The relationship between negative life events and cortical structural connectivity in adolescents

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Francesca Sibilia - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Coline Jost-Mousseau - , Trinity College Dublin, Agro ParisTech (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Gareth J. Barker - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Christian Büchel - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Herta Flor - , Heidelberg University , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Antoine Grigis - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Bernd Ittermann - , National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB) (Author)
  • Jean Luc Martinot - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Marie Laure Paillère Martinot - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Sabina Millenet - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Neuroimaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Neuroimaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)

Abstract

Adolescence is a crucial period for physical and psychological development. The impact of negative life events represents a risk factor for the onset of neuropsychiatric disorders. This study aims to investigate the relationship between negative life events and structural brain connectivity, considering both graph theory and connectivity strength. A group (n = 487) of adolescents from the IMAGEN Consortium was divided into Low and High Stress groups. Brain networks were extracted at an individual level, based on morphological similarity between grey matter regions with regions defined using an atlas-based region of interest (ROI) approach. Between-group comparisons were performed with global and local graph theory measures in a range of sparsity levels. The analysis was also performed in a larger sample of adolescents (n = 976) to examine linear correlations between stress level and network measures. Connectivity strength differences were investigated with network-based statistics. Negative life events were not found to be a factor influencing global network measures at any sparsity level. At local network level, between-group differences were found in centrality measures of the left somato-motor network (a decrease of betweenness centrality was seen at sparsity 5%), of the bilateral central visual and the left dorsal attention network (increase of degree at sparsity 10% at sparsity 30% respectively). Network-based statistics analysis showed an increase in connectivity strength in the High stress group in edges connecting the dorsal attention, limbic and salience networks. This study suggests negative life events alone do not alter structural connectivity globally, but they are associated to connectivity properties in areas involved in emotion and attention.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)201-210
Number of pages10
Journal IBRO neuroscience reports
Volume16
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC10859284
Scopus 85183941541
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/175758536
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/175768375

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Adolescence, Brain networks, Cortex, Edge connectivity, Graph theory, Stress