TY - JOUR
T1 - Prenatal environment is associated with the pace of cortical network development over the first three years of life
AU - Tooley, Ursula A.
AU - Latham, Aidan
AU - Kenley, Jeanette K.
AU - Alexopoulos, Dimitrios
AU - Smyser, Tara A.
AU - Nielsen, Ashley N.
AU - Gorham, Lisa
AU - Warner, Barbara B.
AU - Shimony, Joshua S.
AU - Neil, Jeffrey J.
AU - Luby, Joan L.
AU - Barch, Deanna M.
AU - Rogers, Cynthia E.
AU - Smyser, Christopher D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Environmental influences on brain structure and function during early development have been well-characterized, but whether early environments are associated with the pace of brain development is not clear. In pre-registered analyses, we use flexible non-linear models to test the theory that prenatal disadvantage is associated with differences in trajectories of intrinsic brain network development from birth to three years (n = 261). Prenatal disadvantage was assessed using a latent factor of socioeconomic disadvantage that included measures of mother’s income-to-needs ratio, educational attainment, area deprivation index, insurance status, and nutrition. We find that prenatal disadvantage is associated with developmental increases in cortical network segregation, with neonates and toddlers with greater exposure to prenatal disadvantage showing a steeper increase in cortical network segregation with age, consistent with accelerated network development. Associations between prenatal disadvantage and cortical network segregation occur at the local scale and conform to a sensorimotor-association hierarchy of cortical organization. Disadvantage-associated differences in cortical network segregation are associated with language abilities at two years, such that lower segregation is associated with improved language abilities. These results shed light on associations between the early environment and trajectories of cortical development.
AB - Environmental influences on brain structure and function during early development have been well-characterized, but whether early environments are associated with the pace of brain development is not clear. In pre-registered analyses, we use flexible non-linear models to test the theory that prenatal disadvantage is associated with differences in trajectories of intrinsic brain network development from birth to three years (n = 261). Prenatal disadvantage was assessed using a latent factor of socioeconomic disadvantage that included measures of mother’s income-to-needs ratio, educational attainment, area deprivation index, insurance status, and nutrition. We find that prenatal disadvantage is associated with developmental increases in cortical network segregation, with neonates and toddlers with greater exposure to prenatal disadvantage showing a steeper increase in cortical network segregation with age, consistent with accelerated network development. Associations between prenatal disadvantage and cortical network segregation occur at the local scale and conform to a sensorimotor-association hierarchy of cortical organization. Disadvantage-associated differences in cortical network segregation are associated with language abilities at two years, such that lower segregation is associated with improved language abilities. These results shed light on associations between the early environment and trajectories of cortical development.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203522627&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-024-52242-4
DO - 10.1038/s41467-024-52242-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 39256419
AN - SCOPUS:85203522627
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 15
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 7932
ER -