Maternal age, autistic-like traits and mentalizing as predictors of child autistic-like traits in a population-based cohort.

Background: Many empirical studies suggest that higher maternal age increases the likelihood of having an autistic child. However, little is known about factors that may explain this relationship or if higher maternal age is related to the number of autistic-like traits in offspring. One possibility is that mothers who have a higher number of autistic-like traits, including greater challenges performing mentalizing skills, are delayed in finding a partner.

Predicting persistence of hallucinations from childhood to adolescence.

Background: Psychotic experiences predict adverse health outcomes, particularly if they are persistent. However, it is unclear what distinguishes persistent from transient psychotic experiences.

Aims: In a large population-based cohort, we aimed to (a) describe the course of hallucinatory experiences from childhood to adolescence, (b) compare characteristics of youth with persistent and remittent hallucinatory experiences, and (c) examine prediction models for persistence.

Schizophrenia polygenic risk is associated with child mental health problems through early childhood adversity: evidence for a gene-environment correlation.

Previous studies have shown that schizophrenia polygenic risk predicts a multitude of mental health problems in the general population. Yet it is unclear by which mechanisms these associations arise. Here, we explored a possible gene-environment correlation in the association of schizophrenia polygenic risk with mental health problems via childhood adversity.

Peer-reported bullying, rejection and hallucinatory experiences in childhood.

Objective: Psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations, occur commonly in children and have been related to bullying victimization. However, whether bullying perpetration, peer rejection, or peer acceptance are related to hallucinatory experiences has remained under-examined. We used a novel peer nomination method to examine whether (i) bullying perpetration and (ii) social positions within peer networks were associated with future hallucinatory experiences.

Environment-Wide Association Study (E WAS) of Prenatal and Perinatal Factors Associated With Autistic Traits: A Population-Based Study.

A combination of genetic and environmental factors contributes to the origins of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While a number of studies have described specific environmental factors associating with emerging ASD, studies that compare and contrast multiple environmental factors in the same study are lacking. Thus, the goal of this study was to perform a prospective, data-driven environmental-wide association study of pre- and perinatal factors associated with the later development of autistic symptoms in childhood.

Psychotic experiences and future school performance in childhood: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Psychotic experiences are common in childhood and an important risk indicator of adverse mental health outcomes. However, little is known about the association of psychotic experiences with functional outcomes in childhood, particularly regarding school performance. The aim of the present study was to examine whether psychotic experiences were prospectively related to school performance in childhood.

Autistic traits and neuropsychological performance in 6- to-10-year-old children: a population-based study.

Clinical studies of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) provide evidence for poorer neuropsychological performance within specific domains compared to age, gender, and sometimes IQ-matched controls. Since recent evidence suggests that autistic symptoms form a spectrum that extends into the general population, it was our goal to evaluate the nature of the relationship between autistic traits and neuropsychological performance across the continuum in the general population. We examined neuropsychological performance across five different domains in 1019 6-to-10-year-old children participating in a population-based study of child development.

Connectivity dynamics in typical development and its relationship to autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder.

Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have provided significant insights into developmental trajectories of human brain function. Characterizations of typical neurodevelopment provide a framework for understanding altered neurodevelopment, including differences in brain function related to developmental disorders and psychopathology. Historically, most functional connectivity studies of typical and atypical development operate under the assumption that connectivity remains static over time.

The bidirectional association between sleep problems and autism spectrum disorder: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Sleep difficulties are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The temporal nature of the association between sleep problems and ASD is unclear because longitudinal studies are lacking. Our aim is to clarify whether sleep problems precede and worsen autistic traits and ASD or occur as a consequence of the disorder.

A prospective study of fetal head growth, autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder.

Unlabelled: Altered trajectories of brain growth are often reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly during the first year of life. However, less is known about prenatal head growth trajectories, and no study has examined the relation with postnatal autistic symptom severity. The current study prospectively examined the association between fetal head growth and the spectrum of autistic symptom severity in two large population-based cohorts, including a sample of individuals with clinically diagnosed ASD.

Paediatric population neuroimaging and the Generation R Study: the second wave.

Paediatric population neuroimaging is an emerging field that falls at the intersection between developmental neuroscience and epidemiology. A key feature of population neuroimaging studies involves large-scale recruitment that is representative of the general population. One successful approach for population neuroimaging is to embed neuroimaging studies within large epidemiological cohorts.

