Postconcussive Symptoms After Early Childhood Concussion.

Importance: Research on postconcussive symptoms (PCS) following early childhood concussion has been hindered by a lack of measures suitable for this age group, resulting in a limited understanding of their evolution in young children. Objective: To document PCS in the first 3 months after early childhood concussion using a developmentally appropriate measure. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data collected at 3 Canadian and 1 US urban pediatric emergency departments (EDs) and 8 Canadian daycares from December 2018 to December 2022 as part of the Kids' Outcomes and Long-Term Abilities (KOALA) project, a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal cohort study. Participants included children aged 6 to 72 months with early childhood concussion or orthopedic injury (OI) or uninjured children from the community to serve as controls. Data were analyzed from March 2023 to January 2024. Exposure: Concussion sustained between ages 6 and 72 months. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were cognitive, physical, behavioral and total PCS assessed prior to injury (retrospectively), acutely (within 48 hours), and at 10 days, 1 month, and 3 months after injury or recruitment through caregiver observations using the Report of Early Childhood Traumatic Injury Observations & Symptoms inventory. Group comparisons were analyzed using ordinal regression models. Results: The study included 303 children (mean [SD] age, 35.8 [20.2] months; 152 [50.2%] male). Of these, 174 children had a concussion (mean [SD] age, 33.3 [19.9] months), 60 children had an OI (mean [SD] age, 38.4 [19.8] months) and 69 children were uninjured controls (mean [SD] age, 39.7 [20.8] months). No meaningful differences were found between the concussion and comparison groups in retrospective preinjury PCS. Significant group differences were found for total PCS at the initial ED visit (concussion vs OI: odds ratio [OR], 4.33 [95% CI, 2.44-7.69]; concussion vs control: OR, 7.28 [95% CI, 3.80-13.93]), 10 days (concussion vs OI: OR, 4.44 [95% CI, 2.17-9.06]; concussion vs control: OR, 5.94 [95% CI, 3.22-10.94]), 1 month (concussion vs OI: OR, 2.70 [95% CI, 1.56-4.68]; concussion vs control: OR, 4.32 [95% CI, 2.36-7.92]), and 3 months (concussion vs OI: OR, 2.61 [95% CI, 1.30-5.25]; concussion vs control: OR, 2.40 [95% CI, 1.36-4.24]). Significant group differences were also found for domain-level scores (cognitive, physical, behavioral) at various time points. Conclusions and Relevance: In this early childhood cohort study, concussion was associated with more PCS than OIs or typical development up to 3 months after injury. Given the limited verbal and cognitive abilities typical of early childhood, using developmentally appropriate manifestations and behaviors is a valuable way of tracking PCS and could aid in concussion diagnosis in young children.

Development of prosocial behavior and inhibitory control in late childhood: A longitudinal exploration of sex differences and reciprocal relations.

This study examined longitudinal development of prosocial behavior, assessed by the parent-reported Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire, and inhibitory control, measured by the Opposite Worlds Task, in a sample aged 9 and 12 years (n = 9468, 49.9% girls, 85.8% White) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The goal was to assess whether the level of prosocial behavior at age 9 relates to change in inhibitory control, and vice versa. Sex differences were also explored. Latent change score models showed that low inhibitory control in boys at age 9 was associated with more decreases in prosocial behavior from 9 to 12 years of age. This may suggest that interventions targeting inhibitory control in boys may also foster their social competence.

Prospective associations between maternal mind-mindedness, child theory of mind, and brain morphology in school-aged children.

Mentalizing is defined as the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others. In the context of parental behavior, parents' tendency to comment on their child's mental activities refers to the concept of mind-mindedness (MM). MM has been positively associated with various developmental outcomes in children, notably their own ability to mentalize, known as theory of mind (ToM). Although parental (MM) and child (ToM) mentalizing have important implications during childhood, their associations with children's neural structures are largely unknown. Among 62 mother-child dyads, maternal MM was rated from free-play sequences when children were aged 1 year, child ToM was assessed using a first-order false-belief task at 4 years of age, and structural MRI images were acquired at 10 years of age. Maternal MM was positively associated with gray matter volumes (GMV) in the dorsal prefrontal cortex and the superior temporal pole. Child ToM abilities were positively associated with GMV in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Though cortical regions associated with MM and ToM showed no anatomical overlap, many are functionally connected through a neural network highly involved in self-referential strategies for mentalizing. These findings suggest that MM and ToM may contribute to distinct sub-processes that collectively support social cognition development.

