Outdoor Air Pollution Relates to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescents.

Background: Outdoor air pollution is associated with an increased risk for psychopathology. Although the neural mechanisms remain unclear, air pollutants may impact mental health by altering limbic brain regions, such as the amygdala. Here, we examine the association between ambient air pollution exposure and amygdala subregion volumes in 9-10-year-olds.

A Systematic Review of Air Pollution Exposure and Brain Structure and Function during Development.

Objectives: Air pollutants are known neurotoxicants. In this updated systematic review, we evaluate new evidence since our 2019 systematic review on the effect of outdoor air pollution exposure on childhood and adolescent brain structure and function as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Using PubMed and Web of Science, we conducted an updated literature search and systematic review of articles published through March 2024, using key terms for air pollution and functional and/or structural MRI.

Predicting brain atrophy and cognitive aging trajectories with baseline subjective cognitive concerns in cognitively normal older adults.

Subjective cognitive concerns (SCC) are common even in cognitively normal older adults who lack objectively-detectable deficits on standard neuropsychological evaluation. The clinical relevance of these concerns, particularly considering the nature of concerns (e.g.

Exposure to multiple ambient air pollutants changes white matter microstructure during early adolescence with sex-specific differences.

Background: Air pollution is ubiquitous, yet questions remain regarding its impact on the developing brain. Large changes occur in white matter microstructure across adolescence, with notable differences by sex.

Methods: We investigate sex-stratified effects of annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO), and ozone (O) at ages 9-10 years on longitudinal patterns of white matter microstructure over a 2-year period.

Outdoor air pollution and brain development in childhood and adolescence.

Exposure to outdoor air pollution has been linked to adverse health effects, including potential widespread impacts on the CNS. Ongoing brain development may render children and adolescents especially vulnerable to neurotoxic effects of air pollution. While mechanisms remain unclear, promising advances in human neuroimaging can help elucidate both sensitive periods and neurobiological consequences of exposure to air pollution.

Prenatal and childhood air pollution exposure, cellular immune biomarkers, and brain connectivity in early adolescents.

Introduction: Ambient air pollution is a neurotoxicant with hypothesized immune-related mechanisms. Adolescent brain structural and functional connectivity may be especially vulnerable to ambient pollution due to the refinement of large-scale brain networks during this period, which vary by sex and have important implications for cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning. In the current study we explored associations between air pollutants, immune markers, and structural and functional connectivity in early adolescence by leveraging cross-sectional sex-stratified data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ Study®.

Neural Correlates of Obesity and Inflammation in Children and Adolescents with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.

Introduction: Patients with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency exhibit an increased prevalence of obesity from childhood including central adiposity and inflammation. There is also an emerging affected brain phenotype in CAH, with decreased cortico-limbic gray matter volumes and white matter abnormalities. We aimed to study the relationship between brain structure, obesity, and inflammation in children and adolescents with CAH compared to controls.

Air pollution and age-dependent changes in emotional behavior across early adolescence in the U.S.

Recent studies have linked air pollution to increased risk for behavioral problems during development, albeit with inconsistent findings. Additional longitudinal studies are needed that consider how emotional behaviors may be affected when exposure coincides with the transition to adolescence - a vulnerable time for developing mental health difficulties. This study investigates if annual average PM and NO exposure at ages 9-10 years moderates age-related changes in internalizing and externalizing behaviors over a 2-year follow-up period in a large, nationwide U.

Sex-specific effects in how childhood exposures to multiple ambient air pollutants affect white matter microstructure development across early adolescence.

Ambient air pollution is ubiquitous, yet questions remain as to how it might impact the developing brain. Large changes occur in the brain's white matter (WM) microstructure across adolescence, with noticeable differences in WM integrity in male and female youth. Here we report sex-stratified effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.

Effects of ambient fine particulates, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone on maturation of functional brain networks across early adolescence.

Background: Air pollution is linked to neurodevelopmental delays, but its association with longitudinal changes in brain network development has yet to be investigated. We aimed to characterize the effect of PM, O, and NO exposure at ages 9-10 years on changes in functional connectivity (FC) over a 2-year follow-up period, with a focus on the salience (SN), frontoparietal (FPN), and default-mode (DMN) brain networks as well as the amygdala and hippocampus given their importance in emotional and cognitive functioning.

Methods: A sample of children (N = 9,497; with 1-2 scans each for a total of 13,824 scans; 45.

