A meta-analysis of the effects of early life stress on the prefrontal cortex transcriptome suggests long-term effects on myelin.

Background: Early life stress (ELS) refers to exposure to negative childhood experiences, such as neglect, disaster, and physical, mental, or emotional abuse. ELS can permanently alter the brain, leading to cognitive impairment, increased sensitivity to future stressors, and mental health risks. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a key brain region implicated in the effects of ELS.

Striatal dopamine gene network moderates the effect of early adversity on the risk for adult psychiatric and cardiometabolic comorbidity.

Cardiometabolic and psychiatric disorders often co-exist and share common early life risk factors, such as low birth weight. However, the biological pathways linking early adversity to adult cardiometabolic/psychiatric comorbidity remain unknown. Dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the striatum is sensitive to early adversity and influences the development of both cardiometabolic and psychiatric diseases.

Exploring multi-omics and clinical characteristics linked to accelerated biological aging in Asian women of reproductive age: insights from the S-PRESTO study.

Background: Phenotypic age (PhenoAge), a widely used marker of biological aging, has been shown to be a robust predictor of all-cause mortality and morbidity in different populations. Existing studies on biological aging have primarily focused on individual domains, resulting in a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the multi-systemic dysregulation that occurs in aging.

Methods: PhenoAge was evaluated based on a linear combination of chronological age (CA) and 9 clinical biomarkers in 952 multi-ethnic Asian women of reproductive age.

Harsh parenting, amygdala functional connectivity changes across childhood, and behavioral problems.

Background: Harsh parenting in early childhood is related to offspring's adverse behavioral outcomes. Due to the scarcity of longitudinal neuroimaging data, few studies have explored the neurobiological underpinnings of this association, focusing on within-person variability. This study examined the temporal associations among harsh parenting, later behavioral problems, and the developmental trajectories of amygdala volume and amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) profiles, using longitudinal neuroimaging data.

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Risk for Childhood Depression: Role of Executive Functions.

Objective: Offspring of mothers with depression are at increased risk for executive function (EF) deficits and later depressive symptoms, but limited studies have examined EF as an intermediary pathway. This study examined the role of EF in mediating the association between maternal and child depressive symptoms.

Method: Data were from a longitudinal birth cohort comprising 739 participants followed from the antenatal period for 12 years.