Improving outcome after paediatric concussion: challenges and possibilities.

The term concussion has permeated mainstream media and household vocabulary mainly due to awareness regarding the risks of concussion in professional contact sports, yet it occurs across a variety of settings and ages. Concussion is prevalent in infants, preschoolers, children, and adolescents, and is a common presentation or reason for referral to primary care providers, emergency departments, and specialised trauma clinics. Its broad range of symptoms and sequelae vary according to multiple individual, environmental, and clinical factors and can lead to health and economic burden. More than 20 years of research into risk factors and consequences of paediatric concussion has revealed as many questions as answers, and scientific work and clinical cases continue to expose its complexity and heterogeneity. In this Review, we present empirical evidence for improving outcome after paediatric concussion. We consider work pertaining to both sports and other injury mechanisms to provide a perspective that should be viewed as complementary to publications focused specifically on sports concussion. Contemporary challenges in prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention are discussed alongside pathways and future directions for improving outcome.

Puberty differentially predicts brain maturation in male and female youth: A longitudinal ABCD Study.

Research has demonstrated associations between pubertal development and brain maturation. However, existing studies have been limited by small samples, cross-sectional designs, and inconclusive findings regarding directionality of effects and sex differences. We examined the longitudinal temporal coupling of puberty status assessed using the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based grey and white matter brain structure. Our sample consisted of 8896 children and adolescents at baseline (mean age = 9.9) and 6099 at follow-up (mean age = 11.9) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study cohort. Applying multigroup Bivariate Latent Change Score (BLCS) models, we found that baseline PDS predicted the rate of change in cortical thickness among females and rate of change in cortical surface area for both males and females. We also found a correlation between baseline PDS and surface area and co-occurring changes over time in males. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses revealed correlated change between PDS and fractional anisotropy (FA) for both males and females, but no significant associations for mean diffusivity (MD). Our results suggest that pubertal status predicts cortical maturation, and that the strength of the associations differ between sex. Further research spanning the entire duration of puberty is needed to understand the extent and contribution of pubertal development on the youth brain.

Social problems and brain structure development following childhood mild traumatic brain injury.

Childhood mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is associated with elevated risk of developing social problems, which may be underpinned by changes in the structural developmental trajectory of the social brain, a network of cortical regions supporting social cognition and behavior. However, limited sample sizes and cross-sectional designs generally used in neuroimaging studies of pediatric TBI have prevented explorations of this hypothesis. This longitudinal retrospective study examined the development of parent-reported social problems and cortical thickness in social brain regions following childhood mTBI using data from the large population-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Two-group latent change score models revealed different developmental trajectories from ages 10-12 years in the level of social problems between children with (n = 345) and without (n = 7,089) mTBI. Children with mTBI showed higher, but non-clinical, levels of social problems than controls at age 10. Then, social problems decreased over 2 years, but still remained higher, but non-clinical, than in controls in which they stayed stable. Both groups showed similar decreases in social brain cortical thickness between ages 10 and 12 years. Further studies providing detailed information on the injury mechanism and acute symptoms are needed to better understand individual differences in social functioning and brain development in pediatric TBI.

Longitudinal associations between mother-child attachment security in toddlerhood and white matter microstructure in late childhood: a preliminary investigation.

Early childhood experiences are considered to influence the strength and effectiveness of neural connections and thus the development of brain connectivity. As one of the most pervasive and potent early relational experiences, parent-child attachment is a prime candidate to account for experience-driven differences in brain development. Yet, knowledge of the effects of parent-child attachment on brain structure in typically developing children is scarce and largely limited to grey matter, whereas caregiving influences on white matter (i.e. neural connections) have seldom been explored. This study examined whether normative variation in mother-child attachment security predicts white matter microstructure in late childhood and explored associations with cognitive-inhibition. Mother-child attachment security was assessed using home observations when children (N = 32, 20 girls) were 15 and 26 months old. White matter microstructure was assessed using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging when children were 10 years old. Child cognitive-inhibition was tested when children were 11 years old. Results revealed a negative association between mother-toddler attachment security and child white matter microstructure organization, which in turn related to better child cognitive-inhibition. While preliminary given the sample size, these findings add to the growing literature that suggests that rich and positive experiences are likely to decelerate brain development.

