TY - JOUR
T1 - Positive parenting predicts the development of adolescent brain structure: a longitudinal study
AU - Whittle, Sarah
AU - Simmons, Julian G
AU - Dennison, Meg
AU - Vijayakumar, Nandita
AU - Schwartz, Orli
AU - Yap, Marie B.H.
AU - Sheeber, Lisa B
AU - Allen, Nicholas Brian
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - Little work has been conducted that examines the effects of positive environmental experiences on brain development to date. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the effects of positive (warm and supportive) maternal behavior on structural brain development during adolescence, using longitudinal structural MRI. Participants were 188 (92 female) adolescents, who were part of a longitudinal adolescent development study that involved mother-adolescent interactions and MRI scans at approximately 12 years old, and follow-up MRI scans approximately 4 years later. FreeSurfer software was used to estimate the volume of limbic-striatal regions (amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens) and the thickness of prefrontal regions (anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices) across both time points. Higher frequency of positive maternal behavior during the interactions predicted attenuated volumetric growth in the right amygdala, and accelerated cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate (males only) and left and right orbitofrontal cortices, between baseline and follow up. These results have implications for understanding the biological mediators of risk and protective factors for mental disorders that have onset during adolescence
AB - Little work has been conducted that examines the effects of positive environmental experiences on brain development to date. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the effects of positive (warm and supportive) maternal behavior on structural brain development during adolescence, using longitudinal structural MRI. Participants were 188 (92 female) adolescents, who were part of a longitudinal adolescent development study that involved mother-adolescent interactions and MRI scans at approximately 12 years old, and follow-up MRI scans approximately 4 years later. FreeSurfer software was used to estimate the volume of limbic-striatal regions (amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens) and the thickness of prefrontal regions (anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices) across both time points. Higher frequency of positive maternal behavior during the interactions predicted attenuated volumetric growth in the right amygdala, and accelerated cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate (males only) and left and right orbitofrontal cortices, between baseline and follow up. These results have implications for understanding the biological mediators of risk and protective factors for mental disorders that have onset during adolescence
UR - http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1878929313000650/1-s2.0-S1878929313000650-main.pdf?_tid=44cb9ffa-ab55-11e4-b13b-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1422934524_bcf133bedb4d504b
U2 - 10.1016/j.dcn.2013.10.006
DO - 10.1016/j.dcn.2013.10.006
M3 - Article
SN - 1878-9293
VL - 8
SP - 7
EP - 17
JO - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
JF - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
ER -