Altered Emotion Perception Linked to Structural Brain Differences in Youth With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.

Context: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a genetic disorder that results in hormonal imbalances and decreased brain volumes in regions important for emotional processing.

Objective: To examine whether emotion perception differs between youth with CAH and control youth, and if these differences relate to brain volumes.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 27 youths with CAH (mean age = 12.

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Brain Health: A Systematic Review of Structural, Functional, and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Investigations.

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of genetic disorders that affects the adrenal glands and is the most common cause of primary adrenal insufficiency in children. In the past few decades, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been implemented to investigate how the brain may be affected by CAH. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate and synthesize the reported evidence of brain findings related to CAH using structural, functional, and diffusion-weighted MRI.

White Matter Microstructural Differences in Youth With Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.

Context: Gray matter morphology in the prefrontal cortex and subcortical regions, including the hippocampus and amygdala, are affected in youth with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). It remains unclear if white matter connecting these aforementioned brain regions is compromised in youth with CAH.

Objective: To examine brain white matter microstructure in youth with CAH compared to controls.

Worth the Wait: Delayed Recall after 1 Week Predicts Cognitive and Medial Temporal Lobe Trajectories in Older Adults.

Method: Clinically normal older adults (52-92 years old) were followed longitudinally for up to 8 years after completing a memory paradigm at baseline [Story Recall Test (SRT)] that assessed delayed recall at 30 min and 1 week. Subsets of the cohort underwent neuroimaging (N = 134, mean age = 75) and neuropsychological testing (N = 178-207, mean ages = 74-76) at annual study visits occurring approximately 15-18 months apart. Mixed-effects regression models evaluated if baseline SRT performance predicted longitudinal changes in gray matter volumes and cognitive composite scores, controlling for demographics.

Sex-related differences in the relationship between β-amyloid and cognitive trajectories in older adults.

We aimed to test the hypothesis that elevated neocortical β-amyloid (Aβ), a hallmark feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), predicts sex-specific cognitive trajectories in clinically normal older adults, with women showing greater risk of decline than men. Florbetapir Aβ positron emission tomography (PET) was acquired in 149 clinically normal older adults (52% female, = 74). Participants underwent cognitive testing at baseline and during annual follow-up visits over a timespan of up to 5.

REM sleep is associated with white matter integrity in cognitively healthy, older adults.

There is increasing awareness that self-reported sleep abnormalities are negatively associated with brain structure and function in older adults. Less is known, however, about how objectively measured sleep associates with brain structure. We objectively measured at-home sleep to investigate how sleep architecture and sleep quality related to white matter microstructure in older adults.

Aging and Positive Mood: Longitudinal Neurobiological and Cognitive Correlates.

Objective: Despite the losses commonly associated with aging, older adults seem to possess particularly preserved emotional regulation. To further understand this phenomenon, the authors examined longitudinal trajectories between age, depressive symptoms, brain structure, and cognition.

Methods: Seven hundred and sixteen functionally intact older adults (age M = 67.

An IL-18-centered inflammatory network as a biomarker for cerebral white matter injury.

Chronic systemic sterile inflammation is implicated in the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular disease and white matter injury. Non-invasive blood markers for risk stratification and dissection of inflammatory molecular substrates in vivo are lacking. We sought to identify whether an interconnected network of inflammatory biomarkers centered on IL-18 and all previously associated with white matter lesions could detect overt and antecedent white matter changes in two populations at risk for cerebral small vessel disease.

Cognitive Deficits and Associated ERP N400 Abnormalities in FXTAS With Parkinsonism.

To examine cognitive deficits and associated brain activity in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) patients with parkinsonism (FXTp+), in relation to FXTAS patients without parkinsonism (FXTp-), and normal elderly controls (NC). Retrospective reviews were performed in 65 FXTAS patients who participated in the event-related brain potential (ERP) study and also had either a videotaped neurological examination or a neurological examination for extrapyramidal signs. Parkinsonism was defined as having bradykinesia with at least one of the following: rest tremor, postural instability, hypermyotonia, or rigidity.

Genetic biomarkers of posttraumatic epilepsy: A systematic review.

Introduction: Posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) is caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is an important contributor to the overall social and economic burden of epilepsy. Epidemiological studies suggest that there is a genetic contribution to the development of PTE. Identification of clinically useful genetic biomarkers is important for advancements in diagnosis and treatment of PTE.