Behavioral-play familiarization for non-sedated magnetic resonance imaging in young children with mild traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained in early childhood affects the brain at a peak developmental period and may disrupt sensitive stages of skill acquisition, thereby compromising child functioning. However, due to the challenges of collecting non-sedated neuroimaging data in young children, the consequences of mTBI on young children's brains have not been systematically studied. In typically developing preschool children (of age 3-5years), a brief behavioral-play familiarization provides an effective alternative to sedation for acquiring awake magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a time- and resource-efficient manner. To date, no study has applied such an approach for acquiring non-sedated MRI in preschool children with mTBI who may present with additional MRI acquisition challenges such as agitation or anxiety. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a brief behavioral-play familiarization for acquiring non-sedated MRI for research purposes between young children with and without mTBI, and to identify factors associated with successful MRI acquisition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preschool children with mTBI (n=13) and typically developing children (n=24) underwent a 15-minutes behavioral-play MRI familiarization followed by a 35-minutes non-sedated MRI protocol. Success rate was compared between groups, MRI quality was assessed quantitatively, and factors predicting success were documented. RESULTS: Among the 37 participants, 15 typically developing children (63%) and 10 mTBI (77%) reached the MRI acquisition success criteria (i.e., completing the two first sequences). The success rate was not significantly different between groups (p=.48; 95% CI [-0.36 14.08]; Cramer's V=.15). The images acquired were of high-quality in 100% (for both groups) of the structural images, and 60% (for both groups) of the diffusion images. Factors associated with success included older child age (Β=0.73, p=.007, exp(B)=3.11, 95% CI [1.36 7.08]) and fewer parental concerns (Β=-1.56, p=.02, exp(Β)=0.21, 95% CI [0.05 0.82]) about the MRI procedure. CONCLUSION: Using brief behavioral-play familiarization allows acquisition of high-quality non-sedated MRI in young children with mTBI with success rates comparable to those of non-injured peers.

Disorganized attachment behaviors in infancy as predictors of brain morphology and peer rejection in late childhood.

Studies show robust links between disorganized attachment in infancy and socioemotional maladjustment in childhood. Little is known, however, about the links between disorganized attachment and brain development, and whether attachment-related differences in brain morphology translate into meaningful variations in child socioemotional functioning. This study examined the links between infants' disorganized attachment behaviors toward their mothers, whole-brain regional grey matter volume and thickness, and peer rejection in late childhood. Thirty-three children and their mothers took part in this study. The Strange Situation Procedure was used to assess mother-infant attachment when infants were 18 months old. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed when they were 10 years old to assess cortical thickness and grey matter volumes. Children and teachers reported on peer rejection 1 year later, as an indicator of socioemotional maladjustment. Results indicated that disorganized attachment was not associated with grey matter volumes. However, children who exhibited more disorganized attachment behaviors in infancy had significantly thicker cortices in bilateral middle and superior frontal gyri, and extending to the inferior frontal gyrus, as well as the orbitofrontal and insular cortices in the right hemisphere in late childhood. Moreover, children with thicker cortices in these regions experienced greater peer rejection, as rated by themselves and their teachers. Although preliminary, these results are the first to indicate that disorganized attachment may play a role in cortical thickness development and that changes in cortical thickness are associated with differences in child socioemotional functioning.

Pediatric Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Gray Matter Structural Covariance Networks: A Preliminary Longitudinal Investigation.

