The role of pubertal timing in white matter development and mental health
Poster No:
974
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Samuel Berkins Sylas1, Timothy Silk2, Sarah Whittle3, Soudeh Ashrafipour4, Nandita Vijayakumar2
Institutions:
1Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, 2Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, 3Unversity of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 4Deakin University, North Melbourne, VIC
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Puberty is a critical developmental phase characterised by substantial brain reorganisation and an increased risk of mental health problems, particularly for individuals who experience puberty earlier than their peers (Hamlat et al., 2019). While pubertal stages have been linked to white matter (WM) changes, the role of individual differences in pubertal timing (PT) remains underexplored (Piekarski et al., 2023). Moreover, the potential mediating role of WM microstructural changes in the relationship between PT and future mental health outcomes has yet to be studied. This study aims to explore how changes in PT influence future mental health, with a specific focus on the mediating role of WM microstructural properties, using advanced restricted spectrum imaging (RSI) data.
Methods:
The study utilised data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (ABCD), an ongoing population-based longitudinal cohort of over 11,000 children followed from ages 9-10. Participants were included in the current study if they had PT data, RSI imaging data at the two-year follow-up, and Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) scores at the third-year follow-up. Children were excluded if they had missing demographic information, missing pubertal data (parent-reported Pubertal Development Scale[PDS]) or met exclusion criteria for dMRI quality control (Hagler et al., 2019). The final sample after exclusion was 6,300 children aged 9-12 years at the one-year follow-up (mean: 10.90 years; 46% girls), 11.95 (10.58-13.83) years at the two-year follow-up, and 12.87 (10.58-13.83) years at the three-year follow-up. PT was derived as the random intercept from a linear mixed-effects model regressing mean PDS on age, with positive values indicating earlier timing. Mental health problems were assessed using the parent-reported CBCL consisting of eight subdomains. WM microstructure metrics free (FND), restricted (RND), and hindered normalized diffusion (HND) fractions were extracted from dMRI RSI scans. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the associations between PT, and mental health and WM metrics, stratified by sex and adjusting for covariates (race/ethnicity, body mass index, socioeconomic status and dMRI motion). The site and family ID were included as random effects. False Discovery Rate (FDR) corrections were applied to each RSI metric separately to control for multiple comparisons. Mediation analyses were conducted for WM tracts that were found significant after FDR corrections. All results presented are from models with covariates that survived FDR corrections.
·Mediation model
Results:
PT was positively associated with withdrawn/depression symptoms in boys. Among girls, all eight CBCL subdomains showed positive associations with PT, such that earlier PT was associated with greater mental health problems. Among boys, PT was positively associated with FND in several white matter tracts, including the forceps major (β=0.05, p=0.008), corpus callosum (β=0.06, p=0.008), bilateral fornix (L: β=0.05, p=0.014; R: β=0.06, p=0.008), right anterior thalamic radiations (β=0.06, p=0.005), uncinate fasciculus (β=0.05, p=0.04), and striatal inferior frontal cortex (β=0.05, p=0.01). Among girls, PT was positively associated with HND in the forceps minor alone, and HND of this tract partially mediated the relationship between PT and future thought problems.
·Relationship between PT, brain structure and future mental health problems
Conclusions:
The results highlight sex-specific PT effects on WM microstructure and future mental health. While in boys, PT had a broader impact on WM, in girls, its effects were more relevant for mental health. Girls with earlier PT showed increased HND, suggesting reduced extracellular space, which may reflect altered myelination or axonal organization. This change in WM microstructure mediated the relationship between earlier PT and increased thought problems. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding sex-specific WM changes due to PT and its role in future mental health problems.
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging 1
Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
White Matter Anatomy, Fiber Pathways and Connectivity 2
Keywords:
White Matter
WHITE MATTER IMAGING - DTI, HARDI, DSI, ETC
Other - Pubertal timing
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Hamlat, E. J., Snyder, H. R., Young, J. F., & Hankin, B. L. (2019). Pubertal timing as a transdiagnostic risk for psychopathology in youth. Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 7(3), 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618810518
Piekarski, D. J., Colich, N. L., & Ho, T. C. (2023). The effects of puberty and sex on adolescent white matter development: A systematic review. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 60, 101214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101214