functional reconfiguration is impacted by age and pubertal stage.
• (Aim 3) Determine the power of an integrative brain framework to predict psychiatric traits in adolescents. We will use multivariate analyses to determine the degree to which the brain network organization measures are associated with psychiatric traits during adolescence. We will also identify higher risk participants and examine them against a control group of lower risk participants.

Study Sample Population

160 healthy participants (aged 12-25 years)

Impact

The successful completion of this project will provide an integrative view of the dynamic configuration of major brain networks across cognitive states during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and quantify its association with neuropsychiatric traits. By mapping the brain functional connectome during this critical age window, this work has the potential to provide a transdiagnostic framework for linking mental health disorders to brain mechanisms involved in the maturation of brain networks.