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is prevalent and can disrupt ongoing brain maturation. However, the long-term consequences of pediatric TBI on the brain's network architecture are poorly understood. Structural covariance networks (SCN), based on anatomical correlations between brain regions, may provide important insights into brain topology following TBI. Changes in global SCN (default-mode network [DMN], central executive network [CEN], and salience network [SN]) were compared sub-acutely (<90 days) and in the long-term (approximately 12-24 months) after pediatric moderate-severe TBI (n = 16), and compared to typically developing children assessed concurrently (n = 15). Gray matter (GM) volumes from selected seeds (DMN: right angular gyrus [rAG], CEN: right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [rDLPFC], SN: right anterior insula) were extracted from T1-weighted images at both timepoints. No group differences were found sub-acutely; at the second timepoint, the TBI group showed significantly reduced structural covariance within the DMN seeded from the rAG and the (1) right middle frontal gyrus, (2) left superior frontal gyrus, and (3) left fusiform gyrus. Reduced structural covariance was also found within the CEN, that is, between the rDLPFC and the (1) calcarine sulcus, and (2) right occipital gyrus. In addition, injury severity was positively associated with GM volumes in the identified CEN regions. Over time, there were no significant changes in SCN in either group. The findings, albeit preliminary, suggest for the first time a long-term effect of pediatric TBI on SCN. SCN may be a complementary approach to characterize the global effect of TBI on the developing brain. Future work needs to further examine how disruptions of these networks relate to behavioral and cognitive difficulties.

Changes over 10 years in the retelling of the flashbulb memories of the attack of 11 September 2001.

A flashbulb memory is a highly detailed and vivid autobiographical memory for the circumstances in which one first learned of a surprising, consequential and emotionally arousing event. How retelling of different features of a flashbulb memory changes over time is not totally understood. Moreover, little is known about how the emotional feeling experienced by individuals when they learned about the event modulates these changes. In this study, we explored changes over time in American individuals' retelling of their flashbulb memories of the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001. We conducted textual analysis of 824 testimonies collected from the same 206 individuals 1 week, 11, 25 and again 119 months after the attack. Results showed individuals were more likely to report temporal and emotional details in their retelling early after the event and spatial details in their long-term retelling. In addition, the intensity of emotions felt upon hearing the news about the attack influenced how individuals reported their flashbulb memories over time. Overall, this study provides further support for theories suggesting different rates of forgetting for different canonical features of emotional arousal events.

Kids' Outcomes And Long-term Abilities (KOALA): protocol for a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of mild traumatic brain injury in children 6 months to 6 years of age.

INTRODUCTION: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is highly prevalent, especially in children under 6 years. However, little research focuses on the consequences of mTBI early in development. The objective of the Kids' Outcomes And Long-term Abilities (KOALA) study is to document the impact of early mTBI on children's motor, cognitive, social and behavioural functioning, as well as on quality of life, stress, sleep and brain integrity. METHODS AND ANALYSES: KOALA is a prospective, multicentre, longitudinal cohort study of children aged 6 months to 6 years at the time of injury/recruitment. Children who sustain mTBI (n=150) or an orthopaedic injury (n=75) will be recruited from three paediatric emergency departments (PEDs), and compared with typically developing children (community controls, n=75). A comprehensive battery of prognostic and outcome measures will be collected in the PED, at 10 days, 1, 3 and 12 months postinjury. Biological measures, including measures of brain structure and function (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI), stress (hair cortisol), sleep (actigraphy) and genetics (saliva), will complement direct testing of function using developmental and neuropsychological measures and parent questionnaires. Group comparisons and predictive models will test the a priori hypotheses that, compared with children from the community or with orthopaedic injuries, children with mTBI will (1) display more postconcussive symptoms and exhibit poorer motor, cognitive, social and behavioural functioning; (2) show evidence of altered brain structure and function, poorer sleep and higher levels of stress hormones. A combination of child, injury, socioenvironmental and psychobiological factors are expected to predict behaviour and quality of life at 1, 3 and 12 months postinjury. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The KOALA study is approved by the Sainte-Justine University Hospital, McGill University Health Centre and University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Boards. Parents of participants will provide written consent. Dissemination will occur through peer-reviewed journals and an integrated knowledge translation plan.

Quality of life 6 and 18 months after mild traumatic brain injury in early childhood: An exploratory study of the role of genetic, environmental, injury, and child factors.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in early childhood is prevalent, and some children may be at risk for short- and long-term difficulties that could affect quality of life (QoL). Despite growing efforts to understand associations between potential risk factors and outcomes after injury, prognosis is elusive and lacks the inclusion of genetic variables which may convey additional predictive power. This study assessed which factors contribute to pediatric QoL 6 and 18 months post-recruitment in 159 participants (mTBI = 52; orthopedic injury [OI] = 43; typically developing controls [TDC] = 64) aged 18 to 60 months at the time of injury (M = 37.50, SD = 11.69). Family environment, injury characteristics, and child cognitive-behavioral functioning were assessed at 6 months via parent questionnaires and socio-cognitive assessment. QoL was determined using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory at both time points. Genetic information (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF] genotype) was collected using saliva samples. Hierarchical regression analyses testing biological, family-environmental, injury and cognitive-behavioral factors revealed that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was a significant independent predictor of better QoL 6 months post-injury in the mTBI group. Lower parental distress significantly and independently predicted higher QoL 18 months after mTBI, and 6 months post-recruitment in the TDC group. At 18 months, models were non-significant for both control groups. Genetic factors involved in neuroplasticity may play an important role in recovery 6 months after mTBI and contribute to outcome via their interplay with environmental factors. Over time, family factors appear to become the primary determinants of post-mTBI outcome.

