Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence
Background: Outdoor air pollution exposure is associated with structural and functional brain differences and an increased risk for psychopathology. Although the neural mechanisms remain unclear, air pollutants may impact mental health by altering brain regions implicated in psychopathology, such as...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174325000989 |
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| author | Jessica Morrel L. Nate Overholtzer Kirthana Sukumaran Devyn L. Cotter Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez J. Michael Tyszka Joel Schwartz Daniel A. Hackman Jiu-Chiuan Chen Megan M. Herting |
| author_facet | Jessica Morrel L. Nate Overholtzer Kirthana Sukumaran Devyn L. Cotter Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez J. Michael Tyszka Joel Schwartz Daniel A. Hackman Jiu-Chiuan Chen Megan M. Herting |
| author_sort | Jessica Morrel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Outdoor air pollution exposure is associated with structural and functional brain differences and an increased risk for psychopathology. Although the neural mechanisms remain unclear, air pollutants may impact mental health by altering brain regions implicated in psychopathology, such as the amygdala. Here, we examined the association between ambient air pollution exposure and amygdala subregion volumes in 9- to 10-year-olds. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 4473 (55.4% male) Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study participants were leveraged. Air pollution exposure was estimated based on each participant’s primary residential address. Using the CIT168 atlas, we quantified total amygdala and 9 subregion volumes from T1- and T2-weighted images. We investigated associations between criteria pollutants (i.e., fine particulate matter [PM2.5], nitrogen dioxide, and ground-level ozone), 15 PM2.5 components, and amygdala subregion volumes and relative volume fractions using both single-pollutant linear mixed-effects regression and partial least squares correlation (PLSC) co-exposure modeling approaches. Results: No significant associations were detected using single-pollutant models. Rather, in examining mixtures of exposures with PLSC, 1 latent dimension (52% variance explained) captured a positive association between calcium and several basolateral subregions. Latent dimensions were also identified for amygdala relative volume fractions (ranging from 30% to 82% variance explained), with PM2.5 and component co-exposure being associated with increases in lateral, but decreases in medial and central, relative volume fractions. Conclusions: PM2.5 and its components are associated with distinct amygdala differences, potentially playing a role in risk for adolescent mental health problems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8f3060bf2e6414ab8818061e26dcc1b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-1743 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8f3060bf2e6414ab8818061e26dcc1b2025-08-20T03:25:29ZengElsevierBiological Psychiatry Global Open Science2667-17432025-09-015510054410.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100544Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early AdolescenceJessica Morrel0L. Nate Overholtzer1Kirthana Sukumaran2Devyn L. Cotter3Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez4J. Michael Tyszka5Joel Schwartz6Daniel A. Hackman7Jiu-Chiuan Chen8Megan M. Herting9Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; USC-Caltech MD-PhD Program, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDivision of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CaliforniaDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MassachusettsUSC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Address correspondence to Megan M. Herting, Ph.D.Background: Outdoor air pollution exposure is associated with structural and functional brain differences and an increased risk for psychopathology. Although the neural mechanisms remain unclear, air pollutants may impact mental health by altering brain regions implicated in psychopathology, such as the amygdala. Here, we examined the association between ambient air pollution exposure and amygdala subregion volumes in 9- to 10-year-olds. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 4473 (55.4% male) Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study participants were leveraged. Air pollution exposure was estimated based on each participant’s primary residential address. Using the CIT168 atlas, we quantified total amygdala and 9 subregion volumes from T1- and T2-weighted images. We investigated associations between criteria pollutants (i.e., fine particulate matter [PM2.5], nitrogen dioxide, and ground-level ozone), 15 PM2.5 components, and amygdala subregion volumes and relative volume fractions using both single-pollutant linear mixed-effects regression and partial least squares correlation (PLSC) co-exposure modeling approaches. Results: No significant associations were detected using single-pollutant models. Rather, in examining mixtures of exposures with PLSC, 1 latent dimension (52% variance explained) captured a positive association between calcium and several basolateral subregions. Latent dimensions were also identified for amygdala relative volume fractions (ranging from 30% to 82% variance explained), with PM2.5 and component co-exposure being associated with increases in lateral, but decreases in medial and central, relative volume fractions. Conclusions: PM2.5 and its components are associated with distinct amygdala differences, potentially playing a role in risk for adolescent mental health problems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174325000989ABCD StudyAir pollutionAmygdalaBrain developmentNeuroimagingPM2.5 |
| spellingShingle | Jessica Morrel L. Nate Overholtzer Kirthana Sukumaran Devyn L. Cotter Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez J. Michael Tyszka Joel Schwartz Daniel A. Hackman Jiu-Chiuan Chen Megan M. Herting Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science ABCD Study Air pollution Amygdala Brain development Neuroimaging PM2.5 |
| title | Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence |
| title_full | Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence |
| title_fullStr | Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence |
| title_short | Outdoor Air Pollution Is Related to Amygdala Subregion Volume and Apportionment in Early Adolescence |
| title_sort | outdoor air pollution is related to amygdala subregion volume and apportionment in early adolescence |
| topic | ABCD Study Air pollution Amygdala Brain development Neuroimaging PM2.5 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174325000989 |
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