Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence
Abstract Cerebral asymmetry, fundamental to various cognitive functions, is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. While brain growth has been extensively studied, the maturation of brain asymmetry in children and the factors influencing it in adolescence remain poorly understood. We analyze...
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| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59110-9 |
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| author | Xinran Wu Kai Zhang Nanyu Kuang Xiangzhen Kong Miao Cao Zhengxu Lian Yu Liu Huanxin Fan Gechang Yu Zhaowen Liu Wei Cheng Tianye Jia Barbara J. Sahakian Trevor W. Robbins Jianfeng Feng Gunter Schumann Lena Palaniyappan Jie Zhang |
| author_facet | Xinran Wu Kai Zhang Nanyu Kuang Xiangzhen Kong Miao Cao Zhengxu Lian Yu Liu Huanxin Fan Gechang Yu Zhaowen Liu Wei Cheng Tianye Jia Barbara J. Sahakian Trevor W. Robbins Jianfeng Feng Gunter Schumann Lena Palaniyappan Jie Zhang |
| author_sort | Xinran Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Cerebral asymmetry, fundamental to various cognitive functions, is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. While brain growth has been extensively studied, the maturation of brain asymmetry in children and the factors influencing it in adolescence remain poorly understood. We analyze longitudinal data from 11,270 children aged 10–14 years in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Our analysis maps the developmental trajectory of structural brain asymmetry. We identify significant age-related, modality-specific development patterns. These patterns link to crystallized intelligence and mental health problems, but with weak correlations. Genetically, structural asymmetry relates to synaptic processes and neuron projections, likely through asymmetric synaptic pruning. At the microstructural level, corpus callosum integrity emerged as a key factor modulating the developing asymmetry. Environmentally, favorable perinatal conditions were associated with prolonged corpus callosum development, which affected future asymmetry patterns and cognitive outcomes. These findings underscore the dynamic yet predictable interactions between brain asymmetry, its structural determinants, and cognitive and psychiatric outcomes during a pivotal developmental stage. Our results provide empirical support for the adaptive plasticity theory in cerebral asymmetry and offer insights into both cognitive maturation and potential risk for early-onset mental health problems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fbc69db7c2db4499bd8a49335b5c1af7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-fbc69db7c2db4499bd8a49335b5c1af72025-08-20T03:46:25ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111510.1038/s41467-025-59110-9Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescenceXinran Wu0Kai Zhang1Nanyu Kuang2Xiangzhen Kong3Miao Cao4Zhengxu Lian5Yu Liu6Huanxin Fan7Gechang Yu8Zhaowen Liu9Wei Cheng10Tianye Jia11Barbara J. Sahakian12Trevor W. Robbins13Jianfeng Feng14Gunter Schumann15Lena Palaniyappan16Jie Zhang17Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversitySchool of Computer Science and Technology, East China Normal UniversityNeuroimaging Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthDepartment of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales HospitalSchool of Computer Science of Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, University of CambridgeInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityDouglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityAbstract Cerebral asymmetry, fundamental to various cognitive functions, is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. While brain growth has been extensively studied, the maturation of brain asymmetry in children and the factors influencing it in adolescence remain poorly understood. We analyze longitudinal data from 11,270 children aged 10–14 years in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Our analysis maps the developmental trajectory of structural brain asymmetry. We identify significant age-related, modality-specific development patterns. These patterns link to crystallized intelligence and mental health problems, but with weak correlations. Genetically, structural asymmetry relates to synaptic processes and neuron projections, likely through asymmetric synaptic pruning. At the microstructural level, corpus callosum integrity emerged as a key factor modulating the developing asymmetry. Environmentally, favorable perinatal conditions were associated with prolonged corpus callosum development, which affected future asymmetry patterns and cognitive outcomes. These findings underscore the dynamic yet predictable interactions between brain asymmetry, its structural determinants, and cognitive and psychiatric outcomes during a pivotal developmental stage. Our results provide empirical support for the adaptive plasticity theory in cerebral asymmetry and offer insights into both cognitive maturation and potential risk for early-onset mental health problems.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59110-9 |
| spellingShingle | Xinran Wu Kai Zhang Nanyu Kuang Xiangzhen Kong Miao Cao Zhengxu Lian Yu Liu Huanxin Fan Gechang Yu Zhaowen Liu Wei Cheng Tianye Jia Barbara J. Sahakian Trevor W. Robbins Jianfeng Feng Gunter Schumann Lena Palaniyappan Jie Zhang Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence Nature Communications |
| title | Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| title_full | Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| title_fullStr | Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| title_short | Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| title_sort | developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59110-9 |
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