Associations between early adrenarche, affective brain function and mental health in children


Autoria(s): Whittle, Sarah; Simmons, Julian G.; Byrne, Michelle L.; Strikwerda-Brown, Cherie; Kerestes, Rebecca; Seal, Marc L.; Olsson, Craig A.; Dudgeon, Paul; Mundy, Lisa K.; Patton, George C.; Allen, Nicholas B.
Data(s)

01/09/2015

Resumo

Early timing of adrenarche, associated with relatively high levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in children, has been associated with mental health and behavioral problems. However, little is known about effects of adreneracheal timing on brain function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of early adrenarche (defined by high DHEA levels independent of age) on affective brain function and symptoms of psychopathology in late childhood (N = 83, 43 females, M age 9.53 years, s.d. 0.34 years). Results showed that higher DHEA levels were associated with decreased affect-related brain activity (i) in the mid-cingulate cortex in the whole sample, and (ii) in a number of cortical and subcortical regions in female but not male children. Higher DHEA levels were also associated with increased externalizing symptoms in females, an association that was partly mediated by posterior insula activation to happy facial expressions. These results suggest that timing of adrenarche is an important moderator of affect-related brain function, and that this may be one mechanism linking early adrenarche to psychopathology.

Identificador

http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30073327

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Oxford University Press

Relação

ARC DP120101402

http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30073327/olsson-associationsbetween-2015.pdf

http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv014

Direitos

2015, Oxford University Press

Palavras-Chave #Adrenarche #Dehydroepiandrosterone #Emotion #Sex differences #Puberty #Externalizing symptoms
Tipo

Journal Article