It's a matter of surgency: Traumatic brain injury is associated with changes in preschoolers' temperament.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt cognitive, social, and behavioral functioning. Temperament is often used to reflect emotional and behavioral tendencies in young children, but has never been assessed after TBI. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate whether early TBI disrupts the trajectory of temperament. METHOD: Primary caregivers of 173 young children (age: 36 ± 12 months) with uncomplicated mild TBI (n = 83), more severe TBI (msTBI; mild complicated, moderate and severe, n = 21) and with orthopedic injuries (n = 69) reported on their child's temperament retrospectively to assess preinjury profiles and at 6 and 18 months postinjury. For each domain of temperament (Surgency, Negative Affectivity, Effortful Control), linear mixed-model analyses were conducted to explore group differences on the rate of change across time. RESULTS: There were no preinjury temperament differences between groups for any domains, χ²(2) = 2.84; p = .24; χ²(2) = 0.27; p = .87; χ²(2) = 1.47; p = .48. There was a significant effect of group on the rate of change across time for Surgency, χ²(2) = 6.77; p = .03, but not for Negative Affectivity, χ²(2) = 1.47; p = .48, or Effortful Control, χ²(2) = 2.21; p = .33. Children with msTBI showed a lower rate of increase in Surgency compared to children with mild TBI and orthopedic injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Developmental trajectories of Surgency appear to be affected by msTBI. Disruptions in expected developmental trajectories of temperament could underlie some of the sociobehavioral manifestations of TBI in this young age group. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Persistent Changes in Child Behavior After Early Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

OBJECTIVE: To document longitudinal changes in internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained in early childhood (i.e., between 18 and 60 months of age). METHODS: Participants (N = 226) were recruited to one of three groups: children with mTBI, typically developing children and orthopedic injured children. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to document the presence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 6, 18, and 30 months postinjury. Linear mixed-model analyses were used to examine group effects on the trajectory of internalizing and externalizing behavioral manifestations over 30 months postinjury. RESULTS: Children who sustain mTBI during the preschool period have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms at the initial assessment time point and these symptoms persist up to 30 months postinjury. Moreover, results indicate that for up to 18 months postinjury, significantly more children with mTBI present behavioral difficulties that may require some form of clinical attention (i.e., scores in the borderline or clinical range), than do their orthopedically injured and noninjured peers. CONCLUSIONS: Sustaining mTBI early in life may lead to long-lasting behavioral changes in young children (i.e., at least 30 months). These changes are likely the product of a complex interplay between neurological and non-neurological factors, both contributing to generating and maintaining behavioral difficulties.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity within the developing social brain after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in childhood and adolescence can interrupt expected development, compromise the integrity of the social brain network (SBN) and impact social skills. Yet, no study has investigated functional alterations of the SBN following pediatric TBI. This study explored functional connectivity within the SBN following TBI in two independent adolescent samples. First, 14 adolescents with mild complex, moderate or severe TBI and 16 typically developing controls (TDC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging 12-24 months post-injury. Region of interest analyses were conducted to compare the groups' functional connectivity using selected SBN seeds. Then, replicative analysis was performed in an independent sample of adolescents with similar characteristics (9 TBI, 9 TDC). Results were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status and total gray matter volume, and corrected for multiple comparisons. Significant between-group differences were detected for functional connectivity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and left fusiform gyrus, and between the left fusiform gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus, indicating positive functional connectivity for the TBI group (negative for TDC). The replication study revealed group differences in the same direction between the left superior frontal gyrus and right fusiform gyrus. This study indicates that pediatric TBI may alter functional connectivity of the social brain. Frontal-fusiform connectivity has previously been shown to support affect recognition and changes in the function of this network could relate to more effortful processing and broad social impairments.

Mother-Infant Interaction and Child Brain Morphology: A Multidimensional Approach to Maternal Sensitivity.

Emerging research suggests that normative variation in parenting quality relates to children's brain development. However, although the young brain is presumed to be especially sensitive to environmental influence, to our knowledge only two studies have examined parenting quality with infants as it relates to indicators of brain development, and both were cross-sectional. This longitudinal study investigated whether different components of maternal sensitivity in infancy predicted the volume of two brain structures presumed to be particularly sensitive to early experience, namely the amygdala and the hippocampus. Three dimensions of sensitivity (Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, Accessibility/Availability) were observed in 33 mother-infant dyads at 1 year of age and children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging at age 10. Higher maternal Accessibility/Availability during mother-infant interactions was found to be predictive of smaller right amygdala volume, while greater maternal positivity was predictive of smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes. These longitudinal findings extend those of previous cross-sectional studies and suggest that a multidimensional approach to maternal behavior could be a fruitful way to further advance research in this area, given that different facets of parenting might be differentially predictive of distinct aspects of neurodevelopment.

Socioeconomic Status in Infancy and the Developing Brain: Functional Connectivity of the Hippocampus and Amygdala.

The development of the hippocampus and amygdala is particularly sensitive to environmental factors, including socioeconomic status (SES). Studies that have investigated associations between SES and brain development markers have rarely focused on connectivity. Accordingly, this longitudinal study examined whether SES in infancy (parental education and income-to-needs ratio) predicts the functional connectivity of the hippocampus and amygdala in late childhood, and in turn whether functional connectivity is associated with child socioemotional adjustment in a middle-class sample. SES indices were measured when children (n = 28) were 7 months old. When children were 10 years of age, they underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging exam, and their school teachers completed a questionnaire assessing child socioemotional adjustment. Whole-brain regression analyses, including left and right hippocampi and amygdalae as seeds and SES indices as predictors, revealed that higher parental education predicted stronger functional connectivity between the left and right hippocampi and the right amygdala with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and between the left amygdala and bilateral angular gyrus, after accounting for child age and sex. In turn, the connectivity of these regions was associated with higher child prosocial behavior. These findings contribute to the emerging literature suggesting that SES is associated with variability in the neural substrates of social abilities in children.

Developmental trajectories of adaptive functioning following early mild traumatic brain injury.

Adaptive behavior impairments have been reported in children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) but are not typically found following mild TBI. It is possible that mild TBI induces subtle changes in adaptive functioning that are not captured in conventional group comparisons. This study aimed to explore time course changes in adaptive functioning following early mild TBI. Parents of 63 children with mild TBI and 53 children with orthopedic injuries aged between 1.5 and 5 years at the time of injury completed the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II at three time points: retrospectively to assess pre-injury functioning, then at 6 and 18 months post-injury. Developmental trajectories of adaptive functioning domains (practical, conceptual, and social) reported by parents were modeled using linear mixed-model analyses. Findings suggest that mild TBI may disrupt the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive behavior, but does not appear to alter practical and conceptual domains.

Quality of maternal behaviour during infancy predicts functional connectivity between default mode network and salience network 9 years later.

Infants' experiences are considered to determine to a large degree the strength and effectiveness of neural connections and fine tune the development of brain networks. As one of the most pervasive and potent relational experiences of infancy, parent-child relationships appear to be prime candidates to account for experience-driven differences in children's brain development. Yet, studies linking parenting and functional connectivity are surprisingly scarce, and restricted to the connectivity of limbic structures. Accordingly, this longitudinal study explored whether normative variation in the quality of early maternal behaviour predicts the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in late childhood. Maternal mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed with 28 children when they were 13 and 15 months old respectively. When children were 10 years of age, children underwent a resting-state functional MRI exam. Functional connectivity was assessed between key regions of the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontal-parietal central executive network (CEN). Results revealed that higher mind-mindedness and autonomy support predicted stronger negative connectivity between DMN and SN regions. These findings are the first to provide preliminary evidence suggestive of a long-lasting impact of variation within the normative range of early maternal behaviour on functional connectivity between large-scale brain networks.