Tracking Brain Development and Dimensional Psychiatric Symptoms in Children: A Longitudinal Population-Based Neuroimaging Study.

Objective: Psychiatric symptomatology during childhood predicts persistent mental illness later in life. While neuroimaging methodologies are routinely applied cross-sectionally to the study of child and adolescent psychopathology, the nature of the relationship between childhood symptoms and the underlying neurodevelopmental processes remains unclear. The authors used a prospective population-based cohort to delineate the longitudinal relationship between childhood psychiatric problems and brain development.

Gestational vitamin D deficiency and autism spectrum disorder.

Background: There is growing interest in linking vitamin D deficiency with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The association between vitamin D deficiency during gestation, a critical period in neurodevelopment, and ASD is not well understood.

Aims: To determine the association between gestational vitamin D status and ASD.

White matter microstructure in children with autistic traits.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is thought to arise from aberrant development of connections in the brain. Previous studies have identified differences in white matter microstructure in children with ASD, offering support to such hypotheses. While ASD is thought to represent the severe end of a spectrum of traits, there are no studies evaluating white matter microstructure in relation to autistic traits in children from the general population.

Enhancing studies of the connectome in autism using the autism brain imaging data exchange II.

The second iteration of the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE II) aims to enhance the scope of brain connectomics research in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Consistent with the initial ABIDE effort (ABIDE I), that released 1112 datasets in 2012, this new multisite open-data resource is an aggregate of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and corresponding structural MRI and phenotypic datasets. ABIDE II includes datasets from an additional 487 individuals with ASD and 557 controls previously collected across 16 international institutions.

Infant muscle tone and childhood autistic traits: A longitudinal study in the general population.

In a longitudinal population-based study of 2,905 children, we investigated if infants' neuromotor development was associated with autistic traits in childhood. Overall motor development and muscle tone were examined by trained research assistants with an adapted version of Touwen's Neurodevelopmental Examination between ages 2 and 5 months. Tone was assessed in several positions and items were scored as normal, low, or high tone.

Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association.

Intracranial volume reflects the maximally attained brain size during development, and remains stable with loss of tissue in late life. It is highly heritable, but the underlying genes remain largely undetermined. In a genome-wide association study of 32,438 adults, we discovered five previously unknown loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals.

Cognitive functioning in children with internalising, externalising and dysregulation problems: a population-based study.

Psychiatric symptoms in childhood are closely related to neurocognitive deficits. However, it is unclear whether internalising and externalising symptoms are associated with general or distinct cognitive problems. We examined the relation between different types of psychiatric symptoms and neurocognitive functioning in a population-based sample of 1177 school-aged children.

Resting-state networks in 6-to-10 year old children.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging provides a non-invasive approach to the study of intrinsic functional brain networks. When applied to the study of brain development, most studies consist of relatively small samples that are not always representative of the general population. Descriptions of these networks in the general population offer important insight for clinical studies examining, for instance, psychopathology or neurological conditions.

The association of gender, age, and intelligence with neuropsychological functioning in young typically developing children: The Generation R study.

Although early childhood is a period of rapid neurocognitive development, few studies have assessed neuropsychological functioning in various cognitive domains in young typically developing children. Also, results regarding its association with gender and intelligence are mixed. In 853 typically developing children aged 6 to 10 years old, the association of gender, age, and intelligence with neuropsychological functioning in the domains of attention, executive functioning, language, memory, sensorimotor functioning, and visuospatial processing was explored.

Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency based on maternal mid-gestation and neonatal cord bloods: The Generation R Study.

Background: Population-based studies have confirmed that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is substantial in many societies, and is of particular concern in pregnant women. Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with a wide range of adverse maternal and offspring health outcomes. To date, studies of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy have focused on measurements at one or two time points in isolation.

White matter integrity and cognitive performance in school-age children: A population-based neuroimaging study.

Child and adolescent brain development are typically accompanied by marked improvements in a wide range of cognitive abilities. However, limited information is available surrounding the role of white matter in shaping cognitive abilities in children. The current study examined associations between white matter microstructure and cognitive performance in a large sample (n=778) of 6- to 10